Like a car that keeps clugging and chugging after the ignition is turned off, the Lowcountry Heat won’t quite go away, even after the season’s final pitch.

In an article in Monday’s Island Packet/Beaufort Gazette, head coach Randy McGarvey said assistant coach George Cyrilla quit the team after a verbal confrontation that took place on the field before the team’s final regular-season game because he was upset his son, Derek Cyrilla, wasn’t in the starting lineup. He added that he still considers Cyrilla a friend but that having a parent as an assistant “is poison.” The two have not spoken since.

Cyrilla, though, said he quit in protest of McGarvey’s handling of several players, not just his son. He said that near the end of the season, several players were upset with how playing time was divvied and about the positions McGarvey asked them to play.

“Randy made too many promises to people,” Cyrilla said. “He showed too much favoritism, which I felt was wrong. ... I saw Randy’s true colors this year. That’s the bottom line.”

More of Cyrilla’s comments will be available in an article in Friday’s Packet and Gazette and will be posted online here, as well.

Post 185 Commander Al Wattay, who was present for at least part of Cyrlla’s verbal altercation with McGarvey before the July 13 game, told me earlier this week he tried to dissuade Cyrilla from quitting on the spot but also prefers McGarvey not dress down an assistant in front of the team.

Wattay said he expects a shake-up in the team’s administration before next season but offered no specifics.

“We’re going to look at everything,” Wattay promised. “I guarantee some things are going to happen. I can’t tell you what those changes might be, but I can tell you there will be changes.”

McGarvey has coached the team for all nine years of its existence, though he missed almost all of the 2007 season as he recovered from a life-threatening kidney blockage.

The Heat finished 8-12.

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On a related note, McGarvey got a vote of support from Sumter’s head coach, who addressed a letter to the editor to the Packet. The paper ultimately declined to run it, primarily because we didn’t believe the coach had enough first-hand information to know what caused a few of the Heat’s players to quit this season.

But we did like the sentiment and thought it appropriate for publication here:

Dear editor:

I am an American Legion Baseball Coach of 22 years. Recently, my Sumter team played the Hilton Head American Legion Team. We were playing a best-of-five series. After the 2nd game, I was saddened and dismayed to learn that 3 players quit the team during game 2, leaving Hilton Head with only 10 players. Desertion is a serious offense since these players are saying to their teammates, "forget you, team and I don't care what happens to you."

What these players decided to do in my mind is reprehensible, but a parent who would let his son quit is more of a problem than the player. That parent is teaching his son that any time things get rough in life, just quit. Whether it be your marriage, your job, your church, or your college ... just quit! For any of the Packet’s readers, if you have young children, they don't have to be in every activity that is available to them. When your child chooses to participate, do him/her a life long favor. Explain to them that quitting is not an option because "our family is not a family that quits."

Coach (Randy) McGarvey has been a very dedicated coach for Hilton Head Legion, for 10 years now. He is the chief, cook and bottle-washer. His teams have made it to the playoffs each (of the past 10 years), a real feather in the cap because of his limited drawing area for players. Please don't run off a good man like this one. Men who have the time, knowledge, and passion to work with young boys are extremely hard to find. I will make a special effort to shake hands with each of the 10 remaining players. The ability to see things through will serve them well in the rest of their lives. Isn't that what it's really all about?

Coach Wallie Jones
Sumter Post 15 Baseball Head Coach