Chatsworth’s Johnson Signs With CSUN

Eric Johnson, a catcher at Chatsworth High, has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Cal State Northridge.

Johnson, 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, said he chose Northridge over Oklahoma, Pepperdine and UCLA.

“I love the Valley and California baseball,” said Johnson, who moved to Chatsworth from Michigan last summer and batted better than .380 with three home runs and 31 runs batted in this season. “I think we’ll have a top-notch Division I program in a couple years.”

Northridge Coach Bill Kernen said that the signing of Johnson is another step toward achieving his objective of attracting the most talented high school players in the Valley.

“It’s significant for the program to have a player of his caliber come into the program, particularly because he’s from a school about three miles away from our campus,” Kernen said. “It’s exciting that he would take what is probably a pretty bright future professionally and entrust us with the responsibility to develop it.”

Former Royal High boys’ and girls’ basketball Coach Gene Hatton has been named girls’ basketball coach at Moorpark High.

Hatton, who lives in Moorpark and teaches at Royal, coached the Royal girls to a Marmonte League title in 1982. His teams were ranked in the Southern Section 4-A Division top 10 three consecutive seasons (1981-83).