Just got a call from Redlands East Valley athletic director Rhonda Fouch notifying me of three REV athletes signing during the early signing period. Volleyball player Johnna Fouch will sign with San Diego State Friday at 7 p.m. in the REV ASB room, while softball player Amy Nece will sign with North Carolina early next week, as will baseball player Griffin Murphy with San Diego. Nece is going on an official visit to North Carolina this upcoming weekend according to Fouch.
Its not a Fall Signing Period without some input from the Yucaipa baseball team, which will have two players signing this week. First baseman Wyatt Padgett will sign with BYU while outfielder Brian Derryberry will sign with UC Riverside at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, according to a voicemail I received from YHS athletic director Mark Anderson.
Any other coaches, athletic directors or parents who have athletes signing with Division I schools this week should e-mail me at tj.berka@inlandnewspapers.com or comment on this blog. We don't want to miss anyone.
The protest of Yucaipa's 15-7 CIF-SS Division II first-round victory over La Crescenta Crescenta Valley Thursday was rejected Friday according to Yucaipa athletic director Mark Anderson.
The protest, filed by Crescenta Valley coach Phil Torres, was filed because Torres claimed that Yucaipa catcher Cody Meservey didn't leave the premises promptly after having been ejected in the top of the second inning. However, according to Anderson, Meservey didn't need to leave the premises at all.
"The rule is different for players than coaches," Anderson said. "If a coach is ejected, he must leave the premises, but a player can stay in the dugout or in the stands as long as he is supervised by an adult, which we did."
After Meservey blew off some steam from the ejection, Anderson escorted Meservey from the baseball field and took him over to the football stadium, where he watched the rest of the game by looking over the bleachers.
"The rule is different because what are you supposed to do if a player is ejected on the road?" Anderson said. "He can't leave the campus, like the rule for coaches states. That's why it's different. I think its unfortunate that the umpires didn't know this rule and this got as far as it did."
Anderson drove to the CIF-SS offices in Los Alamitos to make the case for the No. 2-seeded Thunderbirds Friday morning. It didn't take much of an argument though, as the CIF had no inclination to change the result of the game.
"They said that I really didn't need to go down there because there were no grounds for a reversal," Anderson said. "I just wanted to make sure that we did everything in our power to explain our point of view."
Yucaipa will continue its playoff run with a second-round game against Cypress Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. at Yucaipa High School.
The CIF-Southern Section offices decided Tuesday that San Bernardino athletic director Patrick Mills should be suspended from coaching the Cardinals baseball team after pulling his team off of the field in the bottom of the fifth inning of San Bernardino's game with San Gorgonio on Friday afternoon. The San Bernardino Unified School District will comply with the CIF's suggestion according to CIF Director of Communications Thom Simmons.
Contacted via e-mail, Simmons submitted the below explanation on the CIF's position:
"CIF Southern Section Bluebook Rule 125.2 states very clearly that the expectation of the CIF Southern Section Executive Committee is for a coach that removes his team from a court or field prior to the end of a contest should be relieved from his/her duties for the balance of the season or face potential sanctions from the section. It is our understandiing that San Bernardino High School has done just that. We commend the San Bernardino principal for taking the actions he has to this point and await a final report from him with any possible additional penalties against Mr. Mills."
The last statement suggests that more sanctions against Mills could arise from the incident, where Mills had the San Bernardino baseball team walk off the field down 8-1 in the fifth inning to the Spartans. The Cardinals (3-21 overall, 1-12 San Andreas League) will conclude their season with an interim coach with two games against Cajon, playing at Cajon today and hosting the Cowboys Friday.