PARKS AND RECREATION NOTEBOOK : Winning U.S. Softball Tournament Would Make These Enforcers’ Day

The Enforcers. The name inspires visions of a heavy-metal rock band or a gang of club-carrying vigilantes.

The Enforcers carry bats, but the only havoc wreaked by this crew is upon the scorekeepers of slo-pitch softball games, who must keep track of two Toczynski’s, one Tuszynski and a lot of home runs.

The Enforcers will be part of a 16-team field that will participate in the United States Slo-pitch Softball Assn. Major National Invitational tournament Aug. 8-10 at Hjelte Park in Encino. The tournament is a qualifying event for the USSSA World Series, Sept. 11-14, in Greensboro, N.C.

The Encino tournament has teams from around the country, including the Northridge-based Capitol Softball Club and the powerful Smythe Sox, featuring home run legends Bruce Meade and Rick Wheeler, from Houston, Tex.

“It’s going to be a great showcase,” said Capitol’s player-manager Ron Whittleton, who was inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame last year. “This is a good chance for people in the Valley to see what slo-pitch at this level is all about. There are some great teams coming in.”

The Enforcers, who are jumping up in class for the tournament, have been playing as a team since 1982, when they entered a Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department D League. In the past four years, the Enforcers have risen through the ranks of softball. In 1984, they finished fifth in the state in the C class and last year earned another fifth-place finish in the B class.

This year, the Enforcers have moved up to the A class and they have already qualified for the World Tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich., over the Labor Day weekend. The team is led by manager Ed Toczynski and Mark Nechac, an outfielder from Tarzana and an all-state selection last year. Other top players include Rich Tuszynski, a pitcher from Burbank, Mike Reynolds, a catcher from Burbank and Ron Toczynski, an outfielder from Reseda who is the manager’s brother.

The Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department’s City softball season is in the final week of competition, with more than 700 teams from the Valley competing for spots in playoffs that begin Aug. 11.

About 300 teams in the area will qualify for postseason play in the A, B, C and D classifications in four divisions: men’s slo-pitch, women’s slo-pitch, men’s fast pitch and co-recreational.

The single-elimination postseason tournaments will conclude Aug. 28 at the Balboa Sports Center.

“The San Fernando Valley has established itself as the hotbed for softball,” said John Pierce, municipal sports director for the Valley. “There has been a great overall increase in participation over the last five years, especially the co-recreational division.”

Winners will represent the Valley in the City finals Sept. 27 at a site yet to be determined.

The City of Los Angeles Valley Region of Aquatics and the American Heart Assn. is sponsoring a Swim-for-Heart event Aug. 10 at the Woodland Hills Pool, 5858 Shoup Ave., in Woodland Hills.

Information: 818-763-7651.