AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : Lederman Tidies Up His Game

Greg Lederman is a baseball player. He hits. He runs. He scores. He also makes defensive plays, the kind that put stains into a uniform that not even mom can get out.

He also has slumps, his mostly clean Woodland Hills West uniform being a telltale sign in the early rounds of the American Legion 6th Area playoffs.

In a first-round loss to Claremont on Thursday and a win over Santa Monica on Friday, Lederman managed one hit in seven at-bats. The loss to Claremont was West’s first in 21 games and put West one game from elimination in the tournament.

So, for West’s third- and fourth-round games against Culver City and Conejo Valley on Saturday, Coach Don Hornback pulled Lederman from the lineup.

“Psychologically, I think he was down a little bit,” Hornback said.

Lederman, though, says he was just trying to make things happen.

“I was pressing a little too hard on myself and I just wasn’t into it,” said Lederman, who was one for four in Thursday’s loss. “If you lose, everyone starts pushing a little bit, but I started to push myself too much, swinging at bad pitches and not waiting for my pitch.”

Benching Lederman for two games was a gamble. During the regular season Lederman batted .338 (25 for 74) and drove in 19 runs.

Luckily, Hornback hit the jackpot. Lederman rebounded in West’s first game of a doubleheader against Claremont in the finals Sunday, going two for three with a run batted in in a 5-2 win. (Hornback, perhaps not wanting to push his luck, did not play Lederman in the second game.)

Lederman’s fielding was also fine-tuned. Lederman made a superb diving catch near the fence in right field to take a potential RBI double from Claremont’s Bob Skapik in the eighth inning.

“I think (the rest) helped him,” Hornback said. “He made some great plays out there.”

Laughing, he added, “If he didn’t do those things I’d be an idiot, but he did, so I’m a smart guy now.”

Growth spurt: District 20 might grow by as many as three teams next summer.

District 20 Commissioner Mel Swerdling said that while “nothing is official,” representatives of Montclair Prep and Hart highs have inquired about starting teams next summer and that a team from Antelope Valley might also materialize.

San Fernando is the lone team from among the 1990 crop of 24 that might not field a team next season, Swerdling said.

Jinxed: Between the second and third innings in the nightcap of a doubleheader between Claremont and Woodland Hills West, the stadium announcer re-introduced West third baseman Del Marine as the 1989 Legion Player of the Year.

Less than five minutes later, Claremont’s Bob Skapik scored on an error when Marine overthrew catcher Bobby Kim in an attempt to force Skapik after Jorge Paz hit a grounder with the bases loaded.

An inning later, Brian Lott scored and Skapik went to third when Marine was unable to handle Lederman’s throw from right field.

Quotable: Conejo Valley Coach Craig Sturges was particularly impressed with the gentlemanly conduct of Woodland Hills West, even though his team lost, 13-8, in the championship semifinals of the 6th Area playoffs.

“You don’t mind getting your head handed to you by a team with class,” Sturges said.

Wait till next year: Want to see a District 20 coach temporarily lose his cool? Bring up the fact that only one team from District 20--Woodland Hills West--was allowed into the 6th Area playoffs this year, while two teams from District 16--Camarillo and Conejo Valley--qualified.

District 20 is composed of 24 teams; District 16 has five. District 20 conducts an eight-team, double-elimination playoff to determine a champion; District 16 sends the team with the best regular-season record.

Such inequity is periodic. The 6th Area uses a yearly rotation to decide which districts will be allowed to send two teams. This summer, Districts 24 and 16 each sent two.

Last season, District 20 sent two teams--Woodland Hills West and Panorama City--to the 6th Area playoffs and the teams played for the championship.

Swerdling said he tried to rectify the problem more than a decade ago but that his message was lost in the shuffle.

“I wanted us to be able to send two teams every year,” he said. “I think at that time we had 18 teams or so, more than the other districts. But they decided they’d use the rotation, because they thought it would be the fairest way.”

District 20 will send two teams to the area playoffs in 1991 and 1992, Swerdling said.