Scyphers Deserves More From Simi Valley Than a See You Later

Mike Scyphers, the scrappy Simi Valley High baseball coach, can be irritating, stubborn, sharp-tongued, pugnacious, argumentative, and maddeningly arrogant--a giant-sized, strutting ego compressed into an undersized, wiry body.

We grant those traits and have witnessed them in ample portions throughout his 17-year career. Still, he’s the best high school coach in the area, an inspired teacher of the game whose teams have been characterized by crisp, alert play and high-spirited aggressiveness.

And now his bosses--principal Kathryn Scroggin with the apparent blessing of the Simi Valley school district--have forced him to resign over the flimsiest of offenses.

In 17 years, Simi Valley has averaged 20 victories a season, posting a 343-113 record, and has won eight Marmonte League titles. The team reached the No. 1 ranking in the country in 1986 and 1993. Scyphers has sent 11 players to professional baseball, including current major leaguers Scott Radinsky and Tim Laker. Numerous others have played in college.

The only people more fiercely loyal to the 42-year-old coach than the parents of his players have been the players themselves.

So, what crimes has Scyphers committed to warrant his ouster? When the dust settles, they amount to administrative indiscretions more serious than stealing paper clips from the office, but not much.

The trouble started a year ago when Scyphers was suspended while the district and Simi Valley police investigated charges that he mishandled team discipline and finances.

That sounds ominous but when the cops dropped the case and Scyphers was reinstated and then rehired as coach, we learned that the coach had accepted $2,000 in donations and spent it on the program and his assistant coaches.

He readily admitted the offenses, pointing out he didn’t pocket a dime.

But he didn’t follow proper channels. The district was supposed to receive and distribute the money.

OK, so call Scyphers on the carpet, even punish him for the indiscretion. In fact, he was punished. His suspension cost him the final seven games of the season.

We also learned that the Pioneers’ longstanding practice of “the block”--in which players bid small sums of money for the right to paddle teammates who have broken team rules--violates the state education code.

OK, so Scyphers scrapped the practice, even though his teams had voted each year since 1980 to continue it.

Scyphers ran into more trouble this year when Ray Rainer accused the coach of phoning his son, Mike Rainer, and persuading him to remain with the Simi Valley program instead of enrolling at Royal. Rainer did transfer to Royal and Scyphers was found guilty of the Southern Section’s undue influence rule and suspended this season for six games.

That’s the first time we’ve heard of a coach being penalized for losing a player to another school.

This week it was revealed that the six-game suspension was only part of the penalty--Scyphers also had been forced to resign effective at the end of the season.

And now, after the Pioneers lost a controversial coin flip Saturday that will keep them out of the playoffs, Scyphers’ Simi Valley career is over.

The scales just don’t balance. The punishment far exceeds the crimes. This man should not be driven from the profession.

“They make it so it’s not even fun anymore,” Scyphers said Saturday. “It’s been made miserable for me. If someone wants you out, they’re gonna get you.”

We agree that Scyphers can be a handful. Because of his outspokenness, he’s probably a difficult employee. Large bureaucracies, especially school districts which seem to delight in devising arcane rules that defy logic, have little tolerance for opinionated, strong-willed individuals.

We find it hard to ignore Scyphers’ contention that he became a marked man. He already has served two suspensions for his crimes. To force him to resign in addition to those penalties seems downright vindictive.

At least Scyphers seems to have made some peace with the decision.

“I thrive on the joy of competition,” he said. “They can’t take that away from me. They can’t take my integrity away from me. They can’t take my competitive spirit away from me. But they can take my job away.

“I don’t want this . . . job.”

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A year away from coaching came at an ideal time for Art Green, but the former girls’ track coach at Thousand Oaks figures it’s time to return.

In 17 seasons, Green led Thousand Oaks to 14 Marmonte League titles and the Southern Section 3-A Division championship in 1992. In addition, Thousand Oaks was a 4-A Division runner-up in 1978, ’80 and ‘87, and placed third in the State meet in 1993.

But after last season, Green told school officials that he was retiring--and this time they believed him.

“I always say I’m going to retire but then come back,” he said. “I was blowing my mouth off, saying absolutely I was not going to do it again. I guess I cried wolf too many times.”

When Green, 41, returned to school in the fall and saw that he was not assigned to the track team, he initially was disappointed. But he soon needed the extra free time to deal with a family tragedy.

His father, Don, the architect of the once-powerful Cal Lutheran track program, died in March from a long illness. He was 75.

Green spent nearly all of his time away from school at his father’s side in the hospital and also cared for his mother.

“My mom was at the hospital every day and she needed help,” Green said. “If I had to do it all over again, I would have designed (my schedule) this way.”

At the memorial service for his father, Green vowed to return to coaching to continue his father’s tradition. Green, who is a roving adaptive physical education teacher in the Conejo Valley Unified School District, has talked to both Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park officials about their respective girls’ track jobs.

And if he doesn’t take one of those jobs, he might assist his brother Doni, the men’s coach at Moorpark College.

“If I volunteer at Moorpark, I could probably squeeze my brother for something,” he said.

Green insists he will return to the profession a rejuvenated coach with a fresh approach.

This year has been like the sabbatical he has never had a chance to take.

“It’s been really nice this year, like a load has been taken off,” he said. “I enjoy watching the meets without having to use a stopwatch. Parents come up to talk and I see the other coaches.

“With one year off, I’ll be more enthusiastic than ever. I’ve been tinkering with track things in my head the whole time.”

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The best job in high school? How about the golf coach? The job description calls for lots of time playing golf at some of the best courses in the area.

Gerry Carrauthers lobbied hard to replace Bill Wood when the longtime Buena coach retired three years ago. Carrauthers has helped maintain the high standards set by Wood, posting a 45-8-1 record, including a 15-3 mark this season.

The Bulldogs were the surprise of Monday’s Southern Section north region tournament at Santa Barbara Golf Course, placing third behind San Marcos and Westlake to qualify for the section championship match Monday at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta.

All this great golf--and Carrauthers can’t swing a club. The 53-year-old coach underwent back surgery last summer after rupturing three disks pushing bleachers in the gym. “It’s tough watching these guys when you can’t swing yourself,” he said.

Carrauthers walks the course with his players, working on team attitude and leaving golf instruction to players’ private coaches.

“These guys probably know more about golf than I do,” he said. “My main thing is attitude. Before the match Monday, I just told them to relax and have fun. They seem to respond well to that.”

It also helped that junior Dan Prodoehl eagled his final hole of the day, allowing Buena to finish two strokes (377 to 379) ahead of Hart in the 22-team field.

Prodoehl shot a 79 and was the highest Buena scorer. Freshman Dusty Morton and junior Nate Whitson shots 74s, with freshman Drew Weilbacher and junior Greg Phelan at 75 on the par 70 course.

Prodoehl’s eagle will cost Carrauthers, who promised his players a dinner if they advanced to the Southern Section match.

“Yeah, they’re getting pretty boisterous about that,” Carrauthers said. “I’m just hoping I can get a discount.”