Erik Boal
It was an outcome Ron Gobble could have never predicted.
And unfortunately for the Burbank Bulldogs Major Baseball coach,
it happened at the worst possible time.
After yielding a little more than three runs per game in their
first 25 contests, the Bulldogs were tagged for 10 runs in the first
two innings of Monday's second-chance bracket quarterfinal in the
Little League District 16 Tri-Cities Tournament.
Even though Burbank rallied for two runs in the top of the fourth
inning, its momentum proved to be short-lived, as the Home Sales by
Lynnell Red Sox -- representing Tujunga -- scored twice in the bottom
of the inning to put the 10-run mercy rule into effect with a 12-2
win at Montrose Park.
"No matter how you look at it, these kids are still young. And
sometimes things like this happen," said Gobble, whose squad (19-7)
concluded its most successful season in the 9- to 12-year-old
division with a 2-2 record in Tri-Cities competition.
"I would have never expected it, but [over the course of a long
season] you have games like these. It was just a crash."
The outcome was perhaps more difficult for Gobble to deal with
because it was his son, Josh, who struggled through 1 2/3 innings on the mound, before being replaced by Chase Mersola.
Josh Gobble (2-2) gave up six hits -- the biggest being a
three-run homer by Brenden Huacuja in the second inning -- and walked
three, as Burbank surrendered almost as many runs as it had in its
first three Tri-Cities games combined (14).
Mersola scattered two hits and struck out four in 1 2/3 innings of relief, but the Bulldogs' fourth error resulted in a pair of unearned
runs, as the contest was called with one out in the bottom of the
fourth.
Red Sox starter Dave Northup gave up four hits and struck out six
to lift his team to 18-10 and a berth in today's second-chance
bracket semifinal against Crescenta Valley's Landry's Sporting Goods
(22-7) at 5 p.m. at Babe Herman Field in Glendale.
Paul Rodriguez Jr. supported Northup with three hits -- including
a double -- in addition to scoring three runs and driving in two.
George Gonzalez had two hits, Griffin Paul tallied a hit, Greg
Koll singled and scored and Jeff Earle added a run for the Bulldogs.
"[Even with Monday's outcome] they still had a great year," Ron
Gobble said.
"It was definitely a successful season."
Bulldogs 12, Luigi's Fountains Yankees 8: Chase Mersola went three
for four with a triple and three runs scored, and George Gonzalez
went two for four with a triple, three runs scored and three runs
batted in to lead the Bulldogs (19-6) to Saturday's second-chance
bracket win against the Tujunga representative at Glendale's Pacific
Park.
Gonzalez (7-3) also tossed five innings, giving up five hits and
just one earned run, striking out four.
Patrick Haney added two hits -- including a triple -- and scored a
run for the Bulldogs, who built a 9-2 lead after four innings.
Mike Acuna, Tyler Do, Josh Gobble and Greg Koll each contributed a
hit for Burbank, which dropped the Yankees -- who received three hits
and three RBIs from Mitch Pike, and two hits and an RBI from Konner
Darr -- to 15-11.
