The South Coast League bills itself as the only independent baseball league in America with a written drug policy. It has enforced that policy for the first time at the expense of the Aiken Foxhounds.

The first-year, six-team league suspended Foxhounds shortstop Tim Sweeney and right-handed pitcher AJ Montano for testing positive for a masking agent during a random drug test three or four weeks ago, according to general manager Bradley Bell.

"The other independent leagues don't (test), but the league and the organization feels strongly about it. We want to run a clean program," Bell said. "It's nothing you ever want to see happen, but we're trying to keep it clean."

Under the league's policy, a first-time violation carries a 10-game suspension. According to Bell, the team will make a decision on the players' futures after that.

It isn't known what the players could have had in their system. The test covers everything from performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids to recreational substances such as marijuana.

"In sports right now, of course everybody is going to think steroids, but the test covers everything," Bell said. "Anything can show up. The test isn't primarily for steroids, so we're not going to make any assumptions because we just don't know."

The masking agent, which potentially is used to disguise drug use, was detected by a random sample taken by acting league medical director Rob DeSantis. He has performed tests in all six markets over the past month, and Aiken's results came back first.

"Both of these tests came back as 'diluted samples,' which means that there was a masking agent used to cover up the potential of a positive test for a banned substance," DeSantis said in a release. "Per league policy, a diluted sample falls under the category of a failed sample, thus triggering the suspensions."

Sweeney has played in 53 of 62 games, hitting .285 with 20 RBI and four home runs. Montano, a reliever, is 1-1 with a 4.45 ERA in 26 appearances.

"This is unfortunate for Aiken, as they will lose two valuable pieces of their team for an extended period of time during the final month of the season," Chris Allen, the league's chief operating officer, said in a release. "Nonetheless, a violation of our drug policy is not something to be taken lightly, and the South Coast League will not condone this type of behavior."