Simi Valley to Return to Baseball Tournament in Florida

Simi Valley High departed for the Colonial Baseball Classic in Orlando, Fla., in 1988 with praise from the tournament director, only to return as the target of the same man’s bitterness.

George Kirchgassner, the tournament director, had lauded Simi Valley, one of Southern California’s top baseball programs, for its help in turning a four-team local tournament into one of the most prestigious high school baseball tournaments in the nation.

Simi Valley had taken its powerful 1986 team, ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today later in the season, to Orlando and had snatched the tournament title from the 15 Florida teams. In 1987, the Pioneers finished third.

During the 1988 tournament, however, Simi Valley suddenly had become the tournament’s ingrown toenail. After feuding with tournament organizers on the field and off, Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers ended the bitter dispute by pulling his team from the tournament.

“Maybe we’ve worn out our welcome,” he said. Apparently not. Scyphers said last week that his team had accepted an invitation to participate in the tournament next season. Kirchgassner has invited other previous winners of the tournament, including Chatsworth, the 1988 champion. The Chancellors have not yet accepted because of uncertainty about the timing of next year’s spring break.

In 1988, Kirchgassner said Simi Valley’s pullout tarnished the image of the tournament and cost organizers $1,500 in gate receipts. But this week, in response to the Simi Valley invitation, he said, “That’s baseball.”

“We’re looking forward to having (Scyphers) back,” he added. “We have no problems with them.”

Kirchgassner’s change in attitude surprised Scyphers like a knee-buckling curveball.

Simi Valley’s players in 1988 were deemed “arrogant and mouthy” by one Florida coach. After Scyphers was ejected from one game, he accused the umpires of showing favoritism toward Florida teams.

Finally, Scyphers pulled his team from the tournament after the Pioneers had played five games--a first-round loss had forced them to play what would have amounted to six games, which would have pushed the Pioneers past the Southern Section limit of non-playoff games.

“To me, the whole thing was blown out of proportion,” Scyphers said.