Often in life high school students find themselves searching for a place to belong, and in a small school like FC, sports are a constructive and fun way to find themselves.

Junior Dillon Owens discovered his love for baseball early on in life and has continued playing throughout all of middle school and high school. His determination to be the best he can be has driven him to great lengths in the sport.

“I’ve been playing baseball since I was about three, just playing tee-ball with my dad,” Owens said. “I love baseball because it’s a rush; if you mess up there is always the next play to recover from and keep going. The most difficult thing about pitching is when you have a full count and if you walk the batter, your team hates you, but when you strike him out, they love you.”

In his many years in the sport, Owens remembers some of the greatest and most embarrassing moments in his baseball career.

“The most embarrassing thing that happened to me was when I was walking up to bat and I swung too hard and hit myself in the back of my head,” Owens said. “The greatest play I’ve ever made was a triple play. I caught a fly ball and threw it two second and then to first base.”

Unlike many high school students Owens gets the privilege of being able to play alongside his cousin Tyler Sellers, ’16.

“I’ve played baseball at Bullard and a little bit at Central and it’s a lot different because its all politics, but here at FC its more like a family and everyone gets a chance to play,” Owens said. “It helps a lot to have my cousin Tyler {Sellers} on the team because I can rely on him, and if I get mad and yell at him, there won’t be any hard feelings. We’ve played together since we were really young.”

Sellers also enjoys being able to count on his cousin out on the field, knowing from experience the two play well together.

“Dillon {Owens} is a great player, and he does a great job at what he does on the field,” Sellers said. “He is very reliable, when we throw him the ball he picks it; he is a great first basemen. We have played together for 10 years, I know exactly how he plays, and it’s great knowing what he’s going to do before he does it.”

This year, Owens has set goals for himself personally as well as for the team, ultimately hopeing to advance the team to playoffs.

“My goals personally are to go to valley, but it’s going to be tough to move forward from past years,” Owens said. “As a team I want to have a winning record, rather than a loosing record. Our record now is 4-0. The longest gave I’ve ever played was 11 innings because we had to go into over time. Right now I’m the highest pitcher in division five for strike out.”

Head baseball coach Noah Heinz admires Owens’s passion for the game and has high hopes for the team this year under his leadership.

“I would say that Dillon {Owens} has acclimated very well, and taken on leadership roles as pitcher and first basemen,” Hinds said. “Dillon and Tyler {Sellers} together both bring some really good energy to the team; their passion for the game really pushes the other players to excel. I have high hopes and expectations for this season. I think we have a really good chance at league and we can even make a run at valley championships.”

These writers can be reached via Twitter: @_sarapeterson and @gaby_siqueiros. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more sports, read the March 14 article, Softball sport shorts: Orange Cove.