Ghosts haunt Burroughs
Jeff Tully
The Burroughs High baseball team was not only facing a tough Hart
team Friday, but it was also battling ghosts of the past.
Traditionally, Hart has done a lot of winning against Burroughs
since 1987, as the Indians from Santa Clarita had a 40-8-1 record
against the locals entering the Foothill League opener for both
teams.
Hart put on a hitting barrage against Burroughs, scoring the first
eight runs and sealing an 11-7 victory at Burroughs High.
“I think we are battling the ghosts of all the good Hart teams of
the past,” said first-year Burroughs Coach Tom Crowther, whose team
suffered its first loss of the season. “There is this big [stigma]
that Burroughs has to lose to Hart. But we have to learn to not
believe in that.
“Just look at last season, when we went 1-1-1 against them. Hart
is very good, but we shouldn’t believe that we should lose to them.”
Entering the game batting .280 as a team, Crowther said he was
disappointed with the way his hitters performed against Hart (4-3).
“Some of the players are either stupid or they’re stubborn,
because they did not make adjustments at the plate today,” Crowther
said.
“I think another problem was that we just didn’t come out with a
lot of intensity. We were timid and I think maybe even a little bit
scared.”
Burroughs (4-1) might have been a little rusty after eight days
without playing a game.
Hart, on the other hand, was coming off playing a nonleague
doubleheader Wednesday against Quartz Hill.
With five players batting .500 or better, Hart was able to get a
lot of run production from the bottom of its order.
“Those are who we call the little guys, our Nos. 7, 8 and 9
hitters,” Hart Coach Jim Ozella said. “I think we were able to do a
lot of good things today.”
From the bottom three batters in its order -- Steve Susdorf, Ian
Feldman and Shane Carlson -- Hart received six runs, six hits, four
runs batted in and 11 total bases.
After Burroughs starter Mike Perez (1-1) had a relatively easy
time in the first two innings, he ran into trouble in the third. Hart
batted through the order and scored four runs on four hits.
Diaz threw 38 pitches in the inning.
Hart added four more runs in the fourth inning -- on home runs by
Feldman and Chris Valaika -- to take an 8-0 lead.
Burroughs made a game of it in its half of the fourth, scoring
four runs on base hits by Diaz and Pat Schulthies, a two-run double
by Brent Fekety and a walk by Miguel Alvarez.
Burroughs added a run in the sixth inning and two in the seventh.
“Usually, when we put seven runs up against a team, it’s enough to
win,” Crowther said. “But Hart is a good-hitting team and they were
able to score the 11 runs.
“The fact is that [Hart] hit today and we didn’t. We just didn’t
come to play.”
Hart starter Kyle Boggio (2-1) also had a relatively easy time
early, as he didn’t surrender any hits through the first three
innings, throwing just 36 pitches. However, Burroughs was finally
able to get to him in the fourth.
Crowther said along with a doubleheader today against Lakewood
Mayfair, he expects his team to bounce back and be ready for its next
Foothill League game -- a 7 p.m. contest Tuesday at home against
cross-town rival Burbank.
“We will bounce back,” Crowther said. “We have to make a few
adjustments and hopefully we’ll be fine.”
Burroughs hasn’t lost to Burbank since 1997, the year the Indians
won their first league championship in 40 years.