Coyotes clinch first-ever Foothill League title in rout over Canyon, plus scores from around the league
For the first time in school history, the Castaic Coyotes can call themselves the champions of the Foothill League following a 14-2 win over the Canyon Cowboys that guaranteed them a share of the title alongside West Ranch on Friday.
“These boys worked so hard, and they had to grow up quick – and they did,” Castaic head coach Darrell Davis said. “I knew we had a chance to compete. I just wasn’t sure if we were going to be as good as we have been.”
The Coyotes are graduating five seniors, but Davis said he saw many in the Santa Clarita baseball community count his team out as most of his players were juniors orunderclassmen.
Davis said his team heard the noise and he urged the Coyotes to go do something the school has never seen before – win a baseball Foothill League title.
“These boys have worked for it. This will always be something that I will treasure,” he said. “I have two boys, Orion Gonzalez and Andrew Bond, that their brothers played for me on that CIF championship team … I told them ‘They got the big prize. But to win the Foothill League title for the first time ever at Castaic. That’s huge.”
One of the juniors who led the Coyotes to the title-winning day, Matthew Gonzalez, drove in four runs and punched out four across two innings pitched.
Gonzalez, although a junior, said it’s always been a dream to bring the Foothill League title to Castaic High School and was glad to give this year’s senior class something to remember.
“It’s always been a dream for me,” Gonzalez said. “Ever since being a freshman here coming here, I looked up to the seniors and upperclassman … so it’s definitely been a dream.”
Jakob Ker, who’s the Coyotes senior catcher, got to describe winning the title as “amazing” as he ends his regular-season career as a Foothill League champion.
“It’s a lot to take in, but we worked hard,” Kerr said. “Last year and this year were two great teams, so this really pays off. We’re really young this year so I can’t wait to see what the team does next year.”
With the win, the Coyotes are Foothill League champions alongside the Wildcats, who shared the title with Castaic with a 9-3 record.
Davis added that the team’s work is not yet over as the next goal is to win in the playoffs and make a deep run for the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section title.
“We get a little bit of rest, so we don’t play again for almost two weeks,” Davis said. “Our guys will be rested, and they’ll be ready and we’re going to do the best we can and we’re going to try to win this.”
The Southern Section releases its playoff brackets for the baseball playoffs on Saturday that will feature when and where teams from the Santa Clarita Valley will play.
After Friday’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League:
West Ranch 10, Hart 2: With a home win over the Hawks (10-15-1, 5-6-1), the Wildcats (15-12, 9-3) clinched a share of the Foothill League title alongside the Castaic Coyotes.
The Wildcats are champions of the Foothill League for the second-consecutive season and end the year tied for first with Castaic.
As for Hart, the loss dropped the Hawks to fifth in the league standings with a 10-15-1 overall record and below the .500 threshold to qualify for an a-large playoff berth.
Valencia 14, Golden Valley 1: The Vikings (12-14-1, 7-4-1), who entered the final week of the league season in fifth place, jumped the Hawks and clinched themselves a playoff berth following a win over Golden Valley (12-12, 3-9).
The Vikings end the season fourth in the league standings, earning an automatic qualifier into the postseason.
For Golden Valley, although the team ended the year sixth in the standings, the Grizzlies finished the regular season with a 12-12 overall record and in contention for an at-large playoff berth from the CIF.
Photos below from the West Ranch Wildcat’s win over Hart on Friday. Photo courtesy of Maddie Park.
