Bulldogs use big inning to gain win

LA CRESCENTA ? From the start, there was little that the Burbank Bulldogs could do wrong.

And, from the start, it was much the opposite for MJB Flooring.

It equated to a six-run first inning for the Bulldogs en route to a 16-5 mercy-rule win in the Little League District 16 Junior Baseball Tri Cities championship at Dunsmore Field.

“It was a great year,” said Bulldogs Coach Alan Goldberg. “It all came together.”

The opening inning saw Burbank (20-3-1) take a 6-0 lead on five hits ? all of them singles ? two walks and four errors.

It gave Bulldog starter Joshua Gobble a chance to relax on the mound and that was, for all intents and purposes, the end for MJB (18-6).

“I didn’t feel any pressure,” said Gobble, who went five innings for the win, allowing just three hits and one earned run, while striking out eight.

Gobble also went three for three with two runs batted in and a run scored.

Clean-up hitter McCauley Taylor was the offensive catalyst, also going three for three ? and like Gobble was likewise hit by a pitch and issued a walk ? while scoring three runs and driving two in.

Burbank’s Dave Northup had two hits, including a sixth-inning single, the only hit of the stanza despite the fact that five Burbank runs were plated to force the eventual mercy rule.

On the mound, Northup would sit down the opposition for the game’s only 1-2-3 inning to end it.

The last three Bulldog runs scored due to MJB’s sixth and final error.

“You’re not gonna win a game making errors,” said MJB Coach Mike Bako, who got hits from his son Mike Bako, Harry Pessy and Jeff Roberts.

“[Burbank is] a great hitting team and my hat’s off to them.”

All nine Burbank starters reached base in the game. Robert Cejudo, Brandon Zepeda, Tyler Delzell and Chase Mersola all scored twice in the contest that never got closer than a six-run Bulldog lead.

Said Goldberg: “It’s a total team effort. ... It’s nice to go out with a championship.”