Crescenta Valley Junior baseball outlasts Burbank for District 16 title

TUJUNGA — In a contest in which the walks were as plentiful as the sands of Tujunga Ball Fields, the Crescenta Valley All-Stars Junior baseball team claimed a District 16 championship by defeating visiting Burbank, 11-7, on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Crescenta Valley earned advancement to the Section 2 Tournament at Tehachapi, which begins Tuesday at 6 p.m. versus District 51 champion American Indian.

“This was the sort of game where I just told the guys to be ready for anything,” Crescenta Valley Manager Bryan Rich said. “Anybody and everybody could play any position, hit anywhere and even pitch. We expected a wild game and got one.”

Saturday’s contest lasted three hours and 13 minutes, included 24 walks, nine wild pitches, nine pitching changes, seven errors, a 10-minute protest and even had a fan hit by a foul ball.

Perhaps the biggest half inning took place in the bottom of the second with Burbank leading, 5-3.

Crescenta Valley’s Brian Ghattas reached on a hit by pitch, advanced to second on a walk to Vincent Parrott (three runs batted in, three runs, three walks), took third on a wild pitch and then scored on a fielding error that allowed Jagr Proiette to reach.

Parrot then scored on a single from JD Schaffer, while David Melendez drove in Proiette with a scoring grounder.

Two more errors in the inning coupled with a single from Hunter Cuneo accounted for two more runs as Crescenta Valley tallied a five-run frame to take an 8-5 lead it never relinquished.

“That inning hurt us the most,” said Burbank skipper Thomas Magoon, who unsuccessfully protested a substitution before the fifth inning. “We start the game down three runs, then scored five to take a lead and then give up another five runs. We could never get into a position where we could get the ball to our closer with the lead.”

Burbank’s biggest inning came in the top of the second, as it rallied from a 3-0 hole with five runs fueled by five walks and two RBI singles, the last coming from Ricky Perez (two RBI, two runs).

Burbank’s 5-3 lead marked the final time it was ahead, as the team was held scoreless by reliever Trent Steele, who tossed three innings and tap danced around five walks.

“Trent gave us a big lift in the game,” Rich said. “He helped us get control.”

Crescenta Valley added a run in the fourth on an error from Burbank and an eventual run-scoring single from Ghattas before taking a 10-5 lead in the fifth thanks to a double from Jack Brechow, a single from Schaffer and a run-scoring walk to Jamie Bleveans.

Burbank did rally with single run in the sixth and seventh innings.

Perez, who walked, scored on sacrifice fly from Niccolo Chuidian in the sixth before Jesse Rodriguez, who also walked, came home on a fly ball to right from Perez.

Burbank’s final run brought the visitors within, 11-7, with two outs in the seventh.

While Burbank had two on, Proiette recorded the final out for Crescenta Valley on a strikeout to cap a wild contest.

Crescenta Valley’s victory was the second in the three-game series, as the squad won, 7-1, on Thursday before losing to Burbank, 7-2, on Friday.

“Tip your cap to Crescenta Valley,” Magoon said. “They made the key plays and we didn’t.”