Senior Helps Cardinals Soar

FARMINGTON - Behind every fine pitching staff, there is almost always a terrific catcher. Taylor Burba has proven to be just that for Farmington baseball this season.

And much, much more.

Burba, a senior at Farmington, is a three-year starter behind the plate. With more experience than most in high school ball at his position, Burba has been a vital part of the Cardinals’ success this year. Whether it’s knowing how to talk to his pitchers, or building a good relationship with the home plate ump, Burba is a big reason why Farmington has been so dominant in 2013.

“We’ve got two or three guys (pitching) extremely well and Taylor does an outstanding job of just making sure they’re calm on the mound,” Farmington coach Jay Harper said. “He has a good relationship with the officials and we put a new system in as far as calling pitches and he picked it up tremendously.

“He sets up in the right spot and makes sure we’re hitting our pitches, so he’s just a key part of what we’re trying to do.”

While Burba’s play behind the plate is crucial to the Cardinals’ success, his performance with the bat in hand has been just as important. Hitting a team best .492 with two home runs and 27 runs batted in, Burba has developed into a true offensive and defensive threat for Farmington.

“Last year I played varsity but I didn’t hit,” Burba said. “So this offseason I worked on my hitting almost all of the time, so I could change up my stance and hit a lot better this season.”

Farmington rolled through the 4A-1 Conference regular season, defeating all seven teams in league play. Up next for the Cardinals (17-2) now is district tournament play, where Farmington will play in the winner’s bracket on Saturday in Ozark.

“We’ve got four great seniors and you can’t say enough about them,” Harper said. “Taylor’s done a great job for us and so has Levi Strope, Spencer Boudrey and Josh Mueller. They’re all starters and to continue on having a great season you have to have great leadership.

“And they’ve done a great job so far of leading us.”

With a conference title out of the way, Burba and the Cardinals now have their sights set on postseason. And with Burba in the lineup and behind the plate, Farmington could be a force to be reckoned with.

“We talk about it a little bit, but we try to take it one game at a time,” Burba said. “But if we could make a deep run in the state tournament, that would be amazing.”