Woodland Hills Must Wait Out American Legion Decision

The American Legion baseball national office in Indianapolis will rule “within a day or two” on whether Woodland Hills is eligible for next week’s regional playoffs, an American Legion baseball official said Wednesday.

Phil Onderdonk, legal counsel for the American Legion national organization, said its National Baseball Appeal Board will make the decision by the end of the week.

Woodland Hills placed second in the state playoffs, losing to San Mateo, 12-10, but was denied a trophy by state Commissioner Julio Yniguez at Tuesday’s post-tournament ceremonies. At issue is a protest filed by El Segundo against Woodland Hills for allegedly violating player eligibility rules. Woodland Hills, which obtained a court injunction to compete in the state playoffs, appealed that protest to American Legion’s national headquarters.

El Segundo placed third in the tournament and would take Woodland Hills’ place in the West Regional playoffs Aug. 20-24 in Corvallis, Ore., if the national board rejects the Woodland Hills appeal.

National Commissioner George Roulan said Wednesday morning that the appeal was being considered by three board members in Georgia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, who will phone their votes to Indianapolis.

“Word will go to the participants first, from me or George Roulan,” Onderdonk said, adding he couldn’t be sure when the ruling would come because board members are volunteers.

El Segundo filed its charges against Woodland Hills in a protest sent to Yniguez, who then disqualified Woodland Hills on Aug. 5. after the team won the Sixth Area championship.

In its protest, El Segundo cited an American Legion rule stating that a team can draw players from as many schools as it pleases, as long as the total enrollments of sophomores, juniors and seniors from those schools combined do not exceed 3,600 students.

Sanford Schulhofer, an attorney representing Woodland Hills, said there should be no national ruling on the appeal because the El Segundo protest was filed after the Aug. 1 deadline.

“That El Segundo protest was late,” Schulhofer said. “The ruling is part of a procedure which we maintain is improper. The original protest should not have been acted upon.”

A 6-3 win over El Segundo on Tuesday apparently qualified Woodland Hills for the regional playoffs. San Mateo then won the state title with its 12-10 victory and will go to the Western Regional playoffs Aug. 20-24 in Palo Alto.

In ceremonies at the end of the tournament Tuesday, Yniguez presented San Mateo its first-place plaque but refused to give Woodland Hills the second-place plaque. Instead, Yniguez told the crowd at Borman Field that the plaque would not be awarded until the national office had made its ruling.

Said Roulan: “Obviously a decision has to be made as to who will represent the Department of California in Corvallis. We were waiting for additional information, with school enrollments.”

Woodland Hills parents were expected to meet Wednesday night to determine the teams plans, and Schulhofer declined to elaborate on those options. “I don’t think I want to go into that, except to say that we’ll examine all our different options.”

El Segundo players and coaches examined their options Tuesday.

At a team meeting shortly after the loss to Woodland Hills, El Segundo Coach John Stevenson told his team there was still a good chance it would go to the regional playoffs, saying the national office was likely to disallow Woodland Hills appeal. Then he cautioned them, “I don’t want to get your hopes up.”

Asked about the appeal after the meeting, Stevenson was unwilling to comment. “You know as much as I do, so don’t ask me these funny questions that you’re trying to ask.”

Meanwhile, Camarillo team manager Dan Anderson has also asked the national office to review Woodland Hills’ status. He said he hopes the office rules that Woodland Hills must forfeit its wins.

A favorable ruling would not put Camarillo in any playoffs, Anderson admitted, but he said it would set the record straight.

“I don’t see how something like this reached civil court,” he said. “What it does is tell a kid, ‘Violate the rules and be a winner.’ I think it stunk.”

American Legion baseball would be “stigmatized as unfair” if the national office did not rule against Woodland Hills, he said.

“Not only Woodland Hills, but the whole American Legion baseball program would suffer a tainted image,” he said.