AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : Van Nuys Forlorn Over Forfeit

Chris Prince sprinted in from center field, palms and eyebrows raised, looking for an explanation. He didn’t like what he heard. And he doesn’t like having so much time to think about it.

Prince and his Van Nuys-Notre Dame teammates were trailing Panorama City, 3-1, in the sixth inning of the second game of a doubleheader Saturday when their stand-in coach, assistant Mitch Graff, booted the bat rack in the dugout.

The umpires, who earlier had ejected Graff for arguing a call, awarded a victory to Panorama City on a forfeit and left the field. For Prince and his teammates, it was more than the end of a game--it was the end of a season.

Van Nuys had won eight consecutive games to move into District 20 playoff contention before dropping a game to Woodland Hills West on Friday, and needed a mere split of Saturday’s doubleheader to stay in contention for a wild-card berth.

Trailing, 4-1, after five innings of the opener, Panorama City rallied to win, 9-8. Down by two runs in the nightcap, Van Nuys had one more scheduled at-bat when the umpires called the game.

Graff was running the team for Coach Jody Breeden, who was attending a wedding. When Graff re-entered the Van Nuys dugout in the sixth to issue instructions to the team, the umpires ordered him to leave. Graff initially balked, then kicked a stack of aluminum bats.

When the umpires halted the game and Prince figured out what was taking place, he stormed in and demanded an explanation.

For Prince and four other Van Nuys players--all of whom graduated from Notre Dame High last month--it was the last moment in Legion baseball. A less-than-favorable impression will last for some time.

“It’s the coaches who are responsible for the players, not the players who are responsible for the coaches ,” Prince said. “There’s no way it’s right for the umps to just walk off and leave.”

Bad form: Newhall-Saugus’ playoff fortunes were saved by an error. Not one of the standard E-6 variety, but an administrative error.

The San Fernando coaching staff did not return its Form 1 registration application--the officially recognized roster that is placed on permanent Legion file--until after the June 20 deadline. Therefore, any game San Fernando won after June 20 was ruled a forfeit, district Commissioner Mel Swerdling said.

On Saturday, Swerdling informed Newhall-Saugus Coach Tom Pedersen that his team’s recent loss to San Fernando had been overturned. Because of the ruling, Newhall-Saugus (15-8) qualified for one of two wild-card playoff berths, one game ahead of Van Nuys-Notre Dame and Reseda.

All-Stars: The first Southern California All-Star Game has been scheduled for Aug. 11 at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.

All-stars from the 6th Area--which includes Districts 16 and 20 of the Valley area--will face players from the 4th and 5th areas, according to Swerdling, who helped organize the event.

The 4th Area is in southern Los Angeles County and includes teams from the Long Beach region. The 5th Area is in the eastern part of the county and includes teams from the Claremont and Upland regions.

Wild life: Mario Joy tossed a two-hitter in Burbank’s 10-4 victory over North Hollywood on Saturday and had a no-hitter through six innings, but the tension that mounted as the game progressed wasn’t typical of most no-hit bids.

In fact, Joy may have been fortunate to have won at all; any hand-wringing had more to do with whether he would be removed because of wildness.

The right-hander walked 10, struck out 11 and uncorked six wild pitches. Two wild pitches came on strikeouts, with the batter reaching first base. Whatever the methodology, the hits weren’t coming.

Joy, normally a shortstop, allowed a bunt single by John Levine to open the seventh. In the ninth, the Burbank first baseman seemed to be in position to flag Cassidy Pope’s dribbler down the line, but the grounder bounced off the bag for a scratch single.

Making his pitch: Joe Tushnet had been after Reseda Coach Howard Randall all season. “Gimme the ball,” Tushnet said. “How tough can it be?”

Tushnet, who was selected to the District 20 All-Star Game as an outfielder, wanted to try his hand on the pitcher’s mound.

On Saturday, the final day of regular-season play, Tushnet got his shot. He started and lasted 1 1/3 innings in an 11-3 loss to Chatsworth, allowing two runs in the first and three in the second.

The reviews were mixed, which is more than Randall could say about Tushnet’s repertoire.

“He doesn’t throw slow enough to have a good changeup,” Randall said, “and he doesn’t throw fast enough to have a good fastball.”