When it comes to hitting, pitching and defense, the Burbank High softball team excelled in one when it met Arcadia on Thursday afternoon at McCambridge Park in a Pacific League match.
The Apaches were slightly better in three and as a result walked away with a 15-10 decision.
“We didn’t have it defensively or pitching-wise today,” Burbank coach Mike Delaney said. “Both of our pitchers struggled today hitting their spots and our defense wasn’t there to pick them up.”
Delaney went on: “Neither one happened today,” he said. “We were flat-footed today.”
The Bulldogs, who were coming off an 11-0 victory over host Glendale two days earlier, managed 13 hits.
Leading the charge was junior Desi Gomez, who accounted for three hits that included two triples and a single.
Senior Anysia Gonzalez had a triple and a single and sophomore Katie Treadway finished with a triple and a single.
Senior Macie Jensen added a double and a single and senior Bene Snyder smashed a double and a single.
Delaney said that mental mistakes really hurt. “I think we probably gave them six or seven runs today,” Delaney noted. “I told them that if we score 10 runs, we should win the game. I didn’t think we were prepared.”
Arcadia (7-8 and 4-4 in league) scored in five of the seven innings and collected 16 hits while Burbank (9-8 and 5-3 in league) also scored runs in five innings.
The Apaches scored three runs off senior pitcher Allie Benson in the first as senior Susan Harrison (four hits) belted a one-out, bases-clearing triple to left center.
Benson, who toured three innings, yielding six hits, striking out one and hitting one batter, escaped any further damage by getting junior Karly Gillis, who singled in the seventh, to hit into a double play.
The Bulldogs cut the edge to 3-1 as Gonzalez tripled in junior Sarah Garelick, who was safe on a fielder’s choice in the first inning.
When junior Alex Davis lined a ball delivered by freshman Sophia Garzona over the left field fence for a two-run homer, it was knotted at 3-3.
Garzona toiled seven innings, hit a batter and fanned a batter and allowed seven extra-base hits.
Arcadia, which banged out 16 hits including four extra-base hits, made it 6-3 in the second inning when junior Megan Lau (three hits) delivered a run-scoring infield single.
Freshman Averi Wong (two triples) tossed in a smash back to Benson that scored a run and the other run scored via an error.
Burbank shaved Arcadia’s lead to 6-5 with two runs in the second as Gomez’s triple to right center drove in Treadway, who led off with a three-base hit to right center.
It became a one-run affair on Jensen’s one-out, base hit to left field that brought home Gomez.
Arcadia’s lead became 9-5 with a three-run fourth off junior Alyssa Porras, who worked four innings, allowing 10 hits with two hit batters, a walk and a strikeout, as Wong clubbed a two-run triple to center field and senior Nicole Puente added a sacrifice fly.
With a four-run fifth, Arcadia’s advantage swelled to 13-5 as junior Dejah Westbrook (four hits) knocked in a run with a single.
Wong’s triple brought in a pair of runs and Harrison’s single to center field added a run.
The Bulldogs scored a run in the fifth inning that made it 13-6 as Gonzalez, who singled up the middle with two out, eventually crossed the plate on an error.
Arcadia’s final two runs came in the sixth as seven came to bat with only Lau getting a single.
The inning was prolonged by two Burbank errors as the Bulldogs finished with four miscues compared to three for the Apaches.
Burbank shaved the lead to 15-7 with a tally in the sixth inning as Jensen’s double to left field scored a run.
Burbank tacked on three runs in the seventh inning as Gomez tripled to right center for two runs and Gomez came around on an error.
Senior Erin Lashkari also had a base hit for the Bulldogs that came with two out in the seventh inning.
