AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL / JEFF FLETCHER : Wayne Had to Take It Lying Down

Las Virgenes catcher Tim Wayne had trouble watching his team play without him in the American Legion District 20 playoffs Friday. But for that matter, he had trouble watching anything that moved.

Wayne, who came down with a mysterious case of vertigo on Friday morning, could not turn his head, or he would become violently ill.

With his younger brother driving, Wayne came to the game Friday in the back of a pickup truck, because the only position in which he could be comfortable was lying down. When he arrived at the field, he sat on the bleachers with his hands on the sides of his head, holding it steady.

After winning its first two games with Wayne, Las Virgenes lost on Friday and Saturday without him.

“I didn’t feel too good,” Wayne said. “But the hardest part of being sick was watching them play and get eliminated.”

Wayne, a senior last spring at Calabasas High, said the balance disorder worsened gradually Friday, becoming unbearable as the morning went on.

“By 11:30, it was so bad I couldn’t do anything,” he said. “It was instant sickness to the point of vomiting.”

Medication seemed to help Wayne the rest of the weekend. He watched Las Virgenes play on Saturday from the dugout and also attended Sunday’s championship game.

“It’s pretty much gone now,” Wayne said Monday, “but I still can’t drive and I’m supposed to spend most of my time sleeping.”

Wayne, who went to the emergency room on Friday evening, said doctors had no explanation for the onset of the affliction. “I’ve never had it before,” he said. “It was a freak thing.”

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Change of heart: Before the District 20 championship game on Sunday, district Commissioner Mel Swerdling arrived at the field with news that Woodland Hills East’s Gregg Zutler was suspended for the day. Swerdling ruled after a caller complained that Zutler threatened a Van Nuys East player Saturday night after Woodland Hills East eliminated Van Nuys East.

Zutler, who was not contacted about the charge, denied he threatened anyone.

Swerdling overturned his own decision by the second inning of the game, saying it was out of his jurisdiction because the alleged incident occurred off the field. “I may have jumped the gun on that one,” Swerdling said.

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On your mark: Justin Martin, a speedy outfielder for Woodland Hills West, must have thought he had shown for a track meet instead of a baseball game. In the District 20 championship game on Sunday, Martin was the team’s designated runner, replacing the pitcher and catcher when they reached base.

He ran four times and scored four times.

Martin put on a baserunning exhibition in the first game Sunday, as well. In the second inning, he stole third base while Woodland Hills East pitcher Josh Irving fiddled on the mound. When Irving threw to third, Jon Schaeffer dropped the ball and Martin scored.

In the fifth inning, Martin went from first to third on a single, but when center fielder John Soto held the ball too long, Martin scored.

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Odds and ends: Ventura first baseman Jason Kimball drove in two runs with a two-out, 10th-inning double last week against Santa Barbara, giving Ventura a 5-3 win and clinching the District 16 championship and an Area 6 tournament playoff berth. . . .

Van Nuys East’s Joey Orlando and Ed Romero told Coach Jody Breeden they were leaving Friday’s game against Palmdale East at 3 p.m. because they had to be at a summer passing tournament. But when 3 p.m. rolled around, and Van Nuys East starter Chris Garza had a no-hitter in the seventh inning, they decided football could wait.

Garza finished with a two-hitter. Both players skipped the baseball game on Saturday to play football, and Van Nuys East was eliminated by Woodland Hills East. . . .

Left-hander Justin Siegel has joined Woodland Hills East for the remainder of the playoffs. Siegel, who signed with North Carolina State last November but missed the Taft High regular season while recovering from elbow surgery, was playing for a Palomino team that was eliminated from postseason play last week. Siegel has been on Woodland Hills East’s roster all season. . . .

One of the most interesting defensive plays of the playoffs was turned in by Newhall-Saugus right fielder Silvio Paz last week against Woodland Hills East.

Playing near the right-field fence at Burroughs, 275 feet from home plate down the line, Paz jumped for a ball hit by Schaeffer. When he came down without the ball, the Woodland Hills East bench erupted, thinking Schaeffer hit a home run. But Paz had timed his jump so badly he was able to catch the ball after landing. . . .

Conejo twins Tyler and Ryan Holmes, freshmen last spring at Thousand Oaks High, impressed Coach Chuck Berrington. Tyler hit .419 and Ryan hit .447.

“I knew from coaching them that they could play on this level, but not this well,” Berrington said. “They are probably the two most clutch hitters on the team. I put them in the three and four spots (in the batting order) and they haven’t feared legion pitching so far.”

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Quote of the week: Woodland Hills East co-Coach Mark Clouser, on Gabe Kapler’s game-breaking run batted in that followed his misplaying a single into an inside-the-park home run in a game against Van Nuys East: “One thing we always tell these guys is never quit. You can be a horse’s . . . in the second inning and a hero in the ninth.”