A 'perfect' day for baseball

Staff report

May 02, 2008 10:16 pm

— One of the rarest occurances in sports took place Wednesday, April 23 at Western Boone High School. Madison Foster, pitcher for Lebanon’s Farmers Bank 13-14-year-old senior league team, pitched a perfect game.
His no-hit, no-walk complete game helped Farmers Bank cruise to a 6-0 win over Jamestown IGA. Foster said he felt different on the mound that day.
“I just had control the whole way through,” Foster, 14, said. “I threw strikes, put the ball where I wanted to, and everything worked out.
Foster struck out 15 of the 18 batters he faced on the evening. Two opposing hitters grounded out, and first baseman Kevin Estes made a clutch line-drive catch in the fifth inning to maintain the perfect game.
“I was like there (the perfect game) goes, then I saw him catch it, and I was like ‘wow,’” Foster said. “I really didn’t see the ball until it hit his glove.”
He explained that he tried not to think about it during the game, and his teammates gave him space in the dugout. When he got the final out, it was a huge relief, but the accomplishment didn’t really sink in for a while.
“After the game, I was like ‘wow, a perfect game — not many people can say that,” he said.
Foster also excelled on the offensive side, hitting an inside-the-park home run in the first inning to help his own cause.
Farmers Bank manager Sam Merrill said that catcher Jacob Turner helped Foster accomplish the feat by calling a great game behind the plate.
“I have been involved with baseball for over 35 years, and never experienced anything like this before,” Merrill said. “The future of baseball in Lebanon is looking great with these young men.”