Section Committee to Hear Playoff Flap : Marmonte baseball: Group will determine which team should take the No. 3 spot.

Simi Valley High’s dispute with the Marmonte League over playoff seedings has gone to the Southern Section, which will hold a hearing on the matter at 1:30 p.m. today at the section office.

Three members of the Southern Section executive committee will hear the representatives from Simi Valley and Westlake, and Marmonte League president Terry Tackett. The section is expected to issue a ruling on which team should take the league’s No. 3 spot in the playoffs.

Westlake won the Marmonte’s final playoff spot on a coin flip even though it lost both games to Simi Valley during the league season.

Attorneys representing the Simi Valley players said they will file papers in court this morning requesting judicial relief if the Southern Section’s decision does not support their position.

“We will be filing the papers as a preventive measure,” attorney Mike McConville said, “and pending the outcome of [today’s] hearing, we may be in court Friday morning.”

The Ventura County Superior Court in Simi Valley could issue a restraining order holding up the playoffs until the sides argue the issue in court, or it could order the Marmonte League to reverse its decision and submit Simi Valley as its third playoff team, said Daniel Gonzalez, another attorney for the Simi Valley players.

Westlake is scheduled to open the Division I playoffs with a game at Alemany at 3 p.m. Friday. Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley said he has notified Alemany of the dispute and the game could be rescheduled for Saturday if the executive committee finds in favor of Simi Valley today.

Crowley also allowed the Pioneers to resume practice Wednesday. Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers said Crowley’s announcement provided a glimmer of hope for his team.

“I just feel like we are going to be heard by somebody else, but I don’t know what to expect,” Scyphers said.

Westlake Coach Bob Wade said he is trying to keep himself and his team away from the controversy.

“It’s out of our hands,” Wade said. “I’m just receiving information on if we’re going to go or we’re not going to go.

“We’re trying not to let it overshadow what we do on the practice field. We are assuming we will be playing.”

Buena Park Principal Tom Triggs, Liberty Christian Principal Clark Stephens and Keppel Assistant Principal Tony Ortega are the executive committee members who will rule on the appeal by Simi Valley. But Crowley said he is prepared for a legal fight from whichever side loses at today’s hearing.

“That potential always exists,” he said. “But one argument will not be that they didn’t have due process.”

The dispute began Friday when Royal, Simi Valley, Westlake and Camarillo finished in a four-way tie for second place in the Marmonte League. Royal was given the league’s No. 2 spot, based on the tie-breaker procedures.

League representatives then determined that the league bylaws dictated the tie for third between Simi Valley (17-9, 9-5) and Westlake (19-6, 9-5) should be broken by a coin toss.

“It’s a simple thing,” Scyphers said. “How we’ve gotten different people interpreting [the bylaws] is mind-boggling.”

Making the playoff elimination that much more difficult for Scyphers to accept, the 17th-year coach announced last week that he had been forced resign at the end of the season because of a series of controversies and allegations.