Burke Hits 2 More Homers for Vigilantes
Vigilante first baseman Alan Burke is in the midst of a great home run year.
On Friday Burke belted two more home runs, and none was more important that his one-out blast to left in the bottom of the eighth that gave Mission Viejo an 8-7 victory over the Western Warriors in front of an announced crowd of 2,468 at Saddleback College.
Burke, has 19 homers on the year, a career high with the Vigilantes, and has hit six in his last five games. He has driven in 17 runs in that stretch.
“Home runs are a streaky thing,” said Burke, who, along with Phil Kernan and Manny Gagliano, hit consecutive home runs in the third off Warriors starter Mike Campbell, one of six pitchers used by Manager Charlie Kerfeld.
“I don’t try to hit them, but the last couple of weeks I’ve gotten good pitches to hit, had good batting practice and felt good at the plate.”
And taken advantage of every mistake, like the one losing pitcher Jaime Escamilla (1-3) made in the eighth. After getting two strikes on Burke with high fastballs, Escamilla threw a curve low and inside. “Right where I like it,” said Burke, smiling.
Burke was also pleased by the Vigilante resolve. Mission Viejo (10-11) had bounced out to a 7-2 lead, with starter Brent Hansen looking strong for five innings. In the sixth, however, Western (12-9) struck for four runs and tied the score in the eighth.
“The last few games I think our team has shown some character I didn’t see in the first half,” Burke said. “Before when we lost a lead we would sulk in the dugout. But we’ve gotten stronger.
“After that big comeback we had Thursday [against Tri-City] it would have been devastating to let this one get away.”
Not everyone left the park satisfied. In the eighth inning Vigilantes center fielder Chris Powell was ejected for arguing the strike zone of home plate umpire Mike Gilmore. In the same inning Kerfeld was sent off for screaming and kicking dirt on third base umpire Pete Montalvo after the Vigilantes successfully executed a double steal.