On March 19, 2024, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys’ baseball team played against Canyon High School (Canyon) at the Dragons’ home field, De Anza Middle School (DATA). After gaining an early lead, Foothill Tech was able to build off their initial momentum as they pulled away with the win.

Jack Pankratz ‘24 started off as pitcher for Foothill Tech, and along with a strong defense, they kept Canyon from scoring in the top of the first inning.

Head coach Mike Haas described the team’s goals for the early game, “We wanted to get out front, be aggressive with the bats and get the lead first.”

In the bottom of the first, Foothill Tech achieved these goals. The lead-off hitter, Aiden Gomez ‘25, drilled a ball down the left field line for a double. Adam Arth ‘24 built off this with a double to bring Gomez to home base which achieved the early lead, 1-0.

Hayden Villa ‘24 kept up the momentum as he hit a sacrifice fly out to bring Arth home which further increased their lead to 2-0.

In the top of the second, Canyon made an effort to keep up. After their runner got into scoring position, a line drive was sent down the third base line which brought the runner home, 2-1.

In the bottom of the second the Dragons weren’t able to score despite hits from Tristan Stehle ‘24, Villa, and Robert “Juju” Juker ‘26.

After a scoreless top of the third, Bronson Taylor ‘24 made a strong hit into right field for a double. After a bunt to advance Taylor to third base from Cooper Casey ‘27, Russell Brown ‘24 layed down a grounder which brought Taylor home, and increased the Dragons’ lead to 3-1.

After a scoreless fourth inning and top of the fifth, Foothill Tech looked to increase their lead. Taylor layed down a bunt to get to first base and Casey made it on base off of a fumble on Canyon’s defense. Brown built off this as he sent a ball into left field to advance both runners. Foothill Tech took advantage of another one of Canyon’s defensive fumbles as Stehle was able to bring in a runner off of an infield grounder which brought the score to 4-1.

With bases loaded, Gomez capitalized on the opportunity and hammered the ball in the left-center field gap which brought two runners home, 6-1.

After five strong innings as pitcher, Pankratz was relieved by Jackson Basurto ‘24 in the top of the sixth. After two successful base hits by Canyon, a well placed ball allowed a runner to score to bring the score to 6-2.

James Markov ‘25 was then subbed in as pitcher but with runners on second and third base, a base hit allowed them to bring both of them in which narrowed the score gap to 6-4.

After a scoreless bottom of the sixth inning, Taylor was substituted in as pitcher to close out the seventh and final inning. After strong pitching and flawless defense, Foothill Tech was able to get the three outs to come away with the overall win with a final score of 6-4.

Haas spoke on the team’s performance, “They came out swinging hard … did a great job scoring runs … and their defense was top notch today.”

Brown agreed with his coach stating, “We had no fears coming into this game … our defense was on fire … we were feeling it today.”

Foothill Tech will compete next against Hueneme High School (Hueneme) at the DATA baseball fields on March 22, 2024.