By Rick Assad
Valentina Clemons wasn’t the scheduled starting pitcher for the Burroughs High softball team when it was to play Burbank on Wednesday night.
Valentina Reyes was supposed to be in the circle, but an injury sidelined the sophomore.
Everything turned out just fine as the senior right-hander turned in a stellar performance in the Pacific League game as she delivered a four-hitter across seven innings as the Bears stifled the Bulldogs 11-0 at a jammed packed McCambridge Park.
Clemons, who had pitched for Providence, struck out five and issued two walks and worked three perfect innings – the second in which she fanned two batters, the sixth inning and the seventh when she whiffed one hitter.
Longtime Burroughs coach Doug Nicol was impressed by Clemons’ outing and how she handled the moment.
“First, Valentina Clemons stepping up with Valentina Reyes out was so big in such a tough environment was incredible,” he said. “I’m so proud of her.”
Katie Taix is the pitching coach and assistant coach for the Bears, and she heaped praise on the pitcher.
“I am so proud of Valentina. Stepping into a big game like that was incredible. Her drop curve and curve were working really well,” she said. “She’s been working very hard on those pitches in the last year, and it really showed in this game. Since the season ended last year, she’s taken ten steps forward on her pitching.”
Burroughs scored in six of the seven frames including seven runs over the last two innings.
The hitting stars included Chloe Centeno, who singled and tripled and drove in two runs, junior Karlee Earl, who singled, doubled and homered with two runs batted in, sophomore Sophie Rangsiyawong, who singled, doubled and added a sacrifice fly and freshman Haven Vickers, who doubled and tripled and tossed in an RBI.
“I liked our at-bats, and we really stayed disciplined, and our defense was so good as well,” said Centeno, a senior of the lopsided victory.
Nicol really appreciated the way his team went about executing game strategy.
“I also liked the way they executed the game plan,” he said. “We wanted to be aggressive on the bases when we got on base and keep the pressure on them. I thought that was huge.”
Senior Maddison Kellogg slapped two singles while sophomore Kassandra Davila and sophomore Priscilla Sanchez both singled for the Bulldogs (8-12-1 and 4-3 in league).
Kellogg, who will be pitching for California Baptist University, surrendered 11 hits with 11 strikeouts, six walks and one hit batter over seven frames.
The Bears (20-5 and 7-0 in league) were aggressive at the plate and really stung the ball.
“I thought our hitting really shined,” Nicol offered. “Chloe, Haven and Karlee had some big shots but then Ali [Cortez], Alyssa [Morales] and Sophie had some timely hits too. It was a total team effort.”
The Bears scored a run in the first inning with the help of two Bulldog errors and then made it 2-0 in the second frame after Earl clubbed a run-scoring double to left field that tallied sophomore Cortez, who walked to lead off.
Burroughs increased its cushion to 3-0 in the third as senior Morales had a one-out single and scored on Centeno’s base hit to center field.
In the fifth, the Bears tacked on a solo run to make it 4-0 as Cortez’s single to left field plated Vickers, who opened the inning by belting a triple to right center.
Burroughs used a four-run, two-hit sixth inning to make it 8-0 as eight batters stepped up to the dish.
The frame featured Earl leading off with an inside-the-park homer to center field and Vickers tossed in a run-scoring double to right field.
After six hitters came to home plate in the seventh, the Bears added three runs and had an 11-0 lead.
Highlights included Centeno’s run-tallying triple to right field and Rangsiyawong adding a scoring fly to center field.
