Burbank returns the favor with a 1-0 win over crosstown rival Burroughs

The Burbank Bulldogs avenged their cross-town rival Burroughs Bears with a 1-0 victory behind a complete game shutout from starting pitcher Colby Bette. Bette limited the Bears to 4 hits and didn’t allow a walk while striking out 6 batters in the narrow victory over Burroughs. The Bears took game 1 over Burbank 10-6 in 9 innings on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Before the game, 13 graduating seniors from the John Burroughs Bears baseball program were honored and celebrated with their families in a senior night pregame ceremony highlighting their accomplishments during their 4 years in the program. Those 13 seniors are Nate Cisneros, Dylan Conahan, Conor Nestor, Liam Morgan, Nate Chapman, Chris Perez, Wilan Armes, Elvis Moreno, Tommy Vournas, Christian Perez, Brian Martinez, Nickolas Fritz, and Anthony Morse. Chapman will continue his baseball career at the collegiate level next spring and play baseball at Pacific University.

On the baseball diamond, the Bulldogs stormed out of the gate with Bryant Johnson driving home Robert Snyder, who had reached on a 1-out double, for the only run in the game. The Bears attempted to get the offense going in the bottom of the 1st inning with Elliot Ross leading the home half of the 1st inning with a single, which was followed by Nate Chapman’s bunt single. Unfortunately for Burroughs, Fritz grounded out to third base for a double play. Ross was out at 3rd base and Fritz out at 1st. Devin Whittenkiend had a chance to drive home Chapman to tie the game but he struck out swinging to leave Chapman stranded at 2nd base.

The rest of the game was a pitcher’s duel with Ryan Walsh displaying 5 quality innings until he was pulled after allowing a single to Ryan Sebastian and a walk to Robert Snyder. Walsh finished with 3 strikeouts, 3 hits, and 1 run allowed in 6 innings pitched. Devin Whittenkind took over on the mound following Walsh’s departure.. The Bears had another opportunity to get on the board in the bottom of the 3rd inning with Bryan Martinez and Elliot Ross delivering back-to-back 1-out singles but were left stranded to end the home half of the inning. Bette retired the side to secure the 1-0 win over Burroughs in the bottom of the 7th inning.

“After our performance against Burroughs on Tuesday, we knew we could play with those guys. We underachieved a bit this year but towards the end, we figured out what our weaknesses were and it translated.” said longtime Burbank Bulldogs head baseball coach Bob Hart. Hart admitted that Colby Bette is a warrior who likes pitching in big games and does not shy away on the big stage.

“I thought Colby Bette threw a great game on the mound, he handled his business and we didn’t execute our game plan in the loss to Burbank,” said Bears head coach Matt Magallon. Magallon stated that the 13 seniors were the big reason this team succeeded during their time with Burroughs Bears and called him a championship group.

Burbank improves their record to 8-13 overall and 7-7 in Pacific League play while Burroughs falls to 19-6 overall and 11-3 in Pacific League play. The Bulldogs followed up the win with a tough 4-1 loss to Sun Valley Poly on Saturday. They will find out their CIF Southern Section Division 3 opponent on Monday, April 29th, while Burroughs will find out its CIF Southern Section Division 4 Playoff opponent on the same day and time.