Crescenta Valley minor baseball too much for Burbank
GLENDALE — Standing on the mound in the late-afternoon sun, Nicholas Torres looked poised and in command of his pitches.
Torres pitched a two-hitter to spark Crescenta Valley to a 10-0 win against Burbank on Monday in a Little League District 16 Tournament of Champions contest at Pacific Park. The game was called in the bottom of the fifth because of the 10-run mercy rule.
Torres went all five innings, striking out eight.
“All that matters is that you go out there and stay in control within yourself,” said Torres, a right-hander who struck out two batters in the first, second and fifth innings. “It’s about taking your time and taking deep breaths in between pitches and you will be fine.
“You just try to get in a zone and think about hitting your target and getting ahead of the hitters. That’s what I did.”
Crescenta Valley will face Foothill in a winner’s-bracket game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Burbank will look to regroup before resuming action at 5 p.m. Thursday against a team to be determined at Pacific Park.
Crescenta Valley scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning after Torres struck out two to set the stage.
Ryan Goodside drove in a run with a single before a ground out to short by Torres gave Crescenta Valley a 2-0 advantage.
Dominic Morales scored on a wild pitch in the second to make it 3-0.
Nick Garcia had a run-scoring single in the third to extend the lead to 4-0.
Morales scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to pad the lead to 5-0. Morales finished the contest with three runs scored.
Crescenta Valley closed it out with five runs in the fifth. Garcia made it 6-0 with a run-scoring single. Later in the inning, Joel Batterson had a run-scoring double to make it 9-0 before Morales scored the final run on a wild pitch with two outs.
Crescenta Valley Coach Ernie Garcia said Torres provided a boost.
“He did an excellent job pitching and staying under control,” Garcia said. “He had solid control of his pitches and we got an excellent defensive effort. This group of players has talent.”
Crescenta Valley finished with 10 hits, including two from Goodside, Garcia, Batterson and Morales.
Burbank Coach Greg Lehman said his team showed some resolve.
“Even trailing at 5-0, we didn’t feel like we were out of it because we have a team that’s capable of coming back late,” said Lehman, who got two hits from Jake Reyes. “Their pitcher did a good job and we hit some balls right at their people. We’ll look to regroup next game.”
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Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
