Hart Prevails but Sanchez Misses Finish : High school baseball: He throws away chance for first complete game in 5-2 victory over Burbank.

The pitch seemed to hurt Luis Sanchez more than it did Gino Archuleta.

That might be stretching it, considering Archuleta, Burbank High’s No. 9 batter, hobbled to first base and then collapsed in pain after being hit on the right ankle by a Sanchez fastball in the fifth inning of Friday’s Foothill League opener at Hart.

Then again, Sanchez, a hard-throwing, sophomore right-hander, wanted dearly to record the first complete game of his career.

Now, while Archuleta was walking off the sting, Sanchez was walking off the mound with one out and runners at first and second.

However, senior right-hander Gary Stephenson entered and pitched 2 2/3 perfect innings to preserve a 5-2 victory that gave Hart a 7-1 record.

“When it’s the seven, eight and nine part of the order, you can’t be walking one batter and hitting the next,” Hart Coach Bud Murray said. “We’re just not going to get through the league doing that. Sooner or later, these guys are going to have to go out and get a complete game.”

Sanchez (2-0), who recorded seven victories as a freshman with the varsity, would have preferred sooner. And he appeared on his way.

He retired the side in order twice and was roughed up only in the third inning when Burbank (5-2) parlayed a triple and a pair of run-scoring singles into two runs to pull even with Hart, 2-2.

With one out in the fifth, Sanchez walked George Leousis on five pitches, then dealt Archuleta the low hard one with his first pitch.

“I lose my concentration sometimes,” Sanchez said. “After I walked that first guy, I wasn’t even thinking about the next pitch. I felt bad. Not just because I hit him but because I wanted a complete game. I guess it’ll come later.”

For his part, Stephenson, the staff ace, recorded his first save. He threw only 19 pitches and struck out three, including the final two batters.

“It was supposed to be my bullpen day, anyway,” Stephenson said. “I didn’t mind throwing.”

Stephenson, who began the game in left field, stroked a two-run triple to deep center in the second inning off senior left-hander Brian Sindle (3-1).

Hart took a 4-2 lead in the third on a run-scoring single by designated hitter Mike Espy and a sacrifice fly by Aaron Dean.

In the sixth, Hart loaded the bases with none out against reliever Shawn Montgomery but came away with only one run. Kai Chauncey lofted a fly to right field to drive in Casey Niccum.

Armando Mesa and Brandon Mora knocked in runs for Burbank.