Burlingame bats blast away in CCS win

Eric Fregosi tossed four innings of one-hit ball on just 39 pitches and Victor Schramm pitched a perfect fifth to preserve the shutout. The Burlingame hitters were outstanding in their own right, time and again helping to produce a sound that was unmistakable.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

That, of course, is the sound of a baseball meeting the sweet spot of a high-powered aluminum bat. And it was happening early and often as the Panthers pounded out 13 hits. Balls were flying everywhere: right-field, center, left, to the power alleys and down the foul lines.

Ryan Peterson, who two weeks ago broke the school record for RBIs, felt the need for a repeat. His two-run double in the bottom of the third inning catapulted Burlingame to an 11-0 lead and broke the school record for doubles. Peterson went 3 for 3 with two runs and three RBIs. He wasn't at all surprised with the team's offensive surge.

"This is definitely the best hitting team I've been on," Peterson said. "It's nothing more than a lot of talented guys who work hard. I didn't even know I was close to the doubles record. Breaking two in one year is great."

Justin Granato also went a perfect 3 for 3 with two runs and an RBI. Henry Wrigley, who entered the contest with a mind-boggling .545 batting average, finished with a triple, a run and four RBIs.

Burlingame scored six runs in the first, two in the second and added four more in the third. Drew Shiller led off the bottom of the first inning with a single. Logan Freethy walked and both scored on Wrigley's triple.

Peterson followed with an RBI triple and Granato smacked a run-scoring single to make it 4-0. Shane Arslan drilled an RBI double and scored moments later as the No. 16 seed Cougars (16-10) committed two of their four errors while making the throw to home plate.

Burlingame's offensive onslaught and the Cougars' shoddy defense was plenty enough for Fregosi. The junior right-hander allowed just a line-drive single to Marcus Juarez in the fourth and never allowed a runner past second base. Fregosi started playing baseball at age 6 but didn't start pitching regularly until last year, when he finished 7-1 for the frosh-soph team.

"I'm not going to be blowing hitters away, so I live on accuracy and hitting my spots," he said. "It was just another day. I can't look at who we're playing. I just have to do my own thing and help the team win."

Dominic Mitchell and David Tufo provided the solid Gold Glove fieldwork that has come to define the Panthers. Sciutto said the quick, one hour, 35 minute game can only help his team in the next round.

"It's nice to get out of here quick with a win," Sciutto said. "We'll still have Eric available if he's needed. This team is a very good ball club, very balanced and strong. In the past we'd have a Tony Brunicardi type, one guy that stood out. We don't have that one big, strong guy, but we have a number of guys that contribute."