Simi Valley to Name D’Errico as Coach : Baseball: Softball assistant will replace Scyphers.

Tom D’Errico, an assistant softball coach at Simi Valley High, has been selected as the Pioneers’ new baseball coach, according to sources.

Simi Valley Athletic Director George Ragsdale said Tuesday he and Principal Kathryn Scroggin have chosen a coach and will make an announcement today.

“We will be putting together a press release,” Ragsdale said. “We have made a decision, but it’s not for release (Tuesday).”

Ragsdale said the coach will need to be approved by the school board.

D’Errico, a science teacher at Simi Valley, replaces Mike Scyphers, who was forced to resign after a successful 17-year tenure because of a series of controversies.

D’Errico was at least the third person to be offered the job. Former Kennedy High Coach Don Tamburro and Van Nuys Coach Jim Friery said they turned down the job because it did not include a teaching position.

Tamburro coached at Kennedy for 10 years. He also coached at Pierce and was an assistant at Pepperdine and UCLA.

Friery, 15-38 in two seasons at Van Nuys, said he was surprised to learn he was a finalist.

“My goal was to see if I could get an interview,” he said.

The other three candidates interviewed were Russ Stephans, a Simi Valley assistant the past two years; Jim Cratty, who coached the Pioneers before Scyphers took over in 1979; and David Wilder, a Westlake assistant who was elevated to head coach at that school last week.

Those three said they were not offered the job.