It’s not like Luke Taylor struggled at the plate as a junior. Most baseball players would be pretty content with a .385 batting average.

But such success only spurred Forest Lake Christian’s shortstop to work even harder in the offseason. And apparently all those additional cuts in the batting cage are paying off for both Taylor and his FLC team.

The Falcons (13-4) will make their second straight appearance in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI playoffs today, as Forest Lake matches up with Southern League champion Waterford (21-6) at 7 p.m. at Tony Zupo Field in Lodi.

And leading the way will be Taylor, the leadoff man who leads not only the Falcons, nor the Central Valley Christian League, but also the section with a .660 batting average. He ranks fifth among the state’s top hitters and 12th nationally, according to MaxPreps.com.

“It’s been a good year,” Taylor said after taking batting practice Thursday afternoon. “I did a lot of work during the summer and through the break to be ready for this year. I think it’s all due to that extra practice and coaching. My dad (Jon Taylor) has been helping me a lot, working in the cage at home.

“But really, I don’t worry about it much. I just get up there and hit.”

At 5 feet, 9 inches and 145 pounds, Taylor doesn’t strike as imposing of a figure as his batting average. But the switch hitter, who has taken most of his cuts from the left side this season, has shown plenty of pop at the plate. He has two home runs, five triples and eight doubles on the year. He’s driven in 21 runs and scored 24.

And he has not struck out once in 53 at bats this spring.

“That’s why he’s our leadoff hitter,” said FLC coach Ron Phillips. “Usually you put your best hitter in the third spot. But because he’s such a contact hitter, he puts pressure on the other team right away. And with his speed, a single or a walk is really a double to him.

“And he’s scoring 90 percent of the time he’s on base.”

Taylor said he hopes to once again be teammates with his brother, Ryan, who graduated from FLC last year. The two brothers led the FLC team to the playoffs last spring, after moving to the area from Texas. They’re both looking at several schools, including Simpson University in Redding and Bethany University in Santa Cruz, and hope to play together at the college level.

Luke Taylor is actually just one of several reasons that Phillips is confident his Falcons are ready to make some noise in the D-VI bracket. A few more reasons are the bats in the hands of Garrett Koch (.429 batting average), Shane Soria (.391), Amos McCamey (.358) and Aaron Anderssen (.342). The Falcons are hitting .360 as a team. Their home run production increased from two homers in 2008 to 10 home runs this spring.

Koch is an example of the progress the players have made in just its third season back on the field, after the baseball program had taken a one-year hiatus on campus. Last spring, Koch went 0-for-6 on the season. This year, as a sophomore, his batting average ranked fifth in the CVCL.

“I think we’ve got a chance to win and not just be happy to show up there this year,” Phillips said. “All of these players were here last year and now they’ve got that experience and there’s more of a sense of confidence.

“There are only two seniors (Taylor and McCamey) in our lineup, but with their talent there is a little bit of urgency to win this year. But I’m also encouraged by what I’ve got coming back for the next few years.”

Along with the two seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen fill out the lineup card.

And not matter where the Falcons finish this time around, Taylor said he’s happy to have helped lift the program to another level.

“It feels good to know the program is building up with new guys coming out each year,” Taylor said. “I think this team has really come together, too. We do have a lot of good talent, but we’ve also got great team spirit.”

To contact Sports Editor Brian Hamilton, e-mail bhamilton@theunion.com or call 477-4240.