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Player Spotlight: Long Beach State’s Burns Making Big Name For Himself

LOS ANGELES — Unprompted, UCLA head coach John Savage went on a tangent for more than a minute after his Bruins survived with a 7-6 victory over Long Beach State. He wanted it to be known just how impressed he was with Dirtbags catcher Connor Burns.

“That catcher is as good a catcher I’ve seen in a long time. Burns is completely real behind the plate,” Savage said. “He’s a premier frontline major league catcher in the future. No question. 

“That’s a lockdown arm, lockdown receiver, lockdown blocker, who can really control the game. That’s like a middle linebacker on[…]