By Rick Assad
Bolstered by four strong and effective innings on the mound by the starting pitcher, adding a three-inning outing by the reliever and tossing in a modest six-hit attack, the overall result was an impressive 8-0 Pacific League triumph by the visiting Burroughs High baseball team on Friday afternoon against Glendale.
The combined shutout by sophomore Ryan Walsh and senior Elvis Moreno was a tag-team effort and was duly impressive.
The Nitros had five hits off Walsh, who struck out three and hit a batter across four frames, while Moreno fanned three and walked one over three innings.
Burroughs coach Matt Magallon was keen on the way the club performed.
“I liked the execution, bunting, base running and keeping the pressure on them the entire time,” he said.
Getting the hits when they counted the most, the Bears (14-2 and 7-1 in league) came out in the second inning and scored five runs and used four hits while the Nitros (6-12 and 2-6 league) also committed two errors.
Ten batters made their way to home plate as sophomore Logan Drossin reached base on an infield hit as did junior Kyle Smith, who tried to sacrifice bunt but instead collected a hit.
Senior Brian Martinez’s sacrifice fly to left field scored a run and senior Nate Chapman’s infield single also tallied a run.
Three batters later, senior Chris Perez rifled a two-run single to left field and the Bears were in business.
A two-run fourth inning extended the Bears’ lead to 7-0 as Perez added his third run batted in on an infield single.
Burroughs didn’t score again until the seventh inning to make it 8-0 as Perez walked, took third base on junior Andrew Cosio’s double to left field and trotted across the plate on a wild pitch.
Senior Nickolas Fritz chipped in with a single to left field in the first inning but was left stranded.
The Nitros have improved but are still a little way from being in the top half of the league standings.
Senior Sheantell Cruz singled with one out in the first inning for Glendale off Walsh, but the right-hander promptly retired senior Aaron Aguayo and senior Jason Martinez on grounders.
Senior Xander Knur singled to center field in the second for the Nitros with two out, but Walsh set down junior Dante Vasquez on a called third strike.
Glendale had a small rally working in the third frame after junior Joseph Tapia slashed a one-out single up the middle and Martinez cracked a single to right field.
Walsh then induced senior Liam Roney to bang into a force out that ended the threat.
Senior Alex Idolor opened the fourth stanza with a base hit to center field and made his way to second base on Knur’s sacrifice bunt.
Walsh fanned Vasquez and the next batter, senior Austin Aldrete, hit a sharp liner that Drossin, the slick-fielding shortstop leaped and grabbed for the last out of the inning.
Junior Ace Baker was Glendale’s starting pitcher and did a decent job after working three and one-third innings, yielding five hits, striking out five, walking two and hitting three batters.
