American Legion : Hatfield Ends 5-Year Hiatus, Leads Studio City Into Area Tournament

It’s almost as if Chuck Hatfield decided enough was enough. It was time to make a comeback.

Hatfield, the Studio City coach for 28 years, took five years off before this season, allowing someone else to run the team. But Hatfield’s return has enabled Studio City to again become the real McCoy.

“I decided it was time we got back in the playoffs so I came back,” said Hatfield after Studio City finished second in the District 20 playoffs to advance to the Area 6 tournament, which begins Thursday in Pomona. Studio City faces Arcadia in the first round.

Hatfield’s return was followed by a third-place finish in the district’s Northern Division and a 17-9 record.

Hatfield believes that over the last few years, Studio City, which is composed mainly of players from Sylmar High, depended too much on young players.

“I tried to use the young guys with the right amount of seniors to help them,” he said.

Studio City last won the area tournament in 1974 and won the state tournament the year before, both times under the direction of Hatfield.

Protest denied: A Chatsworth protest over a lineup-card error in Saturday’s District 20 playoff game against eventual champion Van Nuys-Notre Dame has several coaches doing double takes.

According to Commissioner Mel Swerdling, there is no rule covering the listing of players on a lineup card. But coaches insist that a decision on the topic was reached during a meeting two days before the tournament started.

Chatsworth filed a protest on the grounds that a player not listed on the lineup card entered the game.

Pinch-hitter Bruno Paniccia, originally slated to be the designated hitter against Chatsworth, was inadvertently left off the lineup card when catcher Bobby Hughes arrived just before game time, prompting Coach Jody Breeden to turn in a new lineup card.

When Kevin Milligan was ejected from the game, Breeden inserted Paniccia to hit in his spot. When Paniccia came up in the 10th inning, Chatsworth Coach Fred Bluhm realized that Paniccia was not listed on the new lineup card and with a 2-and-0 count on Paniccia, Bluhm filed the protest.

Swerdling said he formed a committee which decided that because there was no written rule on the subject, the protest was invalid.

Others at the pre-playoff meeting said a consensus was reached that all players must be listed, leaving out any late arrivals. During the regular season, late arrivals were accepted because some players worked and attended summer school.

Add Swerdling: The West team, coached by Swerdling, defeated the East, 12-4, to win the gold medal at the Junior Olympics in South Dakota. Southern California’s Steve Solomon hit two home runs in the July 15 championship game.

ASU Bound: Chatsworth utility player Ty Powell will join teammate Rex McMackin at Arizona State this fall.

Powell, an outfielder/catcher who can also pitch, received an academic scholarship and will attempt to walk-on the baseball team.

McMackin, an outfielder, received a partial baseball scholarship to ASU.

Passing the test: Van Nuys-Notre Dame catcher Bobby Hughes looked a bit tired after the team got past Chatsworth, 6-5, in 10 innings Saturday in the District 20 playoffs.

Hughes had led the Notre Dame entry in the Arroyo Grande passing league to a 6-0 record. Hughes, the Notre Dame quarterback, played four games Friday and two Saturday, then made the three-hour drive back to Van Nuys for the baseball game. He caught all 10 innings.

Power supply: Woodland Hills (West), the Western Division champion, averaged 10 runs a game in regular-season play and finished with a team batting average of .383.

Five players scored 20 or more runs and three scored 30 or more. Seven players had more than 20 hits and three had more than 30.

Staff Writer Steve Elling contributed to this notebook.