Eight Burbank, Burroughs baseball players earn all-league recognition
Burbank High’s baseball team enjoyed its most productive regular season in four years and most successful playoff showing in decades during the 2017 campaign.
The Bulldogs also had their best Pacific League placement since 2013 when they tied for the championship with Crescenta Valley. While the Falcons (13-1 in league) captured the league crown this past season, Arcadia was second (12-2) and Burbank (10-4) placed third.
When the league awards were handed out, Crescenta Valley had the pitcher of the year (Trevor Beer) and the co-player of the year (Kewin Ledesma), along with two first-team selections. Arcadia had the co-player of the year (Tyus Santa Anna) and three first-teamers.
The Bulldogs had a single player make first team, senior pitcher/utility Henry Leake.
”I was not happy with that,” Burbank coach Bob Hart said of the team’s one first-team selection. “I kind of feel like the system in which we work in those all-league meetings is deeply flawed. You look at that first group of players which includes the MVPs, I just felt there was a disproportionate amount of players from the other two teams. And this isn’t just sour grapes for this season, but I’ve felt that way in seasons past as well.
”I just felt like we played well in league and we had some good players who deserved to be on that first team. It just seems a little unbalanced to me.”
Burbank and Burroughs combined to have eight players on the all-league list.
The Indians also had one first-team honoree in senior shortstop Justin Palafox.
Making the second team for the Bulldogs were senior pitcher Matt Lungaro, senior second baseman Jonathan Castaneda and senior utility Chris Minnick, along with Burroughs sophomore pitcher Nico Chuidian. Burbank junior catcher Matthew Shaugabay and Indians senior second baseman Brandon Martinez were honorable mentions.
Leake was a much-used commodity for Burbank, which finished 15-10 and advanced to the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs.
”If we had finished in the top two spots of the league or were fortunate to get the No. 1 spot I think Henry would have been the MVP of the league,” Hart said. “To have an ERA of .045 for league is just outstanding. He also hit over .400 in league and that tells you a lot.
“He was just such a versatile player for us. Along with pitching, he played in the infield and we even put him in the outfield because we felt we needed to be a little better defensively there and to take the onus off his arm a little bit, and it worked out perfectly. He was then able to close for us in some games and helped us out that way.”
On the mound, Leake had a 4-4 record with one save with an earned-run average of 2.64 while striking out 68 in 55 2/3 innings. At the plate, he batted .405 with 32 hits, 16 runs batted in, 16 runs scored and seven doubles.
Palafox helped Burroughs (13-14, 8-6) finish fourth in the Pacific League and qualify for the postseason. He led the team with a .406 average to go along with 35 hits, 23 runs scored, eight RBI and eight stolen bases in nine attempts.
“Justin has been a tremendous player for us on both offense and defense and I have the highest regard for his ability and his desire to win,” Burroughs coach Craig Sherwood said.
Lungaro logged the most time on the mound for Burbank and was the team’s most successful pitcher. The senior had an 8-3 record and a 1.31 ERA while striking out 54 in 69 1/3 innings of work. Castaneda had a .400 average with 28 hits, 15 runs, 11 RBI, 13 walks and a .528 on-base percentage and Minnick hit .377 with 29 hits, 17 runs and 11 RBI.
Chuidian was Burroughs’ ace on the mound, going 6-2 with a 1.70 ERA and 20 strikeouts and only 12 earned runs in 49 1/3 innings. He also hit .321 with 17 hits and nine runs scored.
While Shaugabay had a .288 average with 21 hits, 17 RBI and 15 runs, Martinez hit .256 with 21 hits and nine RBI.
Twitter: @jefftsports
