Baseball: Unseeded Foothill knocks off No. 1 JSerra, 4-1, in Division 1 semifinal

Foothill, the team that finished in last place last season in the Century League, is headed to Dodger Stadium to play in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game after a 4-1 win over No. 1-seeded JSerra on Tuesday at Blair Field.

Teams and fans had better begin to take the Knights (22-10) seriously, because all they do is execute the little things, play defense, get timely hitting and clutch pitching.

It was junior left-hander Sebastian Lopez keeping JSerra’s bats relatively quiet. He threw a six-hitter, striking out two and walking one. Chase Strumpf’s RBI double in the third inning was the only damage inflicted by JSerra.

Hudson Hughes had an RBI single in the third and Dylan Doherty struck the big blow during a three-run fourth, delivering a two-run single to the right of second baseman Christian Molfetta.

“It’s amazing,” Doherty said of the Knights being able to play in Friday night’s 8 p.m. final at Dodger Stadium. “I can’t explain it. Three years I’ve been on this team and we finally made it.”

Asked what changed, Doherty, a junior shortstop, said, “Our mindset changed. We believe in ourselves.”

First-year Coach Vince Brown is going to be everyone’s coach of the year candidate.

“It’s a dream come true for these kids,” Brown said.