By Dick Dornan
MyBurbank Sports Editor
Sky gazers caught a glimpse of the “blood moon” early Tuesday morning as a rare lunar eclipse captivated many of us. Unfortunately for the Burroughs softball team, they were still gazing when they took the field against Arcadia at Olive Park.
Rather than the “blood moon” serving as good karma for the red-clad Indians, it resulted in a bad omen. Behind a season-high five errors, Burroughs stumbled in a 10-6 loss to the Apaches that took 10 innings to decide.
“That was our worst loss of the season,” Burroughs coach Doug Nicol said. “The girls played lackadaisical and were not mentally prepared before the game. I could sense it.”
Burroughs (12-4-1, 4-1) fell a game behind front-running Burbank in league with the loss.
The biggest highlight of the day for JBHS might have been turning a triple play in the first inning limiting the Apaches to one run.
The Indians jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first inning when Kaitlin Okimoto smashed a line drive down the third base line scoring Michelle Santiago and Sidney Ortega.
Arcadia responded with two runs in the top of the third to take a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Then the game of chess began. Back-and-forth each team countered the other with runs creating an “anything you can do, I can do better” atmosphere.
Burroughs scored a run to tie the game at three apiece when Okimoto drove in Santiago. Arcadia came back with a run in the top of the sixth to re-establish its lead, 4-3.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Indians’ Aimee Rodriguez singled to left field driving in Santiago to tie the game, 4-4.
The Apaches countered in the top half of the 8th inning with a two-run home run down the right field line passed the out-stretched arms of Ortega.
Back came the Indians, who despite their funk most of the game, displayed plenty of grit and resiliency in their efforts to come back multiple times.
Naelyse Garcia’s RBI single followed by Danielle Ryan’s RBI single with two outs tied the game, 6-6.
Arcadia (5-8, 3-2) applied the dagger with four runs in the top of the 10th inning courtesy of four consecutive singles and two Indian errors.
Despite rallying three times to tie the game, the Indians had their chances to win with the winning run 90 feet away in the 7th and 8th innings. A fly out and pop up ended Burroughs’ threats, respectively.
A 16-hit effort wasn’t enough as the Indians suffered their first loss since March 19, a span in which they went 7-0-1 until Tuesday’s defeat.
“It just wasn’t our day,” Nicol said.
Santiago went 4-for-6 with four runs scored and two doubles. Okimoto added two hits and three RBI’s. Cheyenne Steward had three hits and threw five and one-third innings allowing six hits, two runs and a walk.
