On the sun-dried evening of March 20, 2026, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) baseball team stepped into the diamond to swing against Cate School (Cate) for their second league game of the season. The game concluded with the Dragons running away with the win, 12-2, against Cate’s best efforts.
Two days prior, Foothill Tech faced off against Cate for their league opener, where they left with an even more substantial 19-2 lead, which provided the Dragons with the confidence needed to enter into the initial innings.
The top of the first inning saw Grant Ready ‘26 pitching for the Dragons, where they’d only allow one of Cates runners to make it home after a deep hit into left field, scoring the first point of the game 0-1.
Foothill Tech responded quickly. The Dragons put together consistent contact at the plate and applied pressure on the bases. With Robert Juker ’26 at the plate, Cooper Casey ’27 stole second and third, and Juker drew a walk. Andy Campa ’27 then drove a ball into the outfield, scoring both runners to give Foothill Tech a 2-1 lead.
Later in the inning, Foothill was able to bring Campa, Cain Ebrahim ‘28, Jacory Smith ‘28, Christian De La Cruz ‘27 and another runner all across home to bring their score to 7-1 exiting the bottom.
The second inning had Shane White substituted in as pitcher for the Dragons, where he’d find success striking out several Cate players and shutting down any offensive advances. In the bottom half of the inning, Juker opened hot, drilling a pitch from Cate deep beyond the fence for a home run, 8-1.
Juker commented on the rhythm of the game, “Well, we played them already, and came out confident. Throughout the season, we’ve struggled to score runs in the first few innings, but this game we did and it really set us up for our momentum for the rest of the game and we just kept it going.”
Ascher Conway ‘28 followed with a solid hit to reach first. Campa stepped up next and drove a ball deep into the outfield that fell just short of the fence. With runners on base, both came home on the next play, extending Foothill Tech’s lead to 10-1.
Before closing out the inning, the Dragons would secure two last runs with an impressive hit coming from Shane White ‘26, bringing home the last of Foothill’s baserunners 12-1.
The top of the third had Dryaden Betlitsky ‘26 take the mound, where Cate was able to squeeze one runner across home plate. Moving to the bottom, Foothill had solid hits but struggled to advance runners, ending the third scoreless at 12-2.
White attested to the environment of the game and the team’s overall performance, “Coming into the game we were very confident … We focused on keeping it simple and having fun. We won the game however, there are some aspects that we need to clean up that could affect the outcome of future league games.”
The fourth inning marked a significant shift in momentum, as both teams were held scoreless. Cate was unable to generate any offense in the fifth, and with Foothill Tech maintaining a 12-2 lead, the game ended by mercy ruling.
The Dragons’ next game will be against Royal High School (Royal) on March 24.
