INDIANS’ SEASON ENDS ON WALK-OFF

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Dylan Goldsack

Burroughs Coach Kiel Holmes took a risk, one he called “a calculated gamble,” and one of his seniors delivered. Unfortunately, his offense could not deliver more than a single run as the first year coach saw his team drop its CIF Southern Section Division II playoff opener, 4-1, at Ventura High School.

Left-handed pitcher Dylan Goldsack, usually a reliver, made only his second start of the season based on a scouting report Holmes had gathered in the 24 hours since learning his team would see the Cougars. Goldsack was brillant, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing only an unearned run.

However, reliever Zane Carey ran into trouble in the seventh inning and ultimately surrendered a three-run walk-off home run off the bat of Jarek York to break a 1-1 tie.

“Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about either pitcher — they were great,” Holmes said. “Unfortunately we didn’t support them with any offense and even worse we made some costly physical and mental errors behind them as well.”

Goldsack sailed through his first five innings and had a one-run lead heading into the sixth following Christian Garia’s RBI double in the fifth. Holmes said he was not surprised Goldsack made good on his chance to start.

“The kid is a gamer, I was very proud of the way he performed,” Holmes said.

Carey relieved him in the sixth inning and after Ventura squeezed home a run he escaped a bases loaded jam. In the seventh, his coach felt he had also thrown well — even on the York homer to end the game.

“On the squeeze Zane read it well and he threw the ball up and in as designed and the kid on their team did a great job of just getting the bunt down — let alone keeping it fair,” Holmes said. “On the homer Zane pitched the ball up and away as we had called because we were worried about the squeeze and the lefty (York) literally lunged across the plate and extended his arms to get to it.

“I know he gets the loss, but I am not sure what more he could have done,” Holmes said.

Senior catcher Chris Davies had a forgetable final game, with a pair if costly errors — one in the sixth and one in the seventh innings. The tying run and winning run came on his miscues.

Davies threw behind a runner at first in the sixth inning and his errant thrown wound-up in right field instead. He had a similar miscue in the final inning.

Burroughs returned to the playoffs after missing for the first time in five years last season. The Indians were 12-14 overall — 9-5 and in fourth place in the Pacific League. Ventura is now 14-10.

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