Scyphers Takes Official Timeout From Coaching Duties

A sudden case of March Madness has struck Coach Mike Scyphers and the Simi Valley High baseball team.

The Pioneers, ranked second nationally by USA Today and first in The Times’ area poll, will play host to Channel Islands today in a Marmonte League game originally scheduled for Friday.

For Scyphers, the switch was a must after opportunity knocked this week in the form of a phone call from the supervisor of basketball officials for the Big West Conference.

Scyphers, 40, who moonlights as a college official, will serve Friday as an official in an opening-round game between Houston and host Texas El Paso in the National Invitation Tournament.

“Not many opportunities come up like this,” Scyphers said. “I’m very excited. I really didn’t have any inclination that I was going to get an NIT (assignment). I had all my officiating stuff packed away. I kind of looked at it like: There are 96 NCAA (first-round) assignments and there are 48 NIT assignments. . . . To me that kind of puts it in perspective.”

The assignment is a career milestone for Scyphers, who hopes to whistle his way to an NCAA Final Four game.

He began officiating in youth leagues in 1974. From there, he worked his way through high school and junior college games before beginning to land occasional assignments with the Pacific 10 Conference in 1984.

Scyphers, who has coached the Pioneers’ baseball team since 1978, might have gone the same route as a basketball coach. From 1976 to 1982, he served as an assistant to Simi Valley Coach Bob Hawking, while serving stints as sophomore and junior varsity head coach.

However, after unsuccessful bids to land head-coaching jobs at Newbury Park and Camarillo highs, Scyphers gave up basketball coaching for officiating.

“I certainly feel now that my career as an official is headed in the right direction,” he said.

Scyphers has worked steadily as a Big West official for the three years. This season, he officiated 50 games--23 at the Division I level--including matchups between Washington State and UCLA, and Oregon and Oregon State.

Today NIT, tomorrow NCAA? Probably not so soon.

“I set goals for just about everything I do--in coaching, teaching and officiating. Three years ago, my goal was to work a playoff game. Well, now I’ve got a playoff game. I would say my immediate goal now is to officiate an NCAA playoff game. And my long-term goal now, obviously, is to work the Final Four.”

More pressing a concern was rescheduling Friday’s game. But Channel Islands Coach Al Tarazon, Scyphers said, was obliging.

“Al said he would change the game under one condition, that we would spot him three runs,” Scyphers said, jokingly. “So, when he shows up, we’re going to have it up (on the scoreboard), 3-0.”