Bunts go long way in Burroughs softball’s win against Glendale
GLENDALE — Bunting isn’t something that’s done much by Nikki Ricciardella.
Entering Thursday, the Burroughs High softball player hadn’t attempted a bunt this season. She hardly looked rusty when called upon to carry out the task.
Ricciardella drove in two runs on two bunt singles and finished with three runs batted in to spur visiting Burroughs to a 6-0 Pacific League win at Glendale on Thursday.
“It’s the first two times I’ve bunted all year and you just have to find a way to get those runs in,” said Ricciardella, who added a walk and stolen base. “You work on bunting during practice because you never know when you’ll need to do it in a game.
“I haven’t been hitting well lately, so I just tried to do something a bit different. We were able to get a big win.”
Burroughs (8-3-1, 7-1 in league) swept the two-game season series against Glendale (11-5-1, 4-4). The Indians, who shared the league championship last season with Crescenta Valley, improved to 24-0 against the Nitros since entering the Pacific League in 2007. Burroughs posted a 10-0 win against Glendale on March 27 at Olive Park.
Burroughs pitcher Sidnie Dabbadie limited Glendale to four hits and struck out six in the shutout. She tossed a one-hitter against Glendale in the first matchup.
The Indians grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second on a push bunt toward second by Ricciardella that scored Jessica Amaya, who opened with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch.
Ricciardella drove in another on a bunt single in the fourth to score Chloe Bookmeyer to make it 2-0.
“She did a great job getting down both bunts,” said Burroughs coach Wes Tanigawa, whose team trails Crescenta Valley by one game entering Tuesday’s rematch with the Falcons at Olive Park. “You just try to do some different things to score runs and Nikki came through.”
Burroughs scored two runs in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead. Hannah Talavera recorded a run-scoring triple to make it 3-0. Presley Miraglia followed with an RBI single.
The Indians completed the scoring in the seventh. Megan Williams made it 5-0 with a run-scoring single and Ricciardella drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Burroughs got two hits from Talavera, Bookmeyer and Miraglia. Bookmeyer scored two runs.
Glendale coach Chris Funaro said the Nitros turned in a better performance against the Indians on Thursday.
“I thought we did a lot of good things and that’s a very good team over there,” Funaro said. “We hit the ball a lot better this game and we hit it right at people.
“We fought hard and it’s a confidence builder. We just need to find a way to go out there and beat the top teams in league and we will.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
