Contreras to Coach Birmingham in ’91

David Contreras, Birmingham High’s junior varsity baseball coach for the past five years, will take over the varsity next season, it was announced Tuesday.

Coach Wayne Sink, who has been at Birmingham for 26 years and is in his 13th season as varsity coach, announced his retirement before the season.

Contreras, 30, coached the junior varsity to the Mid-Valley League title last season and has guided this season’s squad to first place with a 9-6 record. “One advantage I’ll have is that every single kid that will be on the varsity next year will have played for me before,” Contreras said.

Contreras said that while he might make minor changes, he and Sink have similar coaching philosophies.

“The transfer of power has been pretty smooth,” he said. “We’ve shared duties on the (Valley Encino-Tarzana) American Legion team and I’ve helped him out during the winter. I think we’ve created a good program.”

The Brave varsity (16-5-1, 10-4) clinched the Mid-Valley League title Monday with a win over Reseda, the first outright title in Sink’s tenure. Birmingham has won 11 consecutive games.