When the dust settled and Davina Del Castillo opened her eyes she was safe at home. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)
The Indians may have been due for a letdown this week after upsetting Oaks Christian, the No. 1 ranked team in the CIF Southern Section’s rankings of Division III teams. But Burroughs coach Doug Nicol had warned of the importance of continuing to build momentum heading into Spring Break following the upcoming week.
“We don’t want to peak early, but we want to keep improving as the season goes along,” the second year coach said.
Burroughs took two games from Notre Dame March 6, in a double header at Olive Park. The Indians won the opener, 2-1, despite a season low two hits. Caitlin Loera scored Michelle Santiago on a triple and Hailey Schulman brought in Loera on a sacrifice fly to give the Indians a 2-0 first-inning lead.
Schulman made it stand-up, surrendering just one run in the sixth inning and scattering three hits to move to 4-0 on the season.
Your out!... JBHS's 3rd baseman completes the out in action vs Notre Dame on Wednesday. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)
In the night-cap, Burroughs regained its offense scoring four runs over the first three innings of play to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Its’ usually stout defense collapsed to let the Knights get even, 4-4, in the fifth inning.
Burroughs responded as champions do, scoring the contest’s last four runs and winning by a score of 8-4. Schulman, who had started every game in the circle through the season’s first four games got a start at third base and responded by going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Shannon Trujillo, Michelle Santiago, and Aimee Rodriguez had two hits apiece to lead a dominant offensive attack as Burroughs had 11 hits in the game.
Freshman Davina Del Castillo got the first pitching start of her career and pitched well. She went five innings, allowing six hits and striking out three batters. She eventually gave way to Schulman, who recorded the save by striking out the side with the bases loaded in the top of the 6th inning. Schulman went two innings and surrendering one hit while striking out four.
Their next game is in the semifinals of the Simi Valley Tournament where they will play against undefeated Royal tonight and the Highlanders’ star pitcher, Nancy Bowling. She is one of the top pitchers in the country and already has signed with the University of Arizona. The game is at 3:00pm at Santa Susana Park in Simi Valley.
