LONG BEACH – Millikan High’s baseball team had plenty of momentum and lots of high hopes going into its CIF-SS Division I first-round playoff game against Edison.
But one rough inning quickly brought all that hard-earned late-season momentum to a screeching halt Friday afternoon and sophomore pitcher Kaz Akamatsu did the rest in Edison’s 4-1 victory at Millikan High.
Staked to a 3-0 lead after Edison combined five singles into a three-run rally in the second inning, Akamatsu pitched a four-hitter for his first complete game of the season. He struck out just two, but didn’t walk a batter and the one run he did give up was unearned.
Edison, the third-place team from the Sunset League, improved to 20-9 after its second playoff victory. The Chargers had to win a wild-card game against Tesoro and next face Harvard-Westlake, which beat JW North of Riverside, 5-0, behind Jack Flaherty’s no-hitter, on Tuesday.
Millikan, which had won 10 of its previous 11 games to end Moore League play tied for first with Long Beach Wilson, finished 18-11-1.
“It’s disappointing only because we thought we had a team that could have gone further,” senior shortstop Johnny Weeks said. “They’re a solid team, well-coached. Their pitcher did a nice job of moving the ball around.”
The Chargers jumped on starter Jacob Alcorn in the second inning after first baseman Adam Moses led off with a walk. Singles by designated hitter Peter Quenneville and right fielder Michael Mahony loaded the bases and shortstop Jake Scott followed with a sharp two-run single to center. A sacrifice fly to center by catcher Kevin Ando scored Mahony for a three-run lead.
An infield throwing error set up the Rams’ only run in the bottom of the second. Third baseman Spencer Steer went to second on a wild throw and scored on right fielder Griffin Keller’s followup single to center.
The Chargers quickly pushed the lead back to three runs on Moses’ leadoff walk and Mahony’s triple in the third inning. After that, the Rams managed just three more hits and two of those runners were quickly taken out by double plays.
Although the Rams made good contact on several well-hit balls, Akamatsu retired the last 10 batters he faced.
“The early lead did make it a little easier,” Akamatsu said. “I just pounded the strike zone. I’m always confident my teammates will do a good job in the field.”
While the Chargers stayed sharp with a wild-card playoff win, Millikan had a nine-day layoff before its playoff opener. But Coach Scott Glasser didn’t think that was an excuse.
“We didn’t play sloppy,” he said. “We were excited to start the playoffs and we didn’t play bad. … It’s nobody’s fault. There are a lot of teams capable of winning it all in Division I.”
“I was very impressed with Edison at the plate. They put the ball in play. They used the whole field.”
The Rams were always within one good rally of getting back in the game because freshman Diego Alarcon relieved Alcorn with no outs and a man on in the fourth inning and cooled off the Chargers, who finished with 11 hits. He didn’t give up another run over four innings and gave up just three hits thanks in part to a couple of outstanding plays by Weeks on a diving catch and Keller in right field.
Contact the writer: jthomas@lbregister.com
