For years Castaic’s Darrell Davis built the Coyote baseball program from scratch.
Now, Darrell’s son, Devin Davis, is looking to raise the foundation his father set.
After being introduced as the head coach for the Castaic baseball program following the conclusion of the Coyotes’ first-ever Foothill League-winning season, Devin Davis is eyeing continued growth for the program in the Santa Clarita Valley.
“It means a lot for the administration to trust me, and they know the goals that I have set for these kids,” Devin Davis said in an interview with The Signal. “My dad, he set a path for me to be able to do what I need, what I want with these boys … I just want to be able to touch and add a couple of things that I’ve known from playing minor league ball.”
Devin Davis, who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2015 MLB June amateur draft from Valencia High School, brings professional experience to Castaic High School.
The Valencia grad spent four seasons in minor league ball and believes the experience he learned in professional baseball can be valuable for Castaic’s program.
“I played against a lot of good competition, and I would always like to sit back and watch players and pick up the little habits that they do,” Devin Davis said. “Whenever I came back home and go to practice with the Castaic kids, I’m up there trying to help them and teach them some of the ways that I’ve learned.”
In 2020, Devin Davis took a step back from minor league baseball due to the COVID pandemic and its uncertainty over whether there were to be a season to be played.
That’s when Devin joined his father on the coaching staff for the Castaic baseball program in a small role, but joined full-time as an assistant in 2021.
Devin coached alongside Kyle Mark, who’s now the softball head coach for Saugus, in the lower levels of the Castaic baseball program. And in 2023, Devin Davis was on the coaching staff that brought home the Coyotes a California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section championship.
Devin said that was the year he learned the most on how to be a coach and considers it as one of the program’s greatest accomplishments.
“It was amazing, the kids that we had at the time just soaked up all the knowledge that we would bring them, and that played a big role in wanting me to get into the head coaching spot,” Devin Davis said.
The Coyotes won the 2023 Division 5 southern regional championship in the same season and set the standard Devin wants to replicate in the future seasons.
After the Coyotes clinched the school’s first-ever Foothill League title on the final day of the 2026 season with a win over Canyon High School, Devin Davis is eyeing to keep winning titles and grow the Castaic baseball program.
Devin Davis has already begun conversations with the returners on the goals for next season and with key players such as Oliver Price andOrion Gonzalez – players who ended the season with Foothill League honors – Davis believes the Coyotes can win again next season.
“It’s awesome to see a lot of these kids that are coming back, especially the boys that I’ve worked with already,” Devin Davis said. “They know exactly what I’m looking for, what the goal is, and what they’re trying to do especially coming up this year.”
