BRADY PUNCH; VALENCIA'S BURRILL KEEPS POSTING ALL-STAR STATS, WHETHER LEADING HIGH SCHOOL OR LEGION TEAMS.

Byline: Dave Desmond Daily News Staff Writer

As a catcher, Brady Burrill knows about collisions. It's a hazard of the position.

He's also finding out that it is a danger of traveling. Burrill and his parents escaped serious injury Monday when their 1992 Buick Regal was hit by an 18-wheel truck on the way to Fresno for an Area Code Games tryout.

``It was amazing no one got hurt,'' said the 17-year-old catcher, who will represent Valencia in Sunday's American Legion All-Star game at Valley College.

Monday's car accident wasn't the first for Burrill. In 1992, the family was involved in another collision with a tractor-trailer, and the young catcher totaled his 1969 Mustang on a rainy day last November.

``I don't think the insurance agent is too happy taking calls from us,'' he said.

In the not-too-distant future, however, it may be agents of a different kind calling Burrill.

Entering Thursday's game, the 6-foot-2, 170-pounder is batting .451 and is second among District 20 players with 23 RBI. He's posted those numbers after batting .487 as a junior last spring at Valencia, earning All-Foothill League and All-Southern Section honors.

``I'll tell you how important he is to us,'' Valencia Legion coach Pat Downs said. ``We're 13-7 (entering Thursday's game). Brady has missed two games and we're 0-2 in those.''

Burrill's offense is impressive - and so is his defense. His quick release, sound footwork and increasingly strong throwing arm regularly lead opposing coaches to scuttle their running games.

``We sit in the dugout and say, `Go ahead. We want you to run,' '' Downs said. ``Not many do.''

Saugus coach Doug Worley has watched Burrill during the Foothill League season and in American Legion. His opinion of him remains high.

``He's the heart and soul of that team,'' Saugus coach Doug Worley said. ``He's a leader and a class kid. Anybody would want to have a young man of his overall caliber in their program.''

Burrill isn't the first in his family to impress on the diamond.

Older brother Casey was an All-Southern Section catcher at Hart High School before moving on to USC and a one-year stint in the Atlanta Braves organization.

As a standout prep catcher in the Santa Clarita Valley, the comparisons to his older brother are inescapable, and Burrill has repeatedly been referred to as ``Casey Burrill's younger brother,'' a term that leaves many of his coaches and supporters bristling.

He's able to take the comparisons in stride because of his high-achieving family. His father, Jerry, a math teacher at Valencia High School, was recently named the teacher of the year in the William S. Hart Union School District, and his older sister, Mitzi, is a junior high school teacher in the district.

Some day, they say, Casey will be known as Brady Burrill's older brother.

``If, someone says that down the line, I will have exceeded my wildest expectations,'' Brady Burrill said.

The trip to Fresno wasn't a total catastrophe. Burrill learned Tuesday he was selected to the elite Area Code team that will represent portions of the 805, 209 and 818 areas. He was picked out of more than 150 hopefuls who were invited to the tryout. The team opens Area Code play Aug. 12 in San Diego.

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Photo: Valencia's Brady Burrill batted .487 and earned All-Southern Section honors last season.

Terri Thuente/Daily News