"Obviously, Burbank makes it tough because it's an emotional rivalry."
And despite getting outhit and falling behind, 2-0 early, the Indians were able to come up with timely at-bats.
"There was a bit of a lull there," said Burbank Coach Bob Hart of his team after scoring its lone runs of the game in the opening inning.
While the Indians struggled to get hits — totaling just three — they came through with the game's biggest hit in the fifth inning.
Trailing by one run with two outs and two runners on, A.J. Dupre came through with a game-winning run-scoring single that knocked in Shane Murphy and Ben Kasper for the 3-2 advantage.
"That inning was us at our best," said Crowther of the small ball. "That's Burroughs baseball."
To that point, the Bulldogs had little problem getting runners on base. However, they only mustered the two-first inning runs, both of which were unearned.
Steven Parks scored from third base on a failed pick-off attempt at first base and Chris Montgomery scored on a fielding error by the shortstop to account for the two runs.
"Our pitching has been outstanding all year, but our hitting hasn't held up to their end of the bargain," said Hart, who got six strong innings from pitcher Keith Hoefel.
Hoefel was tagged with the loss despite striking out eight.
His counterpart, Tyler Bussard, was just as good, going the distance, allowing no earned runs, striking out seven and tying a school record with his 10th win of the regular season.
Burroughs scored it first run of the game on an RBI-single from Ben Kasper in the third inning to pull within 2-1.
Burroughs, which swept the season series, has won 13 in a row and 29 of the last 31 against Burbank
"It's getting tougher [to win] because [Burbank] is getting better," Crowther said. "It's not just getting a big win because it's a rival, it's a big win because they are a quality team."
With the regular season complete, the Indians (10-12, 7-7 in league) finished third in league and the Bulldogs (14-13, 11-3) came in fourth place.
