AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL / JEFF FLETCHER : Surprisingly, Muscle Behind 6-0 Verdugo Hills is Glendale High

When opponents ask Verdugo Hills American Legion Coach Spiro Psaltis about his team, they ask if its base school is Crescenta Valley High, which advanced to the Southern Section Division I semifinals.

Nope, Psaltis says, just little ol’ Glendale High, which finished fourth in the Pacific League.

That’s why the opponents might be surprised that Verdugo Hills is off to a 6-0 start, the best in District 20.

Crescenta Valley High players this year chose not to play Legion ball, so Psaltis, Glendale High’s coach, took over the Verdugo Hills Legion team, and Glendale became its base school.

“It’s given a chance for this Glendale High bunch to start anew, because a whole lot of bad happened at Glendale High this year,” Psaltis said.

The Dynamiters finished 10-13 in Psaltis’ first year, primarily because the team had only three seniors, he said. Psaltis said it was a year for rebuilding, and he expected Legion to be the same, but. . . .

“Surprising? No doubt about it,” Psaltis said. “You have your mind set on building and watching guys grow, then it clicks.”

Among the most dramatic victories for Verdugo Hills, which also includes a few St. Francis players, was a game June 5 against Sunland-Tujunga. Verdugo Hills trailed, 4-1, with two out in the bottom of the ninth, but scored four runs, keyed by Corby Foster’s triple.

In a game against Burbank North, left-handers Bryan Chan and Phil Onsaga pitched a seven-inning, combined no-hitter. Because of a Legion mercy rule, the game was called after seven innings with Verdugo Hills leading, 11-0.

“They’ve been given a second chance,” Psaltis said. “And they want to make up for what didn’t happen during the Pacific League season.”

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Also hot: Valley North, whose base school is Chatsworth High, won its first four games. Trying to make up for losing to El Camino Real in the City 4-A Division final in Dodger Stadium for the second consecutive, right?

Guess again.

“I don’t think they are doing that at all,” said Coach Pete Redfern, the Chatsworth pitching coach. “They are just going out and playing. We’ve got a real good ballclub. We’re getting good defense, good pitching and timely hitting. I don’t think the guys feel they have anything to prove at all.”

Two days after Chatsworth lost in Dodger Stadium, Valley North defeated Woodland Hills East. The team then won three games Saturday and Sunday.

“That Dodger Stadium game was a great ballgame,” Redfern said. “It’s tough to be on the losing end, but these kids are real good kids they showed a lot of tenacity to come back.”

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Need a hit, get a triple: Granada Hills East had a pair of dramatic victories last weekend, both keyed by triples.

Trailing Van Nuys South, 8-5, in the bottom of the ninth Saturday, Granada Hills East scored four runs. The big hit was a two-run triple by Robby Shapiro.

A day earlier against Studio City, Granada Hills East scored three runs on a triple by Terrmel Sledge in the seventh to tie the score, 7-7. The winning run scored in the 10th on an RBI triple by George Kassis.

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What’s new: Only one team from District 20 will advance to the Area 6 playoffs this year, even though the 30-team district is by far the largest in the state. District 16 will send two of its nine teams to the Area 6 tournament at UCLA.

Four districts in Area 6 will send six teams to the tournament each year. The districts that send more than one team are determined on a rotating basis.

The District 20 representative will be determined by a double-elimination tournament July 19-24. District 16 has no postseason tournament, so the top two regular-season teams will advance.

In another change, Yountville will not be the site of the state tournament because the facility there is undergoing renovation.

At a June 23 state meeting, officials will consider other sites and a possible format change. District 20 Commissioner Mel Swerdling says a strong possibility is staging separate Northern California and Southern California tournaments. The winner of the Southern California tournament would advance to the Southwest Regional, and the Northern California winner would advance to the Northwest Regional.

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Legion lines: Sepulveda (5-0) is the third District 20 team off to a perfect start. Including mostly players from Montclair Prep, Sepulveda has been led by center fielder Ethan Parker, who has 13 stolen bases and 13 runs in five games. Parker has an on-base percentage of .773. Matt Muler is batting .474 with an .842 on-base average. . . .

Newbury Oaks, which won the Legion World Series in 1992, is in first place in District 16 with a 6-0 record. Newbury Oaks includes players from Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks highs. . . .

Westlake-Royal’s Phil Derryman, who didn’t pitch for Royal High this season, is 2-0 with a 0.46 earned-run average in Legion play. There was never a question about Derryman’s arm strength. That was the primary reason the Montreal Expos drafted him as an outfielder in the 26th round of the major league amateur draft two weeks ago. . . .

Van Nuys South’s Mike Weiss has pitched 42 innings without allowing an earned run. . . .

Former Crespi right-hander Keith Evans pitched five innings for Las Virgenes between returning from University of California and leaving to pitch in the Cape Cod League in Massachusetts. . . .

American Legion night at Dodger Stadium is July 9, when the Dodgers play the Mets. Legion officials will be recognized before the game. . . . The District 20 all-star game is July 10 at Birmingham High.