All season long, the Lakewood Lancers have not been able to catch a break—one bad inning, blown leads, a critical error…all of these things contributed to an up-and-down season that saw the near-unanimous pick for first place in league coming into their final game at 7-4, with two losses to Poly, and one each to Wilson and Millikan. But for the first time this season, the breaks went their way, as a critical error broke the game open for the Lancers, and starting pitcher Johnathan Worrell threw a beauty to hand Millikan their first league loss, in a 4-0 Lakewood win.
The Lancers tie Poly for second place, and will enter CIF as the Moore League’s three-seed, thanks to the Jackrabbit season sweep. Millikan finishes the season at 11-1 and as league champions, with their heads held high.
The first inning and a half went three-up, three-down and one got the feeling that this showdown would be like these two teams’ last one: the first mistake would cost one team the game. In the bottom of the second, Millikan slipped first—Matt Duffy was walked by Rams pitcher Andrew Culver, then David Peters singled, bringing Duffy around to third—the throw from center was to third, so Peters ran to second. Then, when Rams third baseman Matt Clampitt overthrew second in an attempt to gun down Peters, Duffy scored and Peters moved to third. Culver then walked Brandon Gillilan, before Steven Luna’s single brought Peters home.
Another slipup, literally, led to a Lancers run in the third, when the normally sure-footed Paul Slater slipped in left field, letting Jeff Yamaguchi’s double send home Anthony Razo. Yamaguchi scored off a groundout by Peters.
Millikan had a few chances to score, most notably when the top of their lineup came up to begin the sixth; Brandon Sadler struck out, but Jonathan Singleton and Cody Hazel both drew walks from Worrell. Then Slater hit into a nice double play, ending the inning, and the Rams’ chances. The Lancers’ fielding was excellent all day, turning three double plays and never committing a critical error.
Worrell showed that the Lancers won’t be a true three-seed, in a two-hit shutout performance, striking out six. Lakewood also got their most consistent hitting of the season, with their leadoff batter reaching base in the second through fifth innings. “It feels real good,” said Worrell, who may have thrown a better game in his team’s first meeting with Millikan, only to see it negated by poor hitting and errors. “Our defense was working—this win really boosts our morale. We took advantage of their mistakes, and it felt good it wasn’t on our side this time.”
“John is probably the best pitcher in the league,” said Lakewood coach Spud O’Neil. “Along with [Millikan’s] Josh Frye. We did our job today, made them work.”
Lakewood will ride their confidence boost into next week, as CIF brackets will be released on Monday. For Millikan, the loss is the season’s lone blemish, one that prevents them from being one of the few teams ever to go undefeated through Moore League. For a program that’s not used to winning the league title, much less having a shot at an undefeated season, that’s just fine. “I’m real proud of my guys and the way they play baseball,” said Rams coach Scott Glasser. “I’ll be proud of them forever. They never thought they were going to lose—Lakewood just got us today.” Asked if he thought the loss might cause a pre-playoff letdown, he shook his head. “They were upset afterwards for a minute, minute-and-a-half. But then they were talking about being league champions, and the playoffs. I’d rather lose this week than next week, that’s for sure.”