Barton Pulls Surprise With Power Surge

Antelope Valley High center fielder Anthony Barton is not a power hitter, but with his appetite for pressure and drama, anything can happen.

Barton proved so Friday when he hit a one-out, first-inning grand slam to help the Antelopes defeat Burroughs, 6-4, in the first round of the Southern Section Division III baseball playoffs.

Barton, who entered the game with one home run, blasted a 1-0 fastball by Brian Nichols over the left-center field fence.

“I like the pressure,” said Barton, a 5-foot-7, 170-pound senior. “It’s just how the game of baseball is played. Bases loaded, pressure on. It’s what we needed.”

Actually, Antelope Valley (17-10) needed more than four runs to hold off the Indians (16-10-1), and the Antelopes got two more in the second inning on a double by Charlie Cooke.

Cooke’s two-out double came against Burroughs reliever Wes Hutchison, but the runs were charged to Nichols (6-2), who had loaded the bases by walking two and allowing a single to Kevin Barlow.

Hutchison struck out 12 and scattered five hits over the final 5 1/3 innings. In fact, 16 of Antelope Valley’s 21 outs were strikeouts, and momentum seemed to belong to Burroughs after the second inning.

Antelope starter Sean Douglass (8-3), after breezing through the first three innings, gave up a three-run homer to Tom Perez in the fourth. He was replaced by Jeremy Holiday in the fifth, leading, 6-3.

With two out and two runners aboard that inning, Holiday allowed a double to Perez. Eli Albertson scored from second, but Matt Hellman, coming from first, was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

“What can you do? It’s a heartbreaker,” said Hutchison. “We always wake up. Our offense always kicks in. I was hoping for a couple more runs.”