By Rick Assad
Scoring in four of the six innings and receiving a stellar outing by Ryan Walsh and a masterful performance from Kyle Smith was the perfect recipe for the Burroughs High baseball team on Friday night when six seniors were honored for their dedication and hard work to the program.
Visiting Muir was limited to four hits by right-handed junior Walsh, who struck out nine, walked two and hit one batter across five and two-third frames and the hard-throwing Smith, a senior, went one and one-third innings and added a strikeout as the duo combined for an 8-1 pasting over the Mustangs in a Pacific League game.
Three days prior, Muir (9-5 and 1-4 in league) fell to Burroughs (13-2 and 6-0 in league) 10-3 but are improved.
Sophomore Elliot Ross slapped two hits and scored two runs to pace the Bears who led 2-0 after the first inning.
Burroughs, which has posted a 10-game winning streak, added three runs in the fourth frame before tacking on a solo run in the next frame and capped off the evening with a two-run sixth.
Muir scored one run in the top of the second but was blanked for the rest of the game.
Matt Magallon is the Bears’ coach and thinks his young and talented team has great potential.
“This team will be as good as the work they put in,” he said. “We are really young and it’s fun to be a part of a group that likes the work as much as the games.”
Walsh worked a perfect fourth inning and fanned two batters in the first and second innings, fanned one batter in the third, fourth and fifth innings and tacked on two strikeouts in the sixth.
The opening frame saw Ross lead off with a single to left field and scored on a single to center field by senior Andrew Cosio, who also scored two runs.
The second run was tallied on a sacrifice fly to center field by junior Devin Whittekiend, who also singled in the fifth inning.
Burroughs forged ahead 4-1 when eight batters came to the plate in the fourth inning as sophomore Slater Mersola doubled off the first baseman’s glove as a run scored. Two more runs crossed the plate on an infield hit by junior Logan Drossin.
The Bears eased into a 5-1 advantage in the fifth inning as Cosio’s scoring fly to center plated senior Elvis Martinez, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the stanza.
Seven hitters came to the plate in the sixth and five batters reached base including senior pinch-hitter Chase Robinson, who slapped a run-tallying single up the middle.
Ross added his second hit of the game, a one-out single to center field and also scored a run.
Smith, who plays right field, took the mound in the sixth inning and induced the final out of the frame when junior Bryant Soriano grounded to Mersola at third base.
Smith fanned freshman Luca Cano looking in the seventh, saw freshman pinch hitter Sergio Rodriguez bounce back to Smith and ended the game when junior Khalil Rishwain flied to sophomore Jake Rauenswinder in center field.
The Mustangs scored their run when senior Arturo Ayers drilled a single to right field to open the frame, stole second base, went to third base on an infield hit from junior Ezekiel Rodriguez and crossed the plate on the lone error by the Bears.
Smith liked what he saw from the Bears’ hitters.
“Our offense impressed me a lot tonight. We knew Muir would come out scrappy and play hard,” he said. “I’m proud of us for keeping our composures and playing our game. We did great executing with runners on.”
