Indians left feeling stranded

Burroughs High played well in last year’s Hoover Softball Classic,

rolling to a tournament championship.

With a fine core of returning players, the Indians figured they

would have a good shot at repeating in this season’s 11th annual

event -- although the field includes some talented teams.

However, those hopes were dashed Tuesday as Burroughs was defeated

in the first round, 3-2, to Torrance at Pelanconi Park in Glendale.

Burroughs will take on San Fernando today at 5 p.m. in a

second-round consolation game at Pelanconi Park. San Fernando was a

no-show Tuesday in its opening game against host Hoover.

“If you look at the box score, the two teams today were pretty

evenly matched,” said Indian Coach Jennifer Gomez, whose team

defeated Glendale, 5-1, to win the 2002 championship. “I think the

main difference is that we left more runners on base than they did.”

The Indians (2-2) stranded five runners and the Tartars (1-0) left

three on base.

“To my team’s credit, I think this the best game they have played

all season,” Gomez said. “I wish we could have scored a few more runs

when we had the chance.”

That chance came in the fourth inning in a scoreless tie.

After Indian pitcher Dani Regan got on base on a dropped third

strike, Val Rico followed with a bunt single and the runners advanced

on a sacrifice by Lisa Dennis. That set the stage for Janette

Galendo, who roped a shot over the center fielder’s head for a triple

that scored two runs.

With one out and Galendo at third, Burroughs had a good

opportunity to add to its lead. However, when the inning ended,

Galendo was still marooned at third, as a walk by Rachel Ross was the

only other offense the team could muster.

“We made some mistakes today, mental and physical, and that really

hurt us,” Gomez said.

“I would have liked to score a third run, or maybe even more, in

that fourth inning. But we just couldn’t get Janette home.”

Regan pitched well for Burroughs, as she went the distance,

surrendering three hits, one walk and striking out four.

Regan rolled through the first three innings with a no-hitter. But

she hit a snag in the fourth, her only bad inning of the game.

After surrendering two straight hits to Sara Izzo and Sara Iwata,

Torrance pitcher Jessica Pacheco delivered a triple that sailed over

the head of Indian right fielder Noemi Escamilla to tie the score.

With two out, Pacheco scored the winning run on an error on an

infield grounder by Rachel Bush.

“This team was won a lot of games the past few years, going 25-3,”

said first-year Tartar Coach Mike Izzo of his squad. “This team is

also the Ocean League champion.

“We have a senior battery of [Pacheco] and catcher Sara Izzo, so

we are just hoping they can help out the younger players and provide

some leadership for us.”

Vanessa Esquivel had two walks for Burroughs, which couldn’t come

through with any hits outside of the fourth inning.