By Rick Assad
It’s hardly warm and there has been a significant amount of rain, but baseball is being played by Burroughs High, Burbank and Providence.
All three are looking to make the CIF Southern Section playoffs and while it’s never easy, all three are determined to show what they’re capable of in the Pacific League for the Bears and Bulldogs and Prep League for the Pioneers.
The Bears are coming off a season in which they went 12-12 and 8-6 in the league for third place and lost a Division II first-round game to Lakewood 2-1.
Burroughs coach Matt Magallon is ready for the challenge.
“I think the league is well balanced and if we play our brand of baseball, we will have success, but if we do not and make young mistakes, then it will be a tough season,” he said.
Magallon is also quietly confident.
“This team is determined and plays for each other. We have great leadership by young players as well as veterans and are excited to see how things shake out,” he added.
There are twenty-two players on Magallon’s team including a dozen seniors.
They are second baseman Nate Chapman, Tommy Vournas, Nate Cisneros, center fielder Dylan Conahan, left fielder Brian Martinez, designated hitter Chris Perez, right fielder Nickolas Fritz, Anthony Morse, Connor Nestor, Liam Morgan, Elvis Moreno and William Armes.
Three juniors are on the team, and they include pitcher Kenny Montgomery, Andrew Cosio and catcher Kyle Smith.
There are six sophomores on the squad, and they include shortstop Logan Drossin, Jack Smith, first baseman Devin Whittenkiend, Ryan Walsh, Zack Guevara and pitcher Jack Guest and one freshman, third baseman Elliot Ross.
The Bulldogs reached the Division IV quarterfinals last year and went 13-10 and 7-7 in league for fourth place.
Under longtime skipper Bob Hart, Burbank blanked Elsinore 2-0 in the opening round and defeated El Rancho 4-3 in the second round but lost to Crean Lutheran 2-1.
Hart isn’t going to speculate on how his team will fare, but is optimistic.
“My approach is focusing on the next game,” he said. “It’s not good to get out ahead of yourself for better or worse.”
The Bulldogs feature thirteen players, and they are senior second baseman/center fielder Ryan Sebastian, senior shortstop/infielder Bryant Johnson, senior left fielder/catcher/third baseman/pitcher Miklo Reynoso, senior first baseman/third baseman Jake Reyes and senior second baseman/outfielder Nathan Zecena.
Also on the team are junior shortstop/first baseman/pitcher Robert Snyder, junior pitcher/catcher/infielder Colby Bette, junior third baseman Adrian Vasquez, junior infielder/center fielder/pitcher Taylor Pryor and junior third baseman/outfielder Michael Bui.
The rest of the team includes sophomore second baseman/outfielder Jake Dibie, sophomore first baseman/center fielder Tomas Angel and sophomore first baseman/catcher Jeremy Lee.
The Pioneers went 11-12 and 6-6 for third in league and advanced to the second round of the Division VI playoffs.
Providence knocked off St. Monica 7-2 but lost to Campbell Hall 4-1.
Mando Contreras is the coach and is hopeful.
“We’re going to keep building off of our game experiences this season and compete at the top of the Prep League,” he said. “I’m confident we’ll be prepared to be successful this season and in the future.”
There are seventeen players on the Pioneers’ team and they include senior first baseman/DH Garrett Barnes, senior outfielder/pitcher Andrew Malong, junior infielder/pitcher Adrian Contreras, junior outfielder/catcher Eric Chuchvara, junior outfielder/DH Eric Flores, sophomore infielder/catcher Luc Rode, sophomore infielder/pitcher Nicholas Delger and sophomore infielder/outfielder Asa Langlois.
The remainder of the team includes freshman catcher/outfielder Parker Beck, freshman right fielder/left fielder Lev DiBlasio and sophomore outfielder/pitcher Jason Carrillo.
The rest of the team includes junior infielder/pitcher Trevor Provencio, sophomore second baseman/third baseman Hudson West, freshman infielder/pitcher Cade MacKenzie, freshman first baseman/DH William Abbrizzi, freshman first baseman/pitcher Cian Collins and Mowli Ka.
