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Indians put on hitting barrage

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Jeff Tully

The Burroughs High softball team is doing its best Jekyll and Hyde

impersonation this season.

Three weeks ago in the Hoover Softball Classic, the Indians showed

their bad side by struggling on offense and losing their two games in

the tournament to Torrance and San Fernando.

However, in its last two tourneys, Burroughs has snapped out of

its funk, put on a hitting barrage and faired well in two tough

events.

Saturday, the Indians won two games in the talent-rich third

annual San Fernando Valley Victory Spring Classic at the Hjelte

Sports Complex in Encino, setting up an interesting matchup.

The Indians (7-4) will square off against Crescenta Valley (7-2)

at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in a Gold Bracket semifinal game.

“Sometimes, I don’t know which one of my teams is going to show

up,” said Burroughs Coach Jennifer Gomez, whose squad finished fifth

out of 16 teams March 22 at the Simi Valley Tournament. “But what I

think that shows is just how young we are.

“But we proved we can come through with a lot of offense, we had

26 hits in the two games.”

In the other tournament semifinal game at 1:30 p.m., L.A. Baptist

will play Granada Hills.

Playing against the Falcons through the years in nonleague games,

Gomez said she knows what to expect from CV.

“I hope they aren’t as good as they were last year,” she said.

“But what I do know is they will be very competitive and they will be

well coached.

“We just have to go out there and play like we have in our last

few tournaments. I hope we don’t do what we did in the Hoover

tournament again this season.”

In the first game, Burroughs defeated Village Christian, 4-3. It

followed with a 7-6 win against Van Nuys Birmingham in 10 innings.

The workhorse for the Indians in the event was senior pitcher Dani

Regan. Regan (6-3) pitched both games, earning two victories in 17

innings of work.

“It was hot, and it was a lot of innings for Dani,” Gomez said.

“But you will never hear her complaining, and she is always ready to

give her all for the team.”

Against Village Christian, Regan gave up two earned runs, five

hits, walked two and struck out five.

At the plate, Val Rico led the way, going three for three with a

run batted in and a stolen base. Teammate Ryanne Hodgins was two for

three with a run scored and a stolen base.

Sara Budrick was two for three and delivered a double that scored

the winning run.

Against Birmingham, Burroughs exploded for 16 hits, as every

starter had at least one.

Hodgins -- who has committed to Costal Carolina University --

drove in Budrick in the top of the 10th inning to score the

game-winning run.

Hodgins was four for six with two runs scored and a stolen bases.

Teammate Lisa Dennis went two for four, Vanessa Esquivel was two for

five and Margo Flynn was two for four.

Regan threw 10 innings, allowed five earned runs, 10 hits, struck

out four and walked one. She also helped her cause at the plate,

going two for five.

“I think this is the kind of hitting this team is capable of,”

Gomez said. “We have some good athletes who have a lot of talent at

the plate. I just hope we can keep this up.”

Through 10 games, Rico leads the team with a. 548 average and

Hodgins is hitting .462.

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