Baseball: Another transfer controversy at Taft

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As if Taft hasn’t had enough problems dealing with the City Section over basketball transfer students, now the baseball team is about to be under scrutiny after the arrival last week of senior pitcher Seth Spivack from Calabasas.

Spivack, just a couple months from graduation, decided to join the Toreadors and first-year Coach Scott Osder, who happened to be around when Spivack played at West Hills Pony Baseball. And Spivack isn’t the only transfer the Toreadors got at the semester break.

Several West Valley League coaches are in an uproar and waiting to see if City officials will approve the transfer. Taft officials say there was no prior contact with Spivack, who will be eligible immediately because he hasn’t played high school baseball since his freshman year.

Spivack signed a letter of intent with California last November, earning a scholarship based on his summer performances. He’s an honors student.

But clearly, he’s coming to Taft to play baseball for a coach he knew during his youth days, and the ethical questions and perceptions have coaches in the West Valley League scratching their heads.

-- Eric Sondheimer