While San Gabriel Valley and Suburban leagues teams are off to compete in tournaments this week, the Moore League will conclude the first half of league play with a bang as unbeaten Millikan and Wilson (both 5-0) meet Wednesday at Blair Field at 6:30 p.m.
Neither Wilson coach Andy Hall nor Millikan’s Scott Glasser would reveal his hand, but most expect to see the Bruins’ Tyler Radcliffe (5-1, 1.07 ERA) face off with the Rams’ Jacob Alcorn (3-2, 1.03 ERA) as both teams hope to head into spring break in sole possession of first place.
Hall and Glasser left open the chance that Josh Goldberg (4-1, 0.65) and Jacob Hughey (2-4, 1.35) could also get the ball for Wilson and Millikan, respectively.
Wilson (16-4) is off to a tremendous start, it’s best in seven years, and much of it is due to a 1.02 team ERA and the bats of Mickey Miladinovich (.424, 25 hits), Goldberg (.344), Max Cauble (.340), Jackson Foss (.327) and Chris Betts (.311).
“Millikan is a very tough team and off to a great start in league, so it sets this up for a very exciting end to the first half of league in the late game at Blair Field,” Hall said. “It’s going to be exciting for the kids on both sides. It’s no secret that our pitching has been outstanding, so it’s going to come down to if our pitching can stop their hitting.”
Although Glasser wouldn’t confirm whether Alcorn will take the mound, Alcorn has gotten the ball in league showdowns and victories over both Poly and Lakewood.
The Rams (8-8-1) might not have sophomore ace Spencer Steer on the mound (torn labrum), but his bat is as good as any in the Moore League. Steer is hitting .500 with 20 base hits, and Glasser said Tristin Chamberlain (.333) and Johnny Weeks (.320) can’t be overstated.
“We’re playing well and looking forward to competing against a very good Wilson team, and I also hope a lot of people come out and make this an exciting night at Blair Field,” Glasser said. “It’s going to be a big game for whomever wins and sets up an exciting end to the regular season because we’ll also finish the year against them (May 14).”
In the SGVL
The SGVL’s first week of league play saw co-league favorites Gahr (11-3, 1-1) and Warren (10-1, 1-1) prevail at home.
The Gladiators held off a late Bears charge last Tuesday, 5-4, after getting out to an early 5-0 lead.
Warren had the potential tying run on first base with no outs and its best hitter, Alan Trejo, at the plate. But the Bears’ Brandon Hernandez got too far off the bag and Gahr reliever Nick Guerra picked off Hernandez. Two batters later, Jose Ruiz grounded into a game-ending, 4-6-3 double play.
To their credit, the Bears, behind ace Trejo, beat Gahr ace George Castillo, 1-0, on Friday. Trejo went five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four. Keaton Freire got the save after pitching the final two frames and not allowing a hit while striking out three.
Warren’s only run came in the fourth inning, when Evan Holmes drew a walk off Castillo (3-1, 2.43) with the bases loaded.
“It was huge not to get swept and come back and beat them after we played arguably our worst game of the year on Tuesday,” Warren coach Scott Pearson said. “We’ve only given up 17 runs in 10 games, so we’re very confident with what we’ve got on the mound. As big as winning the school its first SGVL title in 11 years, I have our kids focused more on winning a CIF championship.”
Griffin blues
The area’s biggest surprise, and not a good one, is the 0-7 start in Sunset League play by Los Alamitos (5-10). The Griffins, on a five-game losing skid, have much of their pitching core back from last season’s CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal run but have scored 11 runs in seven league losses and suffered shutouts three times.
Typically, the lack of offense has put pressure on the pitching, and the Griffins have allowed 29 runs in their past three league games.
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