HomePublicationBurbankVaquero-Burbank All-Stars Fall in District Tourney

Vaquero-Burbank All-Stars Fall in District Tourney

Photo by Mano Baghjajian / Burbank Leader
The Burbank-Vaquero Little League All-Star baseball team’s season came to an end after a 19-1 loss to Crescenta Valley on Thursday. The team includes Danny Guzman (front, from left) and Braden Powers. Middle row: Jacob Sanchez, Sammy Nunez, Antonio Carcena, Israel Guerrero, Xavi Graham, Julian Huerta, Rudey Parra and David Gonzales. Back: Nicholas De Leon, coach Josh Porter, manager Shonn Graham and coach Ricky Nunez.

By Mano Baghjajian

Burbank Leader

Hit after hit after hit. That was the story of the Little League All-Star baseball game between Vaquero-Burbank and Crescenta Valley, whose bats came to life in the bottom of the second inning collecting an impressive 12 hits. 

“We did what we came out here to do and that was to jump on fastballs,” said Crescenta Valley manager Mike Herman. “Attack and don’t put it in the umpire’s hands.”

The offensive barrage propelled the Crescenta Valley Little League All-Stars to a 19-1 victory over Vaquero-Burbank All-Stars at Montrose Park on Thursday to advance to the District 16 Little League All-Stars final against Jewel City-Foothill All-Stars. The game was called after three innings due to the “run rule,” which states any team trailing by 15 or more runs after the third inning must concede.

“I thought our kids did what they could,” said Vaquero-Burbank manager Shonn Graham. “They came out hitting early and often and that was kind of the end of it.”

Things started to look good for Crescenta Valley from the first pitch as Micah Roh hit a line drive to center field, getting onto first base. Chris Chien followed with a double.

Vaquero-Burbank pitcher Braden Powers then walked the next two batters, putting Crescenta in a good position to build a big lead early in the game. David Kao had an RBI hit, and Crescenta Valley ended the first frame with a four-run advantage.

It didn’t get any better for Vaquero-Burbank, which was not able to get a player on base in the bottom of the first. The Vaquero-Burbank defense just wasn’t able to keep up with the hitting lineup of Crescenta Valley in the second inning and surrendered 12 runs.

Trailing 19-0 at the bottom of the third, cheers and yells of encouragement poured out from the Vaquero-Burbank dugout as the team was determined to keep on fighting. After a slight delay due to a miscommunicated substitution, Danny Guzman drove in his team’s lone run in the game with an RBI single that allowed Noah Porter to score. 

“Once we were down a little bit the kids were able to loosen up, that was good to see,” said Graham.

Vaquero-Burbank was able to avoid the shutout but were forced to concede via the “run rule” at the end of the third inning.

Crescenta Valley stays alive in the District 16 tournament and will face the undefeated Jewel City-Foothill Little League All-Stars. The two teams played each other on July 5 with Jewel City-Foothill coming away with a 4-3 victory in extra innings.

Having already suffered one loss in the double-elimination tournament, Crescenta Valley must defeat Jewel City-Foothill twice to advance to the Section 2 Tournament.

The goal for all these all-star teams is to advance in these local tournaments in order to qualify for the national Little League World Series, which will take place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in August. 

“We played a really tight game against them last time,” said Herman. “Same game plan. Throw strikes, hit fastballs and out-hustle the other team.”

The game will be on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Montrose Park in Glendale. Should Crescenta Valley win, a final game will be played at the same location Sunday at 10 a.m.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=3]

27