BY TIM BURT
STAFF WRITER Foothill High’s baseball team, seeded second in the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 playoffs, opens postseason play at 3:15 p.m. Friday by hosting the winner of Wednesday’s wild-card game between Carter and Mayfair.
The Knights got to the CIF Division 1finals last year, losing to Santa Margarita, 3-1, at Dodger Stadium.
Foothill (22-8) appears to have a legitimate shot at taking home the Division 2 title this year behind pitcher Sebastian Lopez (10-0), one of the best in the county.
“In the past year we’ve seen a big change in how our team is viewed going into the playoffs,” said Foothill coach Vince Brown. “Last year, even though we had won the Century League we had one of the low league champion seeds and had to play through a very tough bracket that include two of the top teams in Southern California.
“This playoff bracket ranks us as the No. 2 seed overall. Honestly, we’ve gone from the hunter to the hunted in one year, but that’s OK. We have a tough road ahead, as often happens in playoffs the best team will not win this tournament but it will be the team that plays the best. We have that potential to play great baseball and will need to play very well over the next two weeks to return to the championship game. We have pitchers that pound the zone, a solid defense and our offense has shown it can play to the situation.
“We will need to get lucky at times but with all that said we are excited to open up at home on Friday.”
Brown is especially impressed with his pitching staff.
“We are lucky that we have two very good high school pitchers,” Brown said. “Sebastian Lopez is 10-0 on the year and hasn’t lost on the mound since April 15, 2014. Soren Yarnall is 6-2 on the season and has an ERA under 2.00. His two losses were to good baseball programs: Mater Dei and Esperanza.”
Foothill also has a strong offensive attack.
“Our offense is being lead by seniors Dylan Doherty and Luke Diradoorian,” Brown said. “Dylan has broken the school record for hits in a career and currently 104 hits. Our offense goes with him as he hits in our leadoff spot. Luke has been a consistent force all year and is currently hitting .397 for us.”