BASEBALL: Burlingame Nips M-A 4-3

The Score: Burlingame 4, M-A 3.

The Stars: Burlingame High starting pitcher Chris Blanton picked up the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division win, going 4 1/3 innings, giving up only two runs on a couple of hits, and had a big day at the plate. Blanton went 3 for 4, including an RBI.  Nik Gutierrez went 2 for 3 with a triple and an RBI.

The Turning Point: For Burlingame, a big first inning, when the Panthers scored two runs on two hits, including a hit by Blanton, to take the lead for good.  Burlingame would go on to score single runs in the third and fifth innings. Menlo-Atherton scored once in the second inning and twice in the sixth, but could not make a run happen in the seventh in an effort to tie.

The Quotes: "Both pitchers did a great job of throwing strikes, both teams swung the bats pretty good;  I think we caught some more breaks than they did, and we created some breaks. I think that's the most important thing, we created some breaks for ourselves. I thought both pitchers pitched well enough to get a win." -- Winning Burlingame coach Shawn Scott, on the tight game.

"We gave them the breaks;  we wound up making five errors." -- M-A coach Mike Amoroso.

What's Next? Menlo and Burlingame play again on Friday, this tilt set for Burlingame's home field. The Panthers would clinch a Central Coast Section playoff berth with a win, or with a loss by either Terra Nova or Hillsdale. With a victory, Burlingame would also secure at least a tie for second place with Carlmont, which beat Sequoia on Wednesday 2-0. Both Burlingame and Carlmont are 8-5 in the PAL Bay going into their final games on Friday. What will M-A's Amaroso tell his ballplayers before the game? "Win the last one. Go into the 2012 season on a win."

Notes: Seniors led the Bears. Kyle Zirbes went six full innings for M-A and pitched well, unfortunately in a losing cause.  Miles Brewer had two hits for the Bears with an RBI, and Cam Winn hit a solo home run.