All Season, Notre Dame Hits Came by Bunch : High school baseball: Knight outfielder recovered from childhood accident to become a formidable hitter.

A toddler wandering into the kitchen. A coffee pot filled with boiling water. A dangling electrical cord within easy reach of tiny fingers.

Horribly, it all combined to become a parent’s nightmare.

Justin Bunch was 18 months old the day scalding water splashed over him, causing third-degree burns over much of his body. At 17, Bunch, a senior outfielder for Notre Dame High, still bears scars from the accident, which nearly cost him his left ear and full range of motion of his left shoulder.

Thankfully, Bunch has recovered, as his .508 batting average and eye-opening performance this season attests. He can recall nothing of the frightful experience--the accident, the month in intensive care, countless skin grafts and plastic surgeries, months of salve treatments, and many more months spent swaddled in cotton bandages.

“Constant doctors,” Ray Bunch said succinctly of his son’s ordeal. “And two years of excruciating pain.”

What Bunch does remember is years of teasing.

“A lot of kids can be ruthless,” he said. “As a kid, I was real self-conscious. Taking my shirt off, people would just go, ‘Ooh, what’s that?’ Just having them say that was the worst. I felt like dying.”

Bunch admittedly has struggled with feelings of insecurity and is still self-conscious about the scars--even though they have faded over the years to the point that Bunch barely resembles a burn victim.

Through baseball, Bunch has been able to put on a happy face.

In his first varsity season as a starter, Bunch (6-feet-1, 183 pounds) has emerged virtually from nowhere to become one of the area’s best hitters, leading Notre Dame (18-5) to a Mission League championship and into Friday’s opening round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs against Diamond Bar.

“He is, probably, one of the best clutch hitters I have ever seen,” said Notre Dame Coach Tom Dill, who began coaching Bunch on the junior varsity two years ago. “He is a difficult out, especially with two strikes. And about three times since I’ve been coaching here, I’ve seen him make the other team walk off the field with a game-winning hit.”

Aside from his lofty average--tops among area Mission Leaguers--Bunch has three home runs and a team-high 17 runs batted in, and he ranks second among area players with 12 doubles.

“I was really determined about this year,” Bunch said. “I’ve always known I could hit. I’m just finally getting the chance to prove it.”

As a child, Bunch was hyperactive, always getting into things. That was the problem.

But it also proved to be the solution. As an aid in rehabilitating Justin’s shoulder, Ray Bunch began playing catch with his son at an early age. Young Justin couldn’t get enough of the game--even when he was unable to catch the ball. The games quickly progressed, and so did Bunch’s skills.

“He started firing ground balls at me and I liked it a lot,” Bunch said. “He’d hit me grounders and I couldn’t catch even one. Then I finally got one and I remember the feeling.”

Bunch’s demeanor varies little in or out of the batter’s box. He appears serious, cautious, controlled.

“There’s an internal toughness about him that has made him an excellent hitter in two-strike situations from the time he was 9 or 10 years old,” Ray Bunch said.

Bunch’s performance is even more impressive considering he failed to make the cut during tryouts for the freshman team. That was painful, too.

“I had a 103-degree temperature and I got out there and didn’t play well,” he said. “I didn’t even make the freshman ball team, and I know a lot of players did who weren’t very good.”

The following season, Bunch made the junior varsity and the most of the opportunity, batting better than .450 to lead the team. He made the varsity as a junior, but while a cast of talented seniors led Notre Dame to the division semifinals, Bunch rode the bench, logging only nine at-bats.

“All those guys in front of me kind of discouraged me,” Bunch said. “Here are all these guys going to (college) and who’s this Justin Bunch on the bench? I got up there thinking I wasn’t as good as anyone else.”

He has spent much of his life feeling that way.

Patty and Ray Bunch, who were divorced when Justin was 13, describe their only son as an introvert. And the reason is clear.

“He doesn’t even have scars on his face, but I think he feels like he does,” Patty Bunch said. “It has definitely taken an emotional toll on him.”

Years after the accident, Patty Bunch has been awakened in the middle of the night by her son’s screams: No more needles! No more needles. It hurts!

It has hurt less with each passing year. Scars on Bunch’s forehead and neck are virtually absent, and a mark on his left forearm could pass for a lingering reminder of a head-first slide.

Mostly, the measure of maturity gained over the past few years has made the difference. If college offers come his way--none have so far--he’ll be prepared for the next level.

“Being a kid in seventh grade and being really skinny and starting to (be involved with) girls. . . . of course, it’s something to be self-conscious about,” Bunch said.

“Taking the shirt off, I still feel a little embarrassed. But now, it’s not that big a deal. People say, ‘What’s this?’ I say, ‘Oh, I was burned when I was little.’ ”