Garrido Assistant Named to Northridge Post

Bill Kernen, a longtime assistant to Augie Garrido at Cal State Fullerton and Illinois, was introduced Tuesday as the new baseball coach at Cal State Northridge.

Kernen, 39, is the fifth head coach at Northridge. He was a pitcher at the University of Redlands and played four seasons (1970-73) in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization. Kernen was the baseball coach at San Gorgonio High School from 1974-76 and worked as an assistant at Orange Coast College in 1976.

Kernen coached at Fullerton from 1977-82 before he temporarily retired to pursue business interests. He rejoined Garrido’s staff in 1986 and moved to Illinois with Garrido last season.

The Northridge program will be elevated to Division I status for the 1991 season, and Kernen said he would begin to prepare for that step immediately.