Andrew Parker delivers walk-off single in Foothill's 5-4 playoff win over Santa Margarita: 3 takeaways

NORTH TUSTIN, Calif. -- Andrew Parker didn't just miss on a 3-1 pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning, he whiffed so hard that his momentum took him across the plate in the direction of the Foothill dugout. Parker then had to circle back behind the home plate umpire to return to the batter's box and continue his at bat. 

"That was a huge hack," he said.

On the next pitch, the Foothill junior took a calmer approach and delivered the game-winning single on a ground ball hit between the Santa Margarita shortstop and third baseman. The ball never left the infield, but pushed the Eagles' shortstop so deep into the hole, he had no play at first and Jake Fenton scored from second giving the Knights a 5-4 win in the second round of the Division 1 Southern Section playoffs. 

"I was ready for it," Parker said. "The fans were cheering. I was ready to go."

Parker's game-winning poke came on a 3-2 count with two outs. One more strike would have taken the game to extra innings.  

"We practice these things, practice these situations," Parker said. 

Foothill will host Huntington Beach in the Division 1 Southern Section quarterfinals on Friday. 

Below are three takeaways from a wild and whacky Foothill win. 

COME BACK KIDS

Foothill senior Austin Overn hit a leadoff home run to begin the bottom of the first inning. The Knights led until the third inning when Parker, who got the start on the mound for Foothill, ran into some trouble.

Parker hit the Santa Margarita eight and nine hitters and then balked in the frame. The Eagles' leadoff hitter Blake Balsz came up after the balk and connected on a sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1. 

In the next two innings, Foothill had chances to score and didn't take them before Santa Margarita put up three runs in the top of the fifth. Cameron Kessel came in to relieve Parker in the fifth with runners on first and third and no outs. Santa Margarita junior Luke Johnson executed a beautiful squeeze to score the Eagles second run of the game and then Balsz and senior Ian Grogan hit RBI singles to extend the Eagles lead to 4-1. 

But that inning didn't faze Foothill. In the bottom of the fifth, Santa Margarita pitcher Matthew Porches walked two straight batters and then gave up an RBI single to Brett Castillo. Following the RBI single, the Eagles made three errors in the field and Parker hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game 4-4. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Grant Johnson hit a two out single and then Mason Souter walked setting up Parker's heroics. 

"You don't mess with this team, because this team's got some fight left in them," Parker said.

AMAZING AUSTIN OVERN

In the top of the sixth inning, Overn made the best catch that Foothill head coach Chris Price has ever seen. Overn tracked back in centerfield and then laid out on the hill just before the fence to miraculously snag a bomb that had come off the bat of Blake Wilson. 

"Austin made another one going into the left-center gap against Villa Park which was ridiculous and I thought that was the best high school catch I'd ever seen in 20 years of coaching," Price said. 'But that one up the hill...that one was unreal."

Parker joked that Overn should expect a phone call this evening. 

"I was saying when we got in the dugout, the Dodgers are calling him after this game," Parker said with a laugh. 

CAMERON KESSEL AN UNSUNG HERO

After getting out of the fifth inning, Kessel pitched two scoreless innings to put Foothill in a position to win the game. 

"All year, that kid's been a stud," Parker said. "That kid is way overlooked. He's one of the best pitchers in California. He gets swings on pitches that I've never even seen thrown before. What a guy."