Koh to Coach L. A. Baptist Baseball Team

L. A. Baptist High has hired Chatsworth assistant Joe Koh as the school’s baseball coach, replacing Dave Phillips, who will remain with the program as an assistant.

Phillips led the Knights to a 15-7 record and a berth in the Southern Section 1-A Division playoffs this season after the team had won just two games in 1988. Phillips is stepping down because of a time conflict with his job with a Christian service group in Los Angeles.

Koh, 25, is an L. A. Baptist alumnus, having been graduated in 1982. He was the Olympic League Most Valuable Player as a pitcher and outfielder for the Knights and was an All-Southern Section 1-A Division selection. Koh then played at UC Riverside and assisted Coach Bob Lofrano at Chatsworth for two seasons.

Koh works for a plumbing company and will serve as a walk-on coach. He has set lofty goals for the program despite L. A. Baptist’s size. The private co-ed school in Sepulveda has an enrollment of about 450 students.

“I want to make it one of the top-notch baseball programs in Southern California,” he said. “I know it’s going to happen. I have that much confidence. People will compare L. A. Baptist to Chatsworth, Hart and Simi Valley. For a while we won’t be able to compete with those schools, but three or four years down the line scouts will be coming to our games.”