Simi Valley Turns Back on Colonial

ORLANDO, Fla. —  Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers surprised officials at the Colonial Baseball Classic when he announced Friday that his team would not play today for third place in the 16-team tournament.

Three hours before his team took the field at Colonial High and walloped Boone (Fla.), 11-3, to run its record to 4-1 in the tournament, Scyphers said he had called Stan Thomas, Southern Section commissioner, on Thursday and learned that the Pioneers would exceed their allotted number of nonleague games if they played more than five in Florida.

Simi Valley was scheduled to play today against Lake Brantley, which also was 4-1 in the tournament and was awarded third place.

“It didn’t occur to me until I took a good look at the losers’ bracket and realized we could play six games,” Scyphers said.

But it came as an even bigger surprise when Scyphers announced that he would not bring his team east for the tournament next year.

“Three years is enough,” said Scyphers, whose team won the tournament in 1986 and placed fourth this year. “Next year, we’ll play somewhere else.”

The Pioneers will not be missed. For those who have watched them display a brash brand of baseball, characterized by a noisy and sometimes belligerent dugout, Scyphers’ announcement was a welcome one.

“They’re arrogant and mouthy,” Colonial junior varsity Coach Jim Barrett said. “They’re bush. They don’t conduct themselves in a proper manner.”

Said Melinda Freeman, a 1978 Colonial graduate and tournament volunteer: “They’re a good team, playing-wise. But they run their mouths--even the bat girls.”

Scyphers, who was ejected during Simi Valley’s 13-12 win over Colonial on Friday, has spent much of his time in Florida defending his team’s behavior, claiming it is typical of Southern California teams.

“I couldn’t care less,” Scyphers said of local opinions of his team. “We’re out here to win ballgames, not make friends.”

Scyphers hasn’t. Before his game with Simi Valley, Colonial Coach George Kirchgassner said there was “no team in the country he would rather play than Simi Valley.”

After the teams traded home runs and heated words for 2 1/2 hours, Kirchgassner changed his mind. The Colonial coach, who also is the tournament director, removed a photograph of himself and Scyphers from the wall in his office.

“This can go in the garbage can,” Kirchgassner said. “I wanted to use this frame for something else, anyway.”

Scyphers, who complained about the umpiring in the Colonial game, said that his decision not to return stemmed from his being tired of raising funds for the trip.

“I have no complaints about the tournament,” he said. “George has done a marvelous job. It’s just that I said going in that we’re not coming back.”