Burbank baseball slugs past Hoover
GLENDALE — Burbank High coach Bob Hart can empathize with the current plight of the Hoover baseball program.
With a young squad, the Tornadoes have struggled and came into Friday afternoon’s game against the Bulldogs with one win and were still searching for their first Pacific League victory.
Burbank scored early, collected13 hits and took advantage of six Hoover errors to earn a 14-1 five-inning victory against the host Tornadoes.
The loss dropped the Tornadoes to 1-18, 0-8 in league, while the Bulldogs improved to 6-9, 4-4.
“I was in that same boat when I first got to Burbank High, so I know what it’s like and I’m always sensitive to it,” Hart said. “When you go against a team like that, you just have to shut it down when you have to and maybe take some starters out and give other guys some playing time who don’t normally play.
“I know when you struggle it’s not an easy thing. But I think they are moving in the right direction and they’re out there giving it their all.”
With a team consisting of mostly freshmen and sophomores, Hoover had five hits against two Burbank pitchers. But it was errors, including four in the first inning, that gave the Bulldogs extra at-bats.
“It’s really hard to battle back when the little things aren’t being executed,” said Hoover assistant coach Austin Walker. “I think that’s where we’re lacking as a very young team with a lot of freshmen and sophomores.
“I think we are also looking for some leadership and looking for guys to step up. When the little things aren’t executed and you give up four errors in the first, it’s a tough road to come back from.”
Starting pitcher Andrew DeLaTorre got the win for Burbank, going four innings, giving up one run on four hits, striking out five and not allowing a walk.
The Bulldogs also received an inning of relief from Davis Mieliwocki, who saw time on the mound for the first time after suffering a shoulder injury, striking out two and allowing one hit.
Mieliwocki also had a good day at the plate with a double, triple, three runs batted in and two runs scored.
Taking advantage of the Hoover errors and a hit batsman, the Bulldogs also had three hits in the top of the first inning, bringing nine batters to the plate to take a 5-0 lead.
Abiezer Delgado (two for four with two RBI and a run scored) doubled in two runs and Troy Lee (two for three with a double and an RBI) drove in a run with a single in the opening frame.
“When we start to string hits together and we start to play more as a team and play collectively, trying to get a win for the team, we start hitting and moving guys over and that’s a good equation for winning a game,” Mieliwocki said.
Hoover scored a run in the bottom of the second inning to cut the Burbank lead to 5-1. Isaac Zamarripa singled to center field and scored on an infield hit by Nathan Rivera.
Again Burbank batted through the order in the fourth, tacking on five more runs to take a 10-1 advantage, as the Tornadoes made two errors in the frame.
The Bulldogs added four runs in the fifth inning.
Matt Moreno was two for three with an RBI, Max Meltzer scored three runs and Ryan King was two for three with an RBI and two runs scored for Burbank.
Andrew Almanza, Ransom Gallegos and Luis Fernandez added singles for Hoover.
The win earned Burbank a season sweep of Hoover, having notched an 11-4 win Tuesday.
Twitter: @jefftsports
