First-inning slugfest sets winning tone for Burroughs softball
A showdown between two of the Pacific League’s top teams from a year ago took only half an inning to turn into a hitting clinic, courtesy of visiting Burroughs High.
The two-time-reigning league champion Indians sent 12 batters to the plate, scored nine runs on eight hits and never looked back in an 11-1 five-inning victory over Glendale on Thursday afternoon.
The win was the 22nd in a row in league for Burroughs (9-4, 2-0 in league), though the blowout came as a surprise for first-year Indians Coach Wes Tanigawa.
“I absolutely did not expect this,” the skipper said. “Softball is a very funny game. I told the girls to keep the focus up, because you never know, you sleep and they can come back against you.
“This was the sort of performance that we were looking for. The girls read the ball really well and it was nice to see this.”
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Burroughs senior third baseman Brianna Johnson and reigning All-Area Softball Player of the Year Presley Miraglia played a pivotal role in Thursday’s success.
Johnson went three for three with a home run, double, five runs batted in and two runs scored. Miraglia finished two for three with a triple, RBI and two runs scored. In the circle, the pitcher allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts.
“I’ve been hitting really well the past few games and I’ve been working on fixing the flaws in my swing,” Johnson said. “I’ve been waiting for my specific pitch and, when I see it, I just drive and push through it.”
Johnson changed the contest’s complexity three batters in when she followed singles from Hannah Talavera (two for three with two runs and one RBI) and Lauren Lopez (two for three with two runs) with a towering inside-the-park three-run homer to deep center field.
Johnson started and finished the offensive fireworks as she also cracked a two-run double in the same inning that scored Talavera and Lopez again to give Burroughs a 9-0 lead and the third baseman five runs batted in in the inning.
The inning might have continued, but Johnson tried to stretch her double into a triple and was gunned down at third base.
In between Johnson’s two extra-base hits, Burroughs added two runs on a single each from Nikki Ricciardella and Talavera with two more runs scoring on a two-base error in the outfield.
Overall, Burroughs sent 12 batters to the plate and scored five runs with two outs in the inning.
The Indians needed two more runs to push the contest into a mercy-rule situation and got them with two outs again.
Johnson singled in the fourth inning and Miraglia followed with a run-scoring triple. Miraglia also scored on the play when a throw into third base sailed into dead-ball territory, which awarded the pitcher home plate.
The junior was more than capable in the circle and allowed her one run in the first when Glendale’s Sammy Fabian tripled and scored on a wild pitch.
“I don’t think my [pitching performance] was the best it could have been, but it was OK for today,” Miraglia said. “I know I can do better than what I did and I’m just really happy we hit.”
As for Glendale (7-4, 1-1), the Nitros were competitive after the disastrous first half inning and finished with five hits to Burroughs’ three the rest of the way. Yet, there was no escaping the first inning.
“I told my girls that from the second through the fifth inning, we played head to head with Burroughs,” Glendale Coach Chris Funaro said. “One of the things we talked about is being second-inning ready and if this game would have started in the second inning, well, it’s a different game and we’d still be playing.”
