Carson’s Fontaine to throw at Willamette next season

The Carson High baseball team had a team parade for its seniors in early May and with his head coach standing next to him, Max Fontaine took the opportunity to officially ink his commitment to Willamette University to continue his baseball career.

Willamette – located in Salem, Oregon – provided Fontaine an ideal atmosphere to take the next step in his life.

“I really wanted to go to a school that valued education and had a fair balance of athletics. I think Willamette has a perfect balance for both for me,” said Fontaine. “Plus, I really like the Salem, Oregon area. I thought it was a really good fit.”

Fontaine said the first thoughts of being able to play college baseball crept into his mind after talking with his coaches about his pitching ability his sophomore season.

On the hill, Fontaine has some uniqueness to his delivery as a left-handed pitcher and as his confidence grew so did his mindset about continuing to play the game.

“When I was a sophomore, coach was telling me that I could potentially become a pretty good pitcher,” Fontaine said. “When I was playing little league and stuff I didn’t really have any motivation to get as good as I can. … There’s not that many left-handed pitchers around so I wanted to make the most of it.”

As a junior, Fontaine put together a 2.96 ERA on the bump in 28 1/3 innings while striking out 31 batters in the process. In his lone appearance as a senior, Fontaine worked his way through four innings with four strikeouts and didn’t allow an earned run.

Fontaine had the chance to visit his future home back in October and will be hurling at the Division III level in the Northwest Conference next spring.

As an academic interest, Fontaine is looking to study in a science field in either environmental sciences, chemistry or engineering.

“I feel excited and really grateful for the opportunity that’s in front of me. … I just want to thank all my family, friends, teammates and coaches for helping me every step along the way,” said Fontaine.