By Rick Assad
Just two days earlier, the Burroughs High baseball team toyed with Muir and won by an 18-run margin.
On a cold and breezy Thursday night at Tomahawk Field, the Bears claimed yet another Pacific League win over the Mustangs, but this time it wasn’t as lopsided, winning 5-0, and in which every run truly mattered.
Senior pitcher Devan McGivern sparkled on the mound for five and one-third innings and junior Nick Forrest came in with one out in the sixth inning and also pitched well.
McGivern allowed three hits and struck out three, while Forrest fanned four and hit a batter.
In Tuesday’s 21-3 rout of host Muir, Burroughs opened the affair with an 18-run outburst in first inning and coasted the rest of the way.
This time the Bears struck for one run in the opening frame, and it came on a one-out sacrifice fly to left field by senior Lim Cabellos.
Two innings later, Burroughs added another run against the Mustangs (1-4 and 0-2 in league) as it became 2-0 on a grounder from Forrest, the designated hitter.
The Bears (4-4 and 2-0 in league) broke the contest open with a three-run, five-hit sixth inning as junior Jarell Bijasa delivered a run with a resounding double to left field.
Two batters later, senior Andrew Chapman (two hits) contributed an infield single that scored a run and St. Francis transfer, senior Bailey Ewan (two hits) had a single to left field that also tacked on a run.
Forrest had a single to center field and junior Steven Suarez had an infield single in the sixth inning.
“They’re [Muir] a good squad. I think we exposed them a little bit and I think that we executed really well tonight, and I think that was the difference tonight in the game,” Burroughs coach Matt Magallon said. “I think our at-bats and our approach as a team is that everyone wants to be a fire breathing dragon. They’re tough outs and that’s the approach we’re taking and the culture we have, and we’re really excited about this team.”
Though the Bears have played only eight games, Magallon wants to see improvement, and expects his team to do so.
“I think that we need to get a lot better if we’re going to play Arcadia and Crescenta Valley and Burbank. Those teams are tough. Glendale’s going to be really tough as well,” he said. “If we execute, we’re really tough, but our pitching is tough. It’s going to be a great season. We need to not give up routine things.”
McGivern had four perfect innings and the string began in the initial frame when the right-hander saw sophomore Owen Grice line to shortstop and senior Myles Sotomayor fly to right field. Senior Jaime Caldera then bounced to first base with McGivern getting the out to conclude the inning.
In the second, Muir leadoff hitter, junior Makhi Clark reached on an infield hit and moved to second base when sophomore Vincent Bugarin bounced back to McGivern.
When senior Xavier Guzman rolled to first base, Clark dashed to third base. The inning ended when McGivern struck out senior Diego Huzar swinging.
The Mustangs went down 1-2-3 in the third inning as McGivern induced junior Jaquci Pulley to pop up to first base.
Freshman Tarik Reese then grounded to second base and when Grice grounded to shortstop, the inning came to a conclusion.
Another 1-2-3 inning followed in the fourth as Sotomayor fanned swinging and Caldera then bounced out to shortstop. Clark then flied out to right field with junior Sebastian Zamora making an incredible catch for the third out.
McGivern’s fourth perfect inning was the fifth stanza as Bugarin lined out to center field. Guzman and Huzar then both bounced to second base.
McGivern began the sixth inning by getting a called third strike against Pulley, but Reese was safe on an infield base hit.
After Grice grounded to third base, Reese moved to second base. Sotomayor was also safe on an infield hit, which advanced Reese to third base. Sotomayer took second base on a steal.
With the tying run at second base, Forrest was called into action on the mound. In quick fashion, Forrest fanned Caldera looking at a third strike and the threat was extinguished.
The seventh inning commenced with Clark getting hit by a pitch from Forrest, and a balk sent Clark to second base.
Sensing a potential big inning, Forrest then struck out looking Bugarin, Guzman and Huzar to end the game.
