BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL LEAGUE STILL SWINGING SYLMAR INDEPENDENT BASEBALL LEAGUE WINTER LEAGUE SIGN UPS WILL START SOON.

Byline: RICK COCA Valley News Writer

Banking on a forecast of sunny skies, the Sylmar Independent Baseball League's fast-pitch softball division hopes to reclaim some of the players it lost two years ago after record-breaking rainstorms caused a mini exodus of players to other leagues.

The rains washed away the main road leading up to the Pacoima Wash outdoor baseball and softball fields and resulted in a sizable drop off of players at the league's facility a half-mile off Maclay Street in Sylmar, just north of the Foothill Freeway.

Some potential players thought the league had shut down. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A community mainstay, the nonprofit program run completely by volunteers will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary. It offers baseball and softball to boys and girls ages 4 1/2 to 18. The fast-pitch softball program boasts alumni like three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Crystal Bustos.

Mary Ann Traba of Sylmar is the girls' league winter ball coordinator. She and her husband, Mario Traba, became involved with the program 12 years ago when their daughter, Nadine Traba-Johnson, began playing.

``(Nadine's) cousin was playing and invited her to play at SIBL, and she just fell in love with the sport,'' Traba said.

Nadine, 24, took her experience playing in the league's 18-and-under fast-pitch program to Sylmar High School, where she was a four-year member of the girl's softball team.

A pitcher, Traba-Johnson eventually received a four-year scholarship to play softball at South Carolina State University.

Traba said her daughter was athletically inclined, loved to compete with her three brothers and would readily roughhouse with them.

Traba said some of the girls who come into the softball program have the ability to compete and be athletic, but they're not always aware of it early on.

``They learn to be coordinated,'' Traba said. ``A lot of girls, when they come, they've never played. (They'll say), `Oh, I can't do that.'''

Traba said that when they first start playing, many of the girls don't want to play infield because they're frightened by the speed of the ball.

``By the end, nobody wants to play outfield because they know that the infield is where the action is,'' Traba said.

Traba said she loves to watch the transformation of the young girls as their confidence builds and ``their faces light up.''

Fred Duran is the president of the Sylmar Independent Baseball League and also serves as the boys' league coordinator. His sons and daughters participated in the league, and now it's his grandchildren's turn.

``I've been with the program since I was 18,'' Duran said. ``I'm 50 now.'' < Duran and Traba both stressed that the benefits for some girls can go a lot further than building confidence or experiencing the sheer joy of the crack of the bat or running the bases.

``Their best avenue to get a (college athletic) scholarship is in softball,'' Duran said. ``You can get them and there's room for them.''

Duran said although only about 10 percent of recreational league participants will earn a scholarship, that shouldn't dissuade young kids in his program.

``That 10 percent could be one of them,'' Duran said. ``Although few do make it, it's a dream that counts.''

Early registration for the Sylmar Independent Baseball League girls' fast-pitch program begins Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19 and 20, and continues through September. Tryouts are Sept. 16-17.

For information on fees and registration for the girls' program, call Mary Ann Traba at [phone]. For fees, registration and tryout dates for the upcoming boys' program, call Duran at [phone].

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Members of the Sylmar Independent Baseball League's Ladybugs are, front row, from left, Alyssa Arroyo, Brenna Dean, Alex Rose Ulloa, Gwendolyn Pederson, Iris Martinez and Adrianna Luna. Back row, from left, coaches Kimberly Orr and Michelle Pederson, Dayzzy Alvarenga, Amani Thompson, Jessica Harper, team mom Denise Arroyo and coach Michael Pederson.