CV Landrys outlasts Burbank Dukes to nab Major Baseball title

GLENDALE — From top to bottom, it’s difficult to detect a weakness in a lineup used by Crescenta Valley Landrys. All of the batters appear disciplined and some have a knack for hitting the ball over the fence at the most opportunistic times.

Crescenta Valley looked to continue that trend when it faced the Burbank Dukes in the Major Baseball Tournament of Champions at Babe Herman Field on Monday night.

Behind four home runs from four different batters, Crescenta Valley rolled to a 10-5 win against Burbank in the tournament’s if-necessary title contest.

Crescenta Valley avenged a 10-9 defeat against Burbank in the tournament’s championship game Saturday at the same venue by receiving one home run apiece from Bryson Reeves, Vincent Parrott, Jade Low and Devon Ramaker to turn aside Burbank.

“I think we have the strongest hitting team in the area in Major Baseball,” said Crescenta Valley Manager Brett Ramaker, whose team finished the season 21-6. “We have a lot of disciplined hitters throughout the lineup.

“It was huge to jump out early and it’s big to win [the championship]. This was what we wanted to go after.”

Burbank got a home run from Ricky Perez, but saw its bid to complete a comeback fall short against Crescenta Valley’s stingy pitching staff. The Dukes finished 23-2.

Landrys, which handed the Dukes both of their defeats this season, led throughout and jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Reeves hit a line-drive home run to left to cap the scoring in the inning.

“The key was to get some runs early and stay locked in,” said Parrott, who finished with two hits and two runs scored. “It just feels incredible to win it and bounce back from our last game.”

Devon Ramaker collected three hits for Landrys, which topped the Dukes, 10-5, in an opening-round tournament contest June 4. He pitched the first three innings, striking out three, to pick up the victory.

The Dukes trimmed the deficit to 4-1 in the second on a run-scoring single by James Markey to right field. That would be as close as the Dukes would get.

Crescenta Valley broke the game open with a pair of runs in the third. Reeves had a two-run double down the left-field line to extend Crescenta Valley’s advantage to 6-1.

In the fourth, Landrys hit three home runs with two out to make it 10-1. Parrott hit a solo home run to left and Low hit a two-run home run to left before Devon Ramaker followed with a solo home run to right-center to wrap up the scoring for Crescenta Valley.

“It’s incredible to see what we were able to do,” Devon Ramaker said. “We were able to play great.”

Burbank made some noise in its final turn at bat in the sixth. Alberto Ayala had a run-scoring single to make it 10-2 before Perez hit a three-run home run to left to close out the scoring.

Burbank Manager Tony Castiglioni said Burbank tried to stay with Crescenta Valley.

“Our guys were able to battle to the end,” said Castiglioni, who got three hits from Niccolo Chuidian and two apiece from Markey and Perez. “We knew coming in that Crescenta Valley has a lot of great hitters and are a very successful team.

“We had a great group and they played well together throughout the season.”

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Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich.