Durango won’t take decision to court

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, May 25, 2000 | 10:02 a.m.

After looking into their legal options regarding last Friday's double forfeit, the Durango baseball team has decided not to bring the matter to court, coach Mike Gomez said Wednesday.

"There's nowhere to take it," Gomez said. "We had some parents that were interested in pursuing it, but the bottom line is there wasn't a vague rule."

On Friday, with the Trailblazers leading Reno 8-2 in the top of the seventh inning of their 4A State Tournament game at Henderson's Burkholder Field, both teams left their dugouts after a collision at home plate.

Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association executive director Jerry Hughes ruled the contest a double forfeit, declaring Silverado the 2000 4A champion.

Hughes based his decision on NIAA regulation 2080-5, which states: "Regardless of his/her intentions, an athlete who leaves the bench, sideline or other area which is outside the actual field of play and enters into the field of play in response to an incident such as an altercation or a fight, commits an unsportsmanlike act and must be suspended for the remainder of that contest."

The rules goes on to say, "If a majority of the members of a team or teams leaves the non-playing area, the contest must be ruled as a forfeiture or a double forfeiture, as appropriate."

The NIAA also sent out a packet on April 4 to teams participating in this year's prep playoffs, reminding coaches that regulation 2080-5 would be "strictly enforced" during the tournament.

On Sunday, Gomez contacted an attorney to explore the possibility of challenging the decision. Since then, he said, little progress was made.

"The rule is that you can't leave the dugout, and we're not arguing the fact that we were out of the dugout," Gomez said. "So it's pretty much a moot point.

"But everybody seems to think it was a full-on brawl, and I'd like people to understand it was nothing like that."

The Trailblazers finished the season with a 29-10 overall record.

"It's just going to take some time on everybody's part to get over it," Gomez said. "It will always be an open wound. You just hope the bleeding will stop eventually."