Events have to be put on hold

Jeff Tully

The Burroughs High baseball team has waited seven years to get back

to the championship game of the El Segundo Tournament.

Because of rains that pelted Southern California last weekend, the

Indians will have to wait four more weeks to vie for their first

title in the prestigious tournament.

The damp weather not only washed out Burroughs’ championship game,

but it also forced the postponement of the 30th annual Burbank

Invitational track and field meet.

“We had a team breakfast Saturday morning and we were still hoping

the weather would clear up and it would stop raining so we could

play,” first-year Burroughs Coach Tom Crowther said. “But the rain

was too much and there was no way we could have played the game.”

The Indians (4-0) were supposed to take on Encino Crespi for the

tournament crown at El Segundo’s Recreation Park.

Crowther said he was hoping to play the makeup game this week, but

Burroughs and Crespi had conflicts with their schedules and a date

couldn’t be agreed on. The teams finally settled on April 12th for

the 7:30 p.m. game.

“Not playing Saturday is kind of bad for us because we will go

four days without playing a game before we start league,” said

Crowther, whose team will face Hart at 3:15 p.m. Friday at home in a

Foothill League opener.

“But the good thing about having four days without a game is that

it will give us a chance to work on some things. As a team, we are

only hitting .280, and we will definitely work on that.”

One of the Indian players who is not having trouble at the plate

is senior leadoff hitter Kyle Williams. Along with a .727 average,

Williams has reached base 16 times in 20 plate appearances in four

games.

Burroughs is also doing well in the pitching department. Senior

starter Mike Perez has a 2-0 record and has 16 strikeouts in 8 2/3

innings and sophomore Josh Campbell is 2-0 -- including a 4-2 win

Thursday against host Arcadia in a tournament semifinal game.

Crowther said the team is off to its best season start in 25

years, and the Indians are excited about vying for their first

Foothill League championship since 1997.

“We should be well rested for the Hart game,” Crowther said.

“Playing the championship of the El Segundo Tournament is

important for us, but we are really focused about doing well in

league and playing for a title.”

The Indians failed to make it to the CIF Southern Section playoffs

in 2002.

For Burbank High track and field Coach Darin Wolf, the rain really

did a number on the annual Burbank Invitational.

“There was no way we could have run the meet with the rain, so we

had to reschedule,” he said. “I know that even some meets that were

run on all-weather tracks had to be canceled Saturday.”

Wolf said the meet -- which is being held at Burroughs’ Memorial

Field this year -- will go on, but Saturday’s rescheduled event will

feature less teams.

“It will be a smaller meet with a lot less teams,” Wolf said. “As

of [Monday], only [Burbank], Burroughs, Glendale and Saugus have

confirmed. A lot of the schools have other meets to go to that day.”

The invitational originally included Van Nuys Birmingham,

Inglewood Morningside, L.A. Loyola, Orange and Hoover -- among

others.

The meet will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at approximately 4 p.m.

Admission is $3 and students with a school ID are free.