Winston Peterson strikes out 13 batters in the win for the Crusaders

On a chilly Saturday Night at the dog pound, the Burbank Bulldogs dropped their opening game of the 2024 season 3-0 to the Village Christian Crusaders behind the 13-strikeout performance by Winston Peterson. Peterson tossed a complete game shutout and allowed 2 hits in the win. Colby Bette allowed 2 runs in 5 innings pitched along with striking out 6 batters with 2 runs allowed while Miklo Reynoso pitched 2 solid innings in relief to strike out 2 batters and allow 1 run. This was the first game of the season for both teams, as Burbank finished last season with a 13-10 overall record and a 7-7 record in Pacific League play, while Village Christian finished last season with a 10-16 overall record and a 6-6 record in Olympic League play.

While Bete and Peterson both pitched 1-2-3 innings in the 1st inning. Gavin Chase drove in the game’s first 2 runs with a two-run single, scoring Hudson Nicols and Peterson to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning. The Bulldogs had their best chance to cash in runs in the bottom of the 4th inning with Robert Synder recording a 1-out single followed by Ryan Sebastian and Mikelyo Reynoso drawing walks to load the bases. Bette was called out on strikes and Thomas Angel struck out swinging to leave the bases loaded to end the home half of the 4th inning. The Crusaders’ Wyat Mikles hit an RBI single to drive in Nick Garcia to get a much-needed insurance run in the top of the 7th to ice the game for Village Christian.

“I was proud of my guys for battling, I always look for effort, not results you want to win games but at the same time, it’s more their ability to compete in the long run,” said Burbank head coach Bob Hart. Hart admitted that the team played great defense for the most part and the pitching kept the team intact but the offense couldn’t get it done for most of the game.

Burbank drops their record to 0-1 while Village Christian improves to 1-0 in the new season. Burbank will host La Canada on Tuesday, February 13th at 3:45 p.m. while Village Christian will take on Providence on the same day with the first pitch scheduled for 4:15 p.m.