Burbank wins fourth straight Central Region championship in Peru

With a three-year championship streak on the line, the Burbank Senior League baseball team had its back against the wall Thursday in the Central Region Tournament.

Burbank, the Illinois state champion, had to beat Iowa state champion Southeast Polk twice to claim the title after having lost to Iowa earlier in the tournament.

The champs pulled it off.

Burbank put up 20 runs in two games, winning 11-4 in the opener to force a winner-take-all game and claiming the banner with a 9-5 victory in the second game at Washington Park in Peru..

“It feels really great,” Illinois coach Enrique Villanueva said. “We lost the first game to them earlier in the tournament, and it was a pretty low feeling. We had to get together and just regroup. The kids battled back. We just made it a goal to win one game at a time.”

Burbank became the first program to win the tournament four times in a row. Only one other team has won three in a row, with Clear Ridge pulling off the three-peat from 1973-75.

“I also managed the team in 2023, and I’ve been lucky enough to have two of my sons go through it for three years,” Villanueva said. “I think it’s just the consistency and the work we put in day in and day out [that’s allowed Burbank to win four straight]. We have the same framework, the same work ethic. It’s been a good recipe for success.

“We’ve been coaching a lot of these kids since they were 8 or 9, so bringing them up, we know what they’re about. We like to say we have a seed and it grows. It’s not just something that happened yesterday or last year.”

Burbank advances to the Senior League World Series in Easley, South Carolina, held July 26 to Aug. 2. Burbank opens the World Series against the East Region champion.

“It’s awesome,” third baseman Dave Campbell said about winning the title. “It’s my first one. A couple people have already been here. It feels good.

“We still have work to do in South Carolina. I’m hoping we go down there and we do the exact same thing we did here.”

Burbank had 13 hits in the must-win first game. With Iowa entering with no losses, it would have claimed the title with a win in the first game.

Burbank scored a run in the first, but broke things open with three runs in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Jack Eskra had a two-run single in the third, and Campbell delivered a two-RBI single in the fourth and an RBI infield single in the fifth.

“Everyone was working their at-bats and doing their jobs,” Campbell said. “It comes down to who wants it more, and that’s exactly what happened.”

In the second game, Iowa jumped ahead early with two runs in the bottom of the second, but Illinois responded with five in the top of the third with a two-run double off the fence by Campbell, RBI singles by Edgar Villanueva and Estra and a sacrifice fly by Lucas Karczewski.

“Getting runs early in the game really helps us to keep pushing it on them,” Campbell said. “It’s hard for teams to come back from an early deficit. As a team, we like to put teams away, and that’s really how we win.”

Campbell launched a two-run homer in the fourth, and Illinois added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

Campbell finished the day 7 for 7 with a homer, three doubles, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, seven RBIs and six runs scored.

“I was just feeling it,” Campbell said. “It was just one of those days.”

Evan Panther was the winning pitcher in the first game, allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks in 5⅔ innings.

Danny Corona won the second game, giving up five runs (three earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and one walk in six innings.

Iowa rallied in the second game, scoring three runs in the fourth to pull within 7-5.

JD Barnes and Bryan Degen hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, and Sawyer Wolf followed with a two-run single to left. He later scored from third when Burbank attempted to catch Chase Kaiser stealing second.

Barnes and Degen were each 2 for 3 with two runs.

“We played good, but not good enough to finally topple these guys,” Iowa coach Jason Nutt said. “They have quite the program. There’s a reason why they’ve been winning it as many years in a row as they have. We’re a good club. It’s just sometimes it doesn’t bounce your way, and today was unfortunately one of those days for us.

“I’m extremely proud of the boys and their resolve this year.”

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Chase Kaiser (1) of Iowa hits ball on Thursday, July 17, 2025 at Washington Park in Peru. (MaKade Rios for Shaw Medi)