Burbank softball spoils Burroughs’ title hopes
BURBANK — It was an uplifting victory for the Burbank High softball team and the highlight of a comeback season.
In turn, it was a devastating loss for Burroughs.
The Bulldogs battled back from a three-run deficit before scoring the winning run in the eighth inning Thursday evening at Olive Park to earn a 4-3 Pacific League win against the host Indians.
The loss denied Burroughs (13-4-1, 12-2 in league) a share of its fourth league championship. The Indians came into the game tied with Crescenta Valley for the league lead and could have garnered a share of the title with a win.
However, the loss, coupled with a 8-2 win by the Falcons (24-2, 13-1) against Arcadia on Thursday evening, leaves Crescenta Valley to savor the title for itself.
“It was all the little things that cost us tonight,” Burroughs coach Wes Tanigawa said. “All the little hesitations, all the misread plays, not recovering when we needed to recover — that’s what really killed us.
“But give credit where credit is due; they did what they needed to do on their side and we didn’t. They pulled it out against us and there’s no excuses on my part.”
More than just trying to knock Burroughs out of the title picture, Burbank (16-11, 10-4) had another motivation in the regular season finale. With the win the Bulldogs secured a third-place finish in league.
The finish was a big step up for Burbank, which placed fifth in 2017 and didn’t qualify for the playoffs.
“We didn’t want to leave it up to chance and we knew if we won we would have third,” said Burbank coach Mike Delaney, whose team lost to the Indians, 1-0, in their first meeting in April. “We wanted to make it on our own.
“I think finishing where we did will help us with our seeding [in the playoffs] and it will help us in a lot of different ways. It’s a good win going into the playoffs. …Getting third is a big leap for us.”
The Bulldogs pushed across the winning run in extras in large part to a heads-up baserunning play from center fielder Alex Davis. Davis led off the eighth with a single to right field. The next batter, Anysia Gonzalez (two for four with a triple and a run scored), laid down a bunt and was tagged out. On the play, Davis went from first to third. That brought up catcher Desi Gomez, who hit into a fielder’s choice to second that scored Davis.
“Every single bunt we laid down to get a runner from first to second they were never covering third base,” Davis said. “So I just took the initiative and decided to go.”
The Indians didn’t waste any time building a 2-0 lead against Burbank in the bottom of the first inning. Designated player Kaitlin Escamilla (three for five with a run scored) legged out an infield hit to start things off. The next batter, center fielder Hannah Talavera, powered a shoulder-high pitch and drove it down the left-field line for an inside-the-park home run.
Burroughs made it 3-0 with a run in the fourth. Third baseman Memorie Munoz singled to center field, went to second on a fielder’s choice and made it to third on a passed ball. She scored on an infield throwing error.
“Having a 3-0 lead against Burbank to me is like only having a 1-0 lead,” Tanigawa said. “At that point, I really didn’t think the lead was that safe.”
Burbank got two runs back in the fifth inning to make it 3-2. Third baseman Bene Snyder reached on an error and was plated by an inside-the-park home run to right-center by right fielder Macie Jensen.
The Bulldogs tied the score at 3 in the sixth. With one out, Gonzalez tripled to left-center and scored on a throwing error on a dribbler between home plate and the circle.
“We just had to be aggressive,” Delaney said. “We have been hitting the ball well lately, but we have just been focused on good at-bats. And I think they get it and they understand that.
“Even when we got down, the girls would come in after an inning and say ‘We’re hitting, we’re hitting.’ We knew something was going to fall. We just had to keep plugging away.”
Pitcher Presley Miraglia was three for four and first baseman Chloe Bookmyer was two for four for Burroughs.
Twitter: @jefftsports
