Once upon a time the Arcadia baseball team had won 41 consecutive Pacific League contests. In fact it was only last week when the Apaches took their streak into action against Burbank.
It now seems like forever ago after Arcadia’s slide continued with a 4-2 loss at Burroughs Tuesday, May 8.
The loss dropped the Apaches to 10-3 in league and a second place tie with Burbank. It was their third straight following a 10-0 start and it means that the Apaches can do no better than share the league crown with Crescenta Valley by beating the Falcons on Friday evening. Burbank can also catch a piece of the league championship with a CV loss and with a win over Burroughs in the Bulldogs’ crosstown rivalry game Friday, May 11.
Burbank beat Burroughs, 3-0, on April 20 while Arcadia squeezed home the only run of a 1-0 win against the Falcons. Burbank would be looking for a piece of its first Pacific League championship while the Apaches hope to earn a share of their fourth straight title.
“We’re a long way from thinking about anything like that,” Burbank coach Bob Hart said following his team’s 8-0 win versus Hoover on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Burroughs must beat the Bulldogs to avoid having to play a play-in game against Pasadena Saturday, May 21. Pasadena has beaten each of the teams ahead of it in the last 10 days and can tie Burroughs at 8-6 in league play with an Indians loss and a win versus lowly Muir.
Burroughs maintained control of its own destiny with an impressive win against the Apaches behind five strong innings from starting pitcher Daniel Baraza. The Indians built a 3-0 lead through five innings despite sitting four seniors for disciplinary reasons.
Relievers Zane Carey and Luis Pereya both pitched out of bases loaded jams in the the sixth and seventh innings to secure the win. Pereya struggled, but got the job done in the end. Carey was assisted by a runner interference call that kept the game at 4-1.
“We are all too familiar with that rule,” said Burroughs coach Kiel Holmes, whose team was on the wrong end of a similar ruling on April 20 in a loss to Burbank.
Holmes credited the defensive play of Miles Haddad for the win. Haddad also singled, walked, stole a base and scored a pair of runs being the catalyst he has been all season for Burroughs.
Brian Pozos was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI while Chris Peale had a pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
A Burroughs (11-13) win against Burbank Friday night would secure fourth and avoid a play-in game on just about 12 hours rest on Saturday morning.
“We want to avoid that by taking care of business against Burbank,” Holmes said. “But I guess the silver lining would be it would be Pasadena’s fourth game this week.”
Pasadena had to make-up a game against Glendale earlier this week.
Burbank, meanwhile, won its fourth straight game with an easy win versus Hoover. Angel Roman, Harrison Hernandez, and CC Okimoto each had two RBI. Hernandez was the only player with two hits.
Burbank is 13-8 overall and 10-3 in league.
