San Fernando Adds Teams to Its Baseball Tournament

San Fernando High’s preseason baseball tournament has been expanded to eight teams and may add more teams in the spring of 1992, according to Tiger Coach Steve Marden.

The spring tournament, in its second season, will include City Section teams Grant, Birmingham, Granada Hills, Kennedy, Narbonne, Franklin, Poly and San Fernando.

The inaugural Tiger Invitational featured a six-team field, and Marden said that, based on feedback, he may expand the tournament to 10 or 12 teams in 1992. Marden said coaches like the fact that the tournament lasts just eight days, rather than continuing over several consecutive weekends and into the regular-season schedule.

“Sometimes in those tournaments, you end up using a second baseman or an outfielder on the hill,” Marden said. “Nobody wants to use their best pitcher when they might have an important league game coming up. This tournament doesn’t drag on forever.”

Each team is guaranteed four games in the tournament, which runs Feb. 20, 21, 26 and 28. Also, area teams have been guaranteed that they will not face a league opponent. San Fernando, which was 3-0-1 in tournament play last season, is the defending champion.

Marden said that a handful of Southern Section teams from the area inquired about entering but are prohibited from playing until March 7.

The tournament could help fill the void created when the Thousand Oaks tournament folded over the summer.