Coaches to Offer Plan to Hold City Playoffs

In an 11th-hour attempt to salvage the City Section 4-A Division baseball playoffs, a group representing boycotting coaches will propose a revamped tournament schedule to City officials at a meeting at 10 a.m. today.

City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness, who canceled the playoffs Tuesday, has agreed to the meeting, which is contingent upon a settlement of the strike against the Los Angeles Unified School District that would enable teachers to return to work by Friday.

San Fernando Coach Steve Marden and Chatsworth Coach Bob Lofrano will represent the 16 coaches whose teams have qualified for the 4-A playoffs.

Under the coaches’ plan, the first round of the playoffs would begin Friday and the second round would be played Saturday. The semifinals and final would be played as scheduled Tuesday and next Thursday. Marden, who devised the proposal Wednesday night, said that coaches would arrange for umpires and supervision and would prepare the fields in time for Friday’s first-round games.

Marden contacted 11 of the 16 coaches Wednesday night, all of whom supported the proposal.

“I don’t care what it takes on our part, whatever price we have to pay we will to make sure we have the 4-A playoffs,” he said.

The coaches that Marden contacted Wednesday night were Gary Donatella

(Sylmar), Kevin Campbell (Monroe), Jerry Cord (Poly), Rich McKeon (Taft), Manny Alvarado (Kennedy), Mike Maio (El Camino Real), Tom Lucero (Grant), Russ Howard (Palisades) and Frank Cruz (University).

A group of 18 4-A baseball coaches had voted to boycott the playoffs until the strike ends.

Harkness announced the cancellation after a poll of the 16 schools whose teams had qualified for the playoffs revealed that only six were willing to field teams without the coach of record. District rules state that the school official coaching the team must be a credentialed employee.