Burroughs season ends with an 8-0 loss to Ontario Christian in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 Playoffs

The John Burroughs Bears’ incredible 2024 season came to an end with an 8-0 loss to the Ontario Christian Knights behind a no-hitter by Luke Ballantyne. Ballantyne struck out 9 batters, allowed 1 walk, hit 4 batters in 7 shutout innings pitched in the win for the Knights. Ontario Christian was coming off a 13-5 win against Woodcrest Christian on Thursday, April 25th while Burroughs came off a 1-0 loss to crosstown rival Burbank on Friday, April 26th.

Both the Bears and Knights were held scoreless for the opening 2 innings of play, but the Knights got the scoring going on a two-out RBI single by Nicholas Whippo to give Ontario Christian a 1-0 in the top of the 3rd. The Bears had a chance to get on the board following Nate Chapman’s 1-out walk but Nickolas Fritz and Devin Whittenkeind could not drive him home in the home half of the 1st inning.

Burroughs had another scoring opportunity in the bottom of the 4th with Nate Chapman and Christian Perez reaching base to potentially unlock the offense while Tommy Vornaus entered the game as a pinch runner for Perez, but he and Chapman were left stranded on 1st and 3rd to end the inning. Ontario Christian added 3 more runs in the top of the 5th with Logan Escoto driving in a 2-run single to make it a 3-0 game and Eric Ramirez with an RBI single to make it a 4-0 lead for the Knights. Burroughs had one more opportunity at a late rally in the bottom of the 7th inning with Kyle Smith drawing a 2-out walk, but Brian Martinez grounded out to the pitcher Ballantyne to end the game.

“I’m proud of how we performed all year long but for the seniors going out, it’s the end of an era. They’ve been through so much throughout their high school careers especially covid and championships,” said Bears head coach Matt Magallon. Maggallon admitted that it was a frustrating night at the plate for Burroughs when asked about Luke Ballantyne’s no-hitter and called him a Division 2 pitcher.

Burroughs’s season has come to a close and they finished the 2024 season with a 19-7 overall record and an 11-3 record in Pacific League Play. Ontario Christian will be hosting Rio Messa on Tuesday, May 7th in round 2 of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 Playoffs with the first pitch slated for 3:15 p.m.