Little Leaguers Still Benched as Appeal Fails

Little League baseball officials on Sunday rejected an attempt by a Woodland Hills team to reverse the disqualification of two key players from championship play, authorities said.

League authorities, who Friday declared the players were ineligible after Encino team officials charged that neither player lived within Woodland Hills league boundaries, have not received documentation that would cause them to change their decision.

The Woodland Hills team “needs to present things that people are required by law to change when they change residency--voter registration, driver’s license, income tax forms, that kind of thing,” said Carl Magee, the Little League administrator in charge of the western region. “What they presented was not enough for [the league’s national headquarters] to change its mind.”

The decision, which keeps Woodland Hills’ best player, Junior Garcia, and another starter, Garrett Feig, on the sidelines, does not prevent Woodland Hills Little League officials from again appealing the players’ disqualification.

Magee said that Little League will continue to review documentation as it is provided by Woodland Hills.

Woodland Hills league officials “indicated they will continue to pursue this,” he said.

The Woodland Hills officials were not immediately available for comment.

Another appeal seemed very likely Sunday afternoon after the Woodland Hills Sunrise all-stars defeated a Lompoc team 11-0 to advance in the double elimination tournament.

The Woodland Hills team, playing without Garcia and Feig, both 12, lost to a Thousand Oaks squad on Saturday. Garcia, considered the top Little League player in the Valley, and Feig, who has played in Woodland Hills for four years, sat in street clothes as Woodland Hills lost the first-round sectional game.

But from a hotel room in Lompoc, Woodland Hills Little League President Geri Szabo scrambled to put together an appeal. She faxed documents to Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pa., that she believes exonerate the players.

Woodland Hills needs to keep winning or the issue will become moot. The team faces Santa Paula today at 5 p.m. in another elimination game and would have to win games every day through Thursday to advance to the Southern California division tournament in La Puente.

Like all Little League squads, the players are dreaming of playing in Williamsport, site of the Little League World Series.

Meanwhile, the same Encino Little League officials who complained about the Woodland Hills players were busy cleaning up their fields after vandals broke into the storage area and announcer’s booth over the weekend. Chalk was spread on the bleachers, fields were flooded and graffiti was written on fences.

Encino Little League President Bob Bills estimated damage at $3,000.

“Who knows who did it?” Bills said. “It’s an unfortunate incident, especially with the timing. We have a security company that has increased the number of times they swing past the field.”