Baseball: Taft program is on the comeback trail

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It has been 10 long, frustrating years since Woodland Hills Taft made the City Section baseball playoffs, but with third-year Coach Chuck Berrington working wonders and junior left-handed pitcher Ryan Santhon, pictured, continuing to get out batters, the Toreadors are closing in on a playoff berth.

Taft (5-5) swept Birmingham (3-7) last week, with Santhon getting a win and save. Those victories put the Toreadors firmly in fourth place in the West Valley League, just behind Cleveland (6-4) and El Camino Real (6-4). Fourth place would be good enough to earn a playoff spot, considering the West Valley is the toughest in the City.

Taft’s improvement has been startling.

‘They’re tremendous,’ Birmingham Coach Matt Mowry said. ‘Santhon is Santhon, but their hitters are so much better and they’re not making errors.’

Taft was 1-14 in league play two years ago in Berrington’s first season, then 2-13 last season. This year, the Toreadors inflicted the only league loss Chatsworth (9-1) has had, and they play Chatsworth Wednesday.

For a school that’s had strong programs in football, basketball, track and volleyball, Taft is finally getting its baseball program back in top form.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image by Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times