CV softball coach battling for life

The architect of the Crescenta Valley High softball program and, arguably, the area’s most successful softball coach, Dan Berry, is breathing on his own after being taken off a ventilator, but battling for his life, Athletic Director Peter Kim confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

Berry, 66, was taken to Verdugo Hills Hospital on Oct. 11 after suffering two seizures inside the Crescenta Valley coaches’ office. After paramedics arrived, confirmed Kim, Berry went into cardiac arrest and was treated at the scene before being taken to the hospital.

Berry’s family, respecting the coach’s wishes to not be kept alive by artificial means, Kim confirmed, took him off the ventilator Friday evening, and he was moved to the hospice section of the hospital.

Berry has coached the Crescenta Valley softball team for 27 seasons, beginning when he started up the program in 1983. He coached until 1994, before coaching at L.A. Pierce College until his return to Crescenta Valley in 1998. His teams have won 20 Pacific League titles and 570 games. In 1986, the softball team won a CIF Southern Section championships — the first in school history for any girls’ team sport.