Beer, Crescenta Valley baseball blank Burroughs
BURBANK — Burroughs High baseball coach Craig Sherwood thought he had his team ready to take on Crescenta Valley and its talented starting pitcher Trevor Beer.
“We knew to look fastball from pitch one against him,” Sherwood said. “I told the guys [Clayton] Kershaw loses games and this guy can lose a game, too.”
Nonetheless, the Indians batters struggled against Beer. The left-hander threw six strong innings, shutting out Burroughs while striking out 13 to lead the visiting Falcons to a 9-0 Pacific League victory.
“We just lost to the best pitcher in the league,” said Sherwood, whose team dropped to 10-13, 4-6 in league. “I can’t make excuses. I have seen all the pitchers in the league and by far he’s the best guy.
“When you can throw your pitches for strikes like he did and you’re left-handed, you have a bright future ahead of you.”
Beer, a senior who is headed to UC Santa Barbara, was in complete control against Burroughs. The reigning All-Area Baseball Player of the Year allowed five hits and walked one in a 92-pitch performance, throwing 57 for strikes.
Pitcher Luke Hempel threw one inning of relief, not allowing a hit and striking out two in the seventh to preserve the shutout.
“Everything felt good today,” Beer said. “The offense came out today and got me some runs early and that always makes me more comfortable on the mound.
“I was just ready to go after their batters because I knew I had the offense and defense behind me.”
Crescenta Valley (19-4, 10-0), ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section Division II, got Beer some breathing room before the left-hander even took the mound.
The Falcons opened the contest with three runs in the top of the first inning. Vincent Parrott (four for five with a double, two runs batted in and two runs scored) singled and Beer (two for five with an RBI, one run) walked. The next batter, Brian Erickson, singled to center field to score Parrott. Beer and Erickson were plated with a base hit up the middle by Brian Ghattas.
“You want to give those guys in the top of the order some at-bats, like Grimm and Parrott, and although those guys are 10th-graders, if they get us started then we have the two big 12th-graders behind them,” Crescenta Valley coach Phil Torres said. “And that’s tough for the other team, because if those guys get on early in the lineup, they have to throw to the other guys because you have runners on base.”
The Falcons increased their advantage to 5-0 with two runs in the top of the second, with the big hit coming on a two-run double to center by Parrott.
In the bottom of the second with two outs, Nicco Chuidian (single and a walk) singled through the left side and Nathan Palafox followed with a base hit through the middle. That brought up Brandon Giraldo, who roped a single to right field. Chuidian attempted to score from second on the play, but Grimm came up throwing and delivered a pinpoint rocket to the plate to get the runner for the final out.
Crescenta Valley made it 6-0 with a run in the third on an RBI-single down the left-field line by Lorenzo Respicio.
Two of five Indians errors on the day came in the fourth inning and helped plate a run for the Falcons to take a 7-0 lead.
Crescenta Valley added a run in the sixth when pinch hitter Cody Cancelosi was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and scored a run in the seventh on an infield single by Beer.
Twitter: @jefftsports
