Foothill’s baseball players gave their mothers an early Mother’s Day present Thursday afternoon.The players, dressed in pink jerseys in honor of their moms and grand-mothers, went out and defeated Brea Olinda, 6-0, to help Foothill clinch a share of the North Hills League title.
Each of the mothers was introduced to the fans and each were presented flowers from Foothill during the course of the game at Foothill.“I thought about it three years ago and we put it in and it’s been awesome,” said Foothill Coach Vince Brown. “It’s a nice thing to honor our moms on this weekend.”Dillon Brown (9-1) threw a complete game for Foothill (20-8, 7-3) and he was supported by a 7-hit attack. Three of the hits were home runs.
Cameron Dutcher and Bryce Etchandy had back to back home runs in the second inning. Then, Etchandy, a three-year varsity player, blasted a grand slam in the third inning to put the game out of reach.“Those were the first two home runs of my high school career,” Etchandy said. “I’ve come close; it’s a good feeling. We’re playing as a team right now. We just need to keep hitting. Our pitching seems like it’s doing great right now. We just have to keep scoring.
”Dillon Brown was solid, striking out seven and allowing just four hits.“Dillon did a great job,” said Coach Brown (Dillon’s father). “He pounded the zone, he was working ahead and making guys get themselves out. He’s been doing a real good job the last couple weeks of doing that and keeping his pitch count way down.”Brown was excited about the offensive fireworks, too.
“It was a special day for Bryce. To get the first home run back to back with Dutcher and then come up the next at bat with the bases loaded and follow it up with a grand slam, it was extremely special for a senior. His grandma is at every game and his mom and dad are two of the biggest fans. What a great day to do it on.
“The last time I saw him hit that many home runs was against me in Little League back when he was 12. It was classic seeing him do it again.”And the Knights’ players celebrated with a team picture after clinching the league title.
“We still need to win one more to get the championship outright but with this win, we hold all the tie-breakers on everybody so we will end up having an opportunity to be the first place team going into the playoffs,” Coach Brown said.“It’s important and I’ve always felt that winning a league championship is extremely valuable. It’s about your character. You have to have the character to go out and win for two months straight. I’ve always taken a tremendous amount of pride on winning league championships.”
Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com