Former CHS infielder throws out first pitch at Arrows home opener

By Nash Nunnery

David Foster, a 1968 Clinton High School graduate, threw the opening pitch for the Arrows’ 2024 season.

A former Clinton baseball standout arrived at Arrow Field on February 13 to fulfill a dream.

Former Arrows second baseman David Foster’s lifelong aspiration was realized when the 74-year-old threw out the first pitch in front of a near-capacity crowd before the 2024 diamond Arrows opened their season against Pearl.

Earlier in the day, Foster, wife Vicki and brother Richard enjoyed a tour of the high school and a Mardi Gras-themed lunch prepared by Clinton High School (CHS) culinary arts chef Catherine Bruce and her students.

“I can’t thank [CHS head coach] Sam Temple enough for the opportunity to throw out the first pitch of the season,” said Foster, now a resident of Rockwall, Texas. “I loved being an Arrow and playing baseball here. Clinton is a magical place, and I can’t imagine growing up anywhere else.”

A friend of Foster’s heard about his desire to throw out the first pitch at an Arrows baseball game last fall. The friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted Temple, and the coach was more than happy to make Foster’s dream a reality.

“Over the years, we’ve tried to celebrate Clinton High School baseball’s future and past, and get the community involved,” said Temple, who led the Arrows to the second round of the MHSAA 6A state playoffs in 2023. “David is a large part of that past, and we’re so pleased that he made the trip from Texas to help us open the season tonight.”

A retired mental health professional, Foster says he enjoyed an idyllic childhood in a Clinton that featured less than 7,000 residents in the 1960s. His boyhood idol was none other than Doug Hutton, who also played baseball and basketball for the Arrows and led Clinton to the 1960 MHSAA Class AA high school basketball state championship title.

Hutton, a member of the prestigious Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, played point guard for the basketball Arrows and later starred at Mississippi State University. He also coached the Arrows baseball team to the 1990 MHSAA 5A state championship and runner-up finishes in 1991 and 1993.

“Doug Hutton was my hero – he played point guard for CHS, and so did I,” Foster said. “It was the culmination of a dream as a kid to do what Doug did. To be a point guard for the Clinton Arrows like Doug Hutton meant the world to me.”

A 1968 Clinton High School graduate, Foster lettered four years in both baseball and basketball. He played on three consecutive Overall Little Dixie Conference baseball championship teams in 1964, 1965 and 1966, and was named the Arrows’ Most Valuable Player following his ’68 senior season.

“Two of those years, we were undefeated and maybe lost one game the other year,” Foster recalled. “I stole a lot of bases and actually led the team in most every offensive category my last year. Batting lead-off, I hit a lot of doubles and triples in the [outfield] gaps when we played at the old high school on Lakeview Drive. I played with some great players on some great teams at CHS.”

A diminutive 5-5 and 140 pounds in high school, Foster said his stature was never an issue. His father Dick, who played semi-pro baseball into his fifties and was a 1993 inductee into the Hinds Community College Sports Hall of Fame, instilled confidence in young David while honing his baseball skills in the Foster’s backyard.

“As a small person, you want to show people that you can do it. My dad infused that in me,” he said. “I’d tell myself (on the field or the court) ‘Dad gum it, I might be small, but I can play!’ That was the mindset I had. From early on, I played with confidence, despite my size.”

David Foster played both baseball and basketball during his CHS days, lettering all four years.

Foster also credits former CHS baseball coaches Lamont Echols and D.M. Howie for their help in developing him into the player he became. Legendary Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame inductees, Echols and Howie are considered by many to be the godfathers of high school baseball in the state.

“Both Lamont and coach Howie had a tremendous knowledge of the game, and I learned a lot from them,” said Foster. “My biggest thrill playing for Clinton came against Coach Howie in his first year coaching at Jackson St. Joseph my senior year. We were in a 0-0 game in the last inning. I got on base, stole second, and then stole third. Coach was livid at his pitcher and catcher. On the next pitch, I stole home, and the Arrows won 1-0.”

“Coach Howie came up to me after the game and said ‘Foster, I can’t believe you did that to me.’ It’s a memory I’ll never forget.”

The soft-spoken Foster was more than the typical high school jock. He was the poster child for the term “student athlete,” according to the 1968 Arrow yearbook.

Foster was voted Mr. CHS and served as student body president during his senior year. He also was president of the Little Dixie Conference of Student Councils and a member of the Beta Club his last three years. The Jackson Optimist Club awarded Foster its Good Citizen Award in 1968.

Known affectionately as “Chet” by his Clinton teammates and coaches, Foster explained the nickname was for practical purposes more than anything else.

“Our basketball team had two guys named David Foster – myself and David ‘Cotton’ Foster. [CHS head coach] Wayne Lee said I needed a nickname to distinguish from Cotton,” said Foster. “Coach chose ‘Chet.’ I played guitar in a garage band, and Chet Atkins was a really good guitarist in the 1960s, so I became ‘Chet.’

“I had no plans to play basketball in high school – I told Coach Lee I was too short. He said in no uncertain terms I was going out for basketball after watching me in a pick-up game. That was that. Looking back, I’m really glad he insisted.”

His first pitch dream at his beloved high school alma mater now realized, a happy David Foster says he wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.

“This was an honor and better than anything I could have imagined. I’ve bled Arrow red forever… I always will.”