Burkett Boys ALL-Stars

In a game matching undefeated teams, one team had to come away with a loss. Unfortunately Burkett came out on the short end of a close 5-3 ball game that was filled with defensive gems, matching home runs, a huge crowd of onlookers, and a little bit of the jitters on both sides. Schwartz went up 1-0 on a solo home run in the second inning and then added three more runs in the third, including a two run homer, to take a 4-0 lead after three innings, but Burkett was just starting to get warmed up. In the fourth inning, with one man on, Tejean Pluverge hit his third home run in three games to cut the Schwartz lead to 4-2. After Schwartz cobbled together a run in the top of the fifth to go up 5-2, Jay O’Brien hit a home run in the bottom of the fifth to cut the score to 5-3. Unfortunately for Burkett that is where the score ended, but not without further chances. Matt Ball pitched all six innings for Burkett but the strong Schwartz batters kept the Burkett fielders busy by banging out 12 hits for the day and striking out only twice. In contrast, Burkett’s batters could only manage six hits and struck out eight times. Tejean led the way for Burkett with a single to go with his homer and was intentionally walked in the fifth inning when Burkett had runners on second and third. The rest of the Burkett hitters that hit the ball hard hit at steady Schwartz fielders who mostly made the play. As the final score attests, the Schwartz fielders made more plays for the day, even though the Burkett fielders made their share of plays. In the field for Burkett, Cory Loomer looked sharp at first base in the early innings and Mike St. Martin made several great grabs in left field to stop sure hits and runs and keep Burkett within striking distance late in the game. Kurt Sabacinski made a nice catch in left. Brian Reynolds picked a runner off first base in the first inning, but ultimately on this day Schwartz got more hits and won the game. Still it was a good baseball game played between two strong teams that could have gone either way. Burkett only hopes it gets to see Schwartz again