City Section 4-A Baseball Playoffs : Taft Cashes In Against Van Nuys

Taft High hitters found a good way to spend small change, choosing to play out their Field of Dreams instead of watching someone else’s at the movies.

Jason Shapiro, Brett Reisner, Glenn Nahmias, Adam Zutler and Mike Kimelman spent a handful of quarters at a batting cage Thursday and their small investment paid huge dividends in the first round of the City Section 4-A Division playoffs at Taft.

The five players combined for nine hits and drove in six runs to help the Toreadors defeat Van Nuys, 9-1, Friday.

Zutler’s two-run double highlighted a four-run third inning and gave Taft a 5-0 lead. The senior catcher also threw out three baserunners in the game.

Chris Brown (9-3), a senior right-hander, picked up the win, allowing only five hits and striking out five without issuing a walk in six innings.

Taft (16-10), which is making its first playoff appearance since 1980, will play Sylmar Tuesday in a second-round game.

Van Nuys, appearing in the playoffs for the first time since 1963, ended its season at 7-10.