Jul 5, 2008

Jurado pitches Burlingame by Santa Clara in tourney

By Julio Lara / Daily News Correspondent

Burlingame American Legion pitcher Nik Jurado was dialed in.

And in other news, summers are hot, water is wet and the sky is blue.

Friday afternoon, No. 30 threw six innings of shutout baseball, outdueling former Mills teammate David Gregory and beating Santa Clara 3-1. It was Santa Clara's second loss in the Burlingame Fourth of July Tournament at Washington Park.

It was a mini Vikings' reunion as Gregory and Jurado were joined on the field by Tony Loeffler, who caught for both pitchers not long ago.

With the exception of a three-run third, the game was a pitchers duel. At the end of the day, Jurado was simply too good.

"It was kind of weird," Jurado said. "I've played with them for a long time, (but) I felt really good."

Jurado came out and quickly made it known what kind of game it was going to be, striking out the side in the top of the first. He used that momentum for the next five innings. The right-hander surrendered six hits and struck out seven.

In many ways, Gregory was just as good. He matched Jurado pitch for pitch during the first two innings, but got what appeared to be the raw end of a deal in the bottom of the third.

With one out, Gregory hit Matt Feldman. He got Steve Merchant to pop out to short and looked to be out of the inning when Loeffler appeared to gun down Feldman at second base.

But the umpire called Feldman safe and Andrew Suvvahnuchen took advantage of a call that favored Burlingame when he singled home his teammate from second to take a 1-0 lead.

Trevor Pasiecznik followed with a single and Steven Riddle drove home two runs when he roped a double, giving Burlingame a 3-0 lead.

The score would stay that way, with Gregory leaving the game after four innings of work, giving way to a reliever who pitched the rest of the way for the Aztecs.

Jurado, in the meantime, continued to mow down Santa Clara - with his at-bats against his former teammates being almost comical.

"Tony knows what I like to throw," Jurado said, adding that he's "too much of a competitor" when asked if he felt like hanging a fat, juicy one to one of his ex-teammates for old-time Mills sake.

The Aztecs did add a run in the top part of the seventh - turning two walks and a single into their only run of the game.

The win evens Burlingame's tournament record at 1-1.