The Castaic High School baseball team received California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section (SS) recognition following a historical season.

Head coach Darrell Davis was named CIF-SS Division 6 Coach of the Year and senior outfielder Joji Sakata won CIF-SS Division 6 Player of the Year. 

“We do it for the love of the game,” said Davis. “It feels great though.”

Sakata led the Foothill League in batting with an average of .483 and was among the top in home runs.

“(Sakata) spent a lot of time after practice working on his batting,” said Davis. “He is phenomenal on the field and he deserves it”

Sakata had an on-base percentage (OBP) of .579 while the national average is only .375. Sakata recorded a number of stats that were well above the national average such as his runs (22) and hits (29) which are over double of the national average.

Along with Sakata, seniors Aaron Gonzalez and Kyler Freude were named to the Division 6 All-CIF team.

“Kyler played the big games for us,” said Davis. “Kyler on the mound was the second-best pitcher in league.”

Gonzalez and Kyler also ranked above the national average with their runs, hits and OBP.

While Gonzalez had great stats on the offensive side, defensively is where he came to life.

“Aaron defensively has been our dude,” said Davis.

All this comes days after the Coyotes won the Division 5 state championship, the first Foothill League baseball state championship in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“When you put the work in you get what you deserve,” said Davis.

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