Arcadia Pays Big Penalty

Arcadia’s baseball team has no one to blame but itself after the Southern Section ruled it had to forfeit its 4-0 first-round victory over Villa Park in the Division I playoffs because the Apaches’ suspended coach watched the game from beyond the right-field fence.

Coach Sean McCorry was ejected from Arcadia’s final regular-season game. When coaches or players are ejected from a game, they are automatically suspended for the next contest and can’t be in attendance or the team forfeits.

Technically speaking, McCorry wasn’t inside the baseball stadium and, therefore, it can be said that he wasn’t in attendance.

According to section rules, “Attendance is defined as being present at the team/bench area, inside a gymnasium, stadium or playing area.”

But the Southern Section has always interpreted the ejection rule as meaning the suspended person can’t be at the game. The following sentence in the rule book states, “The intent of this rule is that the ejected person is not in attendance at the contest.”

First-year Athletic Director Mike Gordon, who advised McCorry that he could watch the game from a street off campus and beyond the right-field line, said, “We felt we acted in good faith. There was no attempt on our part to take advantage of the rule or gain a playing advantage. We tried to do the right thing based on what the rule said, as far as being on the team bench, or in the stadium, or on the field.”

It doesn’t matter if McCorry did nothing but sit in a lawn chair and watch. He was at the game, violated the ejection rule and his players must suffer the consequences.

Of course, now that some Arcadia parents have hired a lawyer, they might be able to convince a judge to interpret the ejection rule differently.

But those who have watched and followed high school sports for years know the intent of the ejection rule. It’s to serve as a deterrent to bad behavior. It’s only supposed to affect one person, the ejected party, unless the rule is ignored. Unfortunately, a whole team is coping with an error in judgment.

“I just feel terrible for the kids,” Gordon said. “They did everything they were supposed to do.”

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One of the most impressive individual performance from the Southern Section track championships on Saturday belonged to 5-foot-6, 145-pound senior triple-jumper Scott Tsuda from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

He won the Division III title with a career-best effort of 48-3 3/4 , the best mark from any division. His coach, Joe McNab, still answers, “I don’t know,” when asked how his star pupil is able to leap so far despite his lack of size.

Competitors have the same reaction.

“I think I kind of shocked them,” Tsuda said.

He has a 35-inch vertical leap and has improved his triple jump by eight feet since he was a freshman. He plans to attend UC San Diego and keep jumping.

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It’s tough enough to beat Crescenta Valley’s Trevor Bell and his 94-mph fastball in broad daylight, so why do opposing teams keep agreeing to play the Falcons at night?

Long Beach Poly lost, 18-0, under the lights to Bell (8-2) in a Southern Section Division I playoff opener on Thursday. Now, Santa Ana Mater Dei has chosen to play host to the Falcons at 7 tonight.

The night setting is great for baseball fans, but it’s also an advantage for Bell, who throws so hard, hitters have a difficult time adjusting. Crescenta Valley, however, could end up using its No. 2 pitcher, sophomore Dustin Emmons (8-0).

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.