Highland Won’t Reinstate Players on Suspension

Eleven players suspended from Highland High’s baseball team will not be reinstated this season, Coach Todd Zucker said Monday.

The players were suspended from school for five days for consuming alcohol at the Bishop Gorman tournament in Las Vegas during Easter break.

School administrators, citing school district policy, informed the players’ parents of their decision at a Monday night meeting.

“We are going to follow district policy that the use of alcohol results in expulsion from a team,” Zucker said.

Some parents have considered an appeal and are seeking legal counsel, Zucker said.

The alcohol was allegedly provided by assistant coach Jeremy Holiday, 22. Holiday was subsequently fired.

Highland (9-9, 4-5 in Golden League play) will continue to field a team, using several junior varsity players. Five varsity players were not suspended.

The Bulldogs defeated Littlerock, 16-12, on Friday, their first game without the suspended players.

“I’m disappointed for the kids,” Zucker said. “They’re good kids, but they did make a mistake.”

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Poor run support isn’t the only thing hurting Chris Seddon.

The Canyon senior, expected to be one of the top pitchers in the region, has been slowed by a groin pull and sore elbow, injuries he kept to himself until recently.

Seddon, a 6-foot-4 left-hander who has signed with Loyola Marymount, is 1-5 and has allowed 37 hits in 31 1/3 innings.

“I’m not quite back to 100%, so I can’t throw my pitches as well as I can,” Seddon said. “I can’t pitch to my standards. I just know I have to wait it out and take better care of my arm than I have been.”

Seddon has a 2.23 ERA and lost one-run games to Royal and Camarillo.

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Don’t count Hoover out of the playoff race.

Thanks to an explosive week by left fielder Sergio Garcia, the Tornadoes (7-10, 4-5) closed to within a game of Glendale (11-8, 5-4) for third place in the Pacific League.

Garcia, a senior, had two home runs against Pasadena, one homer against Muir and finished with nine RBIs in six at-bats last week. He is batting .423.

Hoover has finished above .500 in league play only once since 1994. The Tornadoes play today at Glendale and Friday at last-place Muir.