AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK / STEVE ELLING : Evans Goes to Battle Single-Handedly

Right-hander Lance Evans was the losing pitcher in Verdugo Hills’ 11-6 defeat at the hands of Valley North in the American Legion District 20 playoffs last weekend, but he went down winging and swinging.

With one arm.

Evans, sidelined after suffering a broken left arm in a Legion game last month, made his first appearance in four weeks, working as a reliever against Valley North. With his arm in a cast from the palm to just below the elbow, Evans crammed a glove on his hand and gave it a go.

He couldn’t open or close the glove--he barehanded most of the return throws from his catcher--which had some Legion representatives fretting openly about possible liability. And since all postseason tournaments are played under National League rules, Evans was forced to bat for himself three times in the game.

In his first at-bat, Evans batted from the left side and nearly looped a double down the line in left, but the ball fell foul by a few inches. He later grounded out. In his second at-bat, he walked.

In his third, he batted from the right side, and to everyone’s surprise, slapped a single through the right side of the infield with a one-handed swipe.

Trivia time: Name the area American Legion and high school baseball coach who in 1967 beat future major league pitcher Scott McGregor, 5-0, in a Babe Ruth tournament game and struck out future American League batting champ George Brett with the bases loaded to preserve the shutout. (Answer below).

The price is right: Mel Swerdling, the District 20 commissioner, also helps run the North Hollywood Legion team, which includes a catcher from Harvard-Westlake named Kevin O’Malley.

O’Malley’s father, Peter, is the owner of the Dodgers and often stopped by to watch his son’s Legion games this summer, Swerdling said.

There were a few similarities between the so-so North Hollywood club and the elder O’Malley’s struggling franchise, which Swerdling pointed out.

“I told him we were about as bad as the Dodgers,” Swerdling said. “But our payroll’s a lot lower.”

Tale of the tape: No one can say that Bryan LaCour, one of the region’s more talented young players, is lacking big-league confidence.

LaCour, who will be a junior in the fall at Chatsworth High, banged out a run-scoring double against Encino-Crespi pitching ace Jeff Suppan on Thursday and was later asked by an area sportswriter for a reaction.

The exchange went as follows, according to LaCour’s father, Jeff:

Reporter: How did it feel?

LaCour: OK. It was a double. No big deal.

Reporter: Did anybody videotape it for you?

LaCour: No. Why?

Reporter: Well, Suppan may go a long way in this game.

LaCour: Good, then I’ll see him again.

Trivia answer: Crespi High and Encino-Crespi Coach Scott Muckey, playing for a team of 14-15-year-olds from Westchester, struck out Brett with the bags full en route to a complete-game victory over McGregor and El Segundo at Loyola Marymount.