HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Sylmar’s Tribute to Vela Comes in Form of 16-2 Win Over Reseda

There was laughter in the Sylmar High dugout again, friendly jibes exchanged among players and coaches. A player handed Coach Gary Donatella a batting helmet when Donatella was nearly leveled by a screaming foul ball. Donatella verbally jousted with the plate umpire and fined a couple of players for penny-ante rules violations.

Winning, it seems, is therapeutic. And a lopsided victory, such as the 16-2 defeat of host Reseda in a Valley Pac-8 Conference game Monday, is the ultimate panacea.

“It was nice to get back on the winning track again,” Donatella said. “Shoot, it was nice to get back out here and play again.”

Ten days ago, the Sylmar program was devastated by the death of senior outfielder Ryan Vela, who was killed in an auto crash that involved two other varsity players. Sylmar postponed two games with Monroe last week, school psychologists met with players and virtually everyone connected with the program was visibly affected by the news, Donatella said.

“It was a very rough week,” Donatella said.

A memorial service Thursday lasted 2 1/2 hours, and so many people turned out to pay their respects that the line stretched out the church doors, Donatella said.

Members of the San Fernando High varsity--Vela had transferred to Sylmar from San Fernando--showed up for the service.

Sylmar players showed up for the Reseda game with Vela’s uniform number, 17, stenciled and stitched in every place imaginable. Each player had the number on the back of their caps and on the left breast of their uniform top. Some had it painted on the backs of their spikes, others had it on their wristbands.

The team wants to remember, yet somehow forget, what happened to their teammate.

“They want to remember him for the way he was, the way he liked to play,” Donatella said. “It is a weird feeling with the numbers everywhere. But we want to remember him, and in a positive manner.”

The best way to move forward is to rack up a rout. London Woodfin started in right field, where Vela had played, and was three for four with a double, triple and four runs batted in.

“It’s a weird feeling, being at his old position,” Woodfin said. “I knew I had to do the job.”

The rest of the team felt similarly. Donatella said he didn’t bother with a rah-rah speech before the game. He sensed there was no need.

“With (Ryan) in mind, maybe that’s why they played so well today,” Donatella said. “I can’t use something like this to motivate kids. All I had to do was listen to them and I knew they wanted this game.”

Sylmar (7-4, 3-3 in league play) blew the game open with six runs in the sixth to take a 13-2 lead. Nearly everyone took part in the victory: Sylmar’s 14 hits were scattered among 10 players.

Woodfin said the team felt there was debt to pay.

“If we had lost today, we’d be out here knowing in our hearts that we let ourselves and Ryan down,” Woodfin said. “We’re doing this for us, but we’re doing it for him, too.”