Amidst a smooth spring breeze, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys’ baseball team gathered at De Anza Middle School on April 17 to compete against Grace Brethren High School (Grace). Through lights out pitching and relentless hitting the Dragons overpowered Grace 10-3.
Foothill Tech’s Adam Arth ‘24 exhibited early dominance on the mound as a starter, getting through the first and second inning easily with four strikeouts.
In the bottom of the second inning, Russell Brown ‘24 doubled to left field to take the lead 1-0. Shortly after, Robert “Juju” Juker ‘26 drove in another pair of runs with a single to left when the bases were loaded. Foothill Tech’s offensive stride gave them an early 3-0 advantage.
An overload of scoring by Foothill Tech ensued in the bottom of the third to widen their lead. Arth, Juker, Shane White ‘26, Aidan Gomez ‘25 and Cooper Casey ‘27 all reached base to drive home four more runs giving the Dragons a comfortable 7-0 lead.
Hudson Donaldson ‘24 commented on the team’s unwavering performance, “We hit the ball really well … not too many errors and our pitchers did great all around.”
Grace was able to tally their first run onto board in the fourth inning through a single to left. However, Arth shortly got out of the jam by recording a strikeout, and a pop-out to right field, caught by Brown.
Later in the sixth, Grace scored two more runs on a single and an error to make it 7-3, however, Jackson Basurto ‘24 was able to get out of the bases loaded jam.
“Everybody came ready to play,” coach Sam Campa mentioned, “They hit the ball, our pitchers threw strikes, our defense made all the plays.”
Foothill Tech put the game away with a double to right field hit by Tristan Stehle ‘24 to bring White and Gomez to the plate. Shortly after, Juker was able to bring Arth home on a single to right. Foothill Tech’s final run of scoring brought the game to its ultamite score of 10-3.
Foothill Tech’s dominance was closed out by Bronson Taylor ‘24 with a short and sweet five pitch inning.
Juker stated, “We’ve had some rough games … I think that we set that behind us and we’re really gelling now.”
Foothill Tech displayed focused hitting and cohesive a wall of defense. With the win, the Dragons evened their record 11-11. Looking for another win, Foothill Tech will face off in an away game against Santa Clara High School on April 20.
