Miraglia’s gem vaults Burroughs past Arcadia in first-place tilt
Burroughs High pitcher Presley Miraglia is on a roll.
The junior has pitched brilliantly during the second half of the Pacific League season and helped the Indians softball team get back into the running for a third straight championship.
In a league game Tuesday against co-league leader Arcadia, Miraglia turned in another gem, tossing a two-hit shutout to pace Burroughs to a 3-0 victory at Olive Park.
It was Miraglia’s six straight league shutout and she hasn’t allowed a run during the second round of league play.
“I’ve seen all the teams once before in league and I know what they can do already,” said Miraglia, the 2016 All-Area Softball Player of the Year. “I have been trying to work at their weaknesses and get them out on my pitches instead of them swinging at their pitches.
“It took us a few innings to get going today, but I had complete confidence in our lineup that they were going to get the runs.”
Miraglia allowed just a single in the first inning and a double in the fourth. The junior sat down the Apaches in order in the second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. She also struck out six.
“[Presley] really has done a great job at studying the opposing batters and she knows what she has to do,” Burroughs coach Wes Tanigawa said. “She has really been focused and she gets herself motivated and the team pumps her up.
“The way she’s pitched the last few games has helped us get to where we are right now.”
Right now, Burroughs (18-8, 11-2 in league) has won five in a row and is tied for first place in league with Crescenta Valley (19-7-1, 11-2) with one game remaining in the regular season. Arcadia (16-5-1, 10-3) dropped into third place. The Apaches and Falcons square off in their league finale Thursday, while Burroughs faces Burbank looking to avenge an earlier defeat while securing at least a shared title.
The teams were locked in a stalemate through the first four innings. The Indians had the bases loaded with one out in the third, but Arcadia got out of the jam with a 1-4 double play.
Burroughs broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Amanda Flores walked, moved to second on a groundout and took third on an infield single by Kaitlin Escamilla. Flores scored on an error on a ball put into play by Lauren Lopez.
The Indians, who had just five hits, made it 3-0 with two runs in the sixth. Miraglia started things off with a walk and was replaced by courtesy runner Makena Savola. Jessie Amaya followed with a walk before Arcadia was able to get two outs. Morgan Mersola laid down a perfect squeeze bunt that scored Savola. Escamilla (two for three) then legged out an infield single that plated Amaya.
The Indians, who have won two straight league titles and six of the last eight, finish Thursday against rival Burbank at McCambridge Park. In their first meeting the Bulldogs earned a 5-2 victory.
“We knew how important this week was for us and we knew what we had to do to put us into the position that we wanted to be,” Tanigawa said. “But we didn’t want to get too ahead of ourselves and look past any game. We just wanted to stay focused on the game ahead of us.
“Being out of first place was something that we just weren’t used to.”
To secure at least a share of the league title, Miraglia put her team’s goal very simply: “We have to beat Burbank.”
Twitter: @jefftsports
