Indians no-hit Nitros

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — A steady diet of fastballs, some timely offense and a flawless defense was a winning combination for the Burroughs High baseball team on Tuesday afternoon and the wrong end of the equation for host Glendale in the Pacific League ballgame.

Indians starter Daniel Barraza and reliever Zane Carey combined for a no-hitter in propelling Burroughs past Glendale, 5-0.

“Coach told me, ‘Throw my fastball until they could hit it,’” said Barraza, who threw 4 2/3 innings, striking out eight and walking three on 80 pitches.

And the Nitros (3-4, 1-2 in league) could never hit Barraza, nor Carey, who went the remainder of the game, striking out two and hitting one batter.

In all, Burroughs (5-9, 2-1) had to contend with just four baserunners, as Glendale gave itself plenty of problems by swinging at pitches out of the zone all game long.

“They’re at a stage where they’re frustrated now, so I think they’re pressing,” Nitros Coach Jesus Osuna said. “Hitting’s one of those things where if one guy does it, everybody does it and if one guy doesn’t hit, nobody’s hitting.”

The Indians had but five hits against Glendale hurler Daniel Aragon, but also drew five walks and made their hits count.

“It was a good performance overall,” Barraza said. “Some key hits, too, actually helped out.”

Aragon labored through the first inning and, hence, Barraza pitched with a lead throughout.

“In the beginning, he got the ball up,” Osuna said. “Our pitching gave them opportunities and they took the momentum.”

Aragon walked the first two batters of the game, was aided by pickoff, but then was plagued by back-to-back, two-out hits from Chris Peale and Ryan Gordon, with Peale belting a double to left-center field that plated Miles Haddad to open the soring before Gordon singled in Peale.

Aragon walked the bases loaded in the second, but only gave up a run to Mathew Kelsey who stole home on a delayed steal that caught the Nitros napping.

Down, 3-0, Aragon settled down to the tune of retiring 10 straight, as he would go the distance, throwing 122 pitches and striking out seven, while walking five and allowing five hits.

He ran into more two-out troubles in the fifth that essentially put the game to rest, as Zander Anding doubled with two outs in front of a Dylan Goldsack infield single that saw an errant throw allow Anding to come around. Gordon then came up clutch once more with a triple to left that scored Goldsack for a 5-0 advantage.

“Against teams like that, they’re gonna take advantage,” Osuna said.

All five runs came with two outs, while walks to Nitros Sean Harris, Dillon Howard and Rafael Rios all came in separate innings, leaving Glendale without much in the way of a quality scoring opportunity, especially with Burroughs playing lights-out defense.

“Defensively, I was very happy with how we played today,” first-year Burroughs Coach Kiel Holmes said. “Pitching went out there and threw a combined no-hitter. ... [Barraza] did what I asked and Carey came in and closed it out.”

Barraza, who had previously pitched scoreless innings of relief against both Muir and Crescenta Valley, was taken out just to be cautious with the pitch count, according to Holmes, with a 5-0 lead.

“We like to keep our guys kind of tight in games like this,” Holmes said. “If it was a one-run game, he would’ve had the stuff to keep going.”

Burroughs is going into a 10-game hiatus, despite already having had its spring break, thanks to the way an odd Pacific League schedule works out dealing with an array of different school districts. The Indians will return to the diamond April 13 to host Pasadena, while Glendale looks to rebound Friday at Burbank.

Said Osuna: “We’re a scrappy bunch.”