Burroughs High senior pitcher Kyle Nicol didn’t have his best stuff, but was good enough to beat host Glendale 11-1 in a Pacific League baseball game on Friday.
Nicol went four innings and allowed two hits with one run, added three strikeouts with one walk and two hit batters.
“I just wasn’t feeling it today,” Nicol said. “Mentally I was fine, but for some reason I wasn’t feeling it. But my teammates always have my back.”
Luckily, Nicol (4-0) was supported by a nine hit barrage as junior Justin Palafox had two hits with four runs batted in while sophomore Nathan Palafox added two hits and two RBIs.
“We’re not a great hitting team, but we’re a good situational hitting team,” Burroughs coach Craig Sherwood said. “Every team in this league is good. I have tremendous respect for Glendale’s coach [Alan Eberhart].”
The scoring began in the first inning when Justin Palafox, who scored three runs, was safe on an error and crossed the plate when Nathan Palafox singled to right center.
Burroughs (9-2 and 2-0 in league) then sent 11 batters to the plate in the second inning as Justin Palafox drove in a run after getting hit by the pitch and senior Omar Tejeda walked with the bases loaded to make it 3-0.
Nathan Palafox’s two-run single to right field made it 5-0 and it became 6-0 on an infield hit by senior Tanner Whitlock.
The Indians added a solo run in the third inning when Justin Palafox singled in junior Riley Hooper, who doubled to lead off the frame.
Burroughs made it 11-0 when it trotted 10 batters to the plate in the fourth inning. Senior Randy Catlett had a sacrifice fly, Justin Palafox chimed in with a two-run double to right center and senior Nick Ziegler added an infield single that brought in a run.
The Nitros (1-11 and 0-2 in league) trimmed the deficit to 10 runs with a tally in the fourth inning when junior Andrew Tinoco doubled to left center to open the frame and scored on an error.
The Indians made two errors in the fourth inning and Sherwood hopes to correct the matter.
“The first thing that the players learn when they put on the Burroughs jersey is to catch the ball. You have to be able to pitch and catch.”
Senior Jared Whaley worked the fifth and final inning and after allowing a leadoff single to senior Keyvan Duran, was able to retire the next three batters that included striking out senior Bryan Mata for the second out.
