By Rick Assad
Kenny Montgomery was in full and complete control on the pitcher’s mound and had the support of his teammates who slapped 13 hits for Burroughs High en route to a 13-1 thrashing of host Glendale on Tuesday afternoon in a Pacific League baseball game that was stopped after six innings as the 10-run mercy rule was used.
The senior right-hander tossed a two-hitter, struck out four while walking one and hitting one hitter and began the game by retiring the first nine batters he faced.
Montgomery worked an easy 1-2-3 first inning after getting senior designated hitter Joseph Tapia and junior Adan Rodriguez to ground out and fanned senior Derek Chalian swinging.
In the second, Montgomery induced senior Ace Baker and senior Dante Vasquez to ground out and junior Adrian Gonzalez to fly to right field.
Senior August Kalava and senior Austin Gonzalez both grounded out in the third and senior Adrian Magana-Miller struck out looking.
Montgomery allowed a one-out single to left by Baker in the fourth inning but then retired the last two batters as Vasquez lined to center field and Gonzalez popped to second base.
A perfect fifth inning for Montgomery began with Kalava grounding out and junior Brady Aldrete also grounded out and Magana-Miller popped to second base.
Montgomery faced four batters in the sixth and set down Tapia on a fly to center, Rodriguez on a grounder but hit senior Marcus Mireles. Baker was the final out after swinging at the third strike.
Burroughs coach Matt Magallon showered Montgomery with lot of praise.
“Pitching-wise Kenny was great,” he said of his ace. “He got ahead of them early and only gave up a couple hits and did an amazing job.”
The Bears (5-1 and 1-0 in league) were solid from the outset and scored in five of the six frames and led 2-0 after the first inning.
In the frame, six batters made their way to the plate and three reached base including sophomore Slater Mersola, who dropped a two-out, two-run single to center field.
Mersola also doubled down the left-field line in the sixth inning and scored a run.
“I really like the adjustments that we made at the plate,” Magallon said. “The pitcher [senior Austin Gonzalez] threw well for them and kept us off balance. We had a good plan and executed it.”
Gonzalez went three innings, allowed six hits with three strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter.
The visitors added two runs in the second inning when sophomore Jake Rauenswinder, who doubled to left center in the fifth, walked and scored as did junior Logan Drossin, who reached on a bunt single and also crossed the plate.
Burroughs seized command 8-0 after tallying four runs in the fourth frame when nine hitters found their way to the plate.
Drossin’s one-out single to left field scored two runs and senior Andrew Cosio added a run-scoring force out.
It became 9-0 in the top of the fifth as senior Kyle Smith slapped a run-scoring double to left field.
“The team played great. We executed very well defensively and offensively,” said Smith, who was a catcher last season but will see action as a pitcher and right fielder this campaign. “Kenny did a great job on the mound and we backed him up with our hitting. We’re looking to roll this momentum into Friday’s game [versus Glendale].”
A four-run, five-hit sixth inning made it a 12-run differential as junior Jack Smith (two singles) tossed in a sacrifice fly to right and senior Zach Byars added a run-tallying single to right field.
The Nitros (0-7 and 0-1 in league) scored their only run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Tapia mashed a leadoff triple to center field and scored on a wild pitch.
Also getting on base via hits for the Bears were sophomore Elliot Ross who singled twice, senior Elvis Martinez, who singled in the sixth inning and senior Chase Robinson, who slapped a two-base hit down the left-field line in the sixth.
