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The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The Millikan Rams looked like the team sitting atop of the Moore League standings on Wednesday night at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, cruising past Cabrillo on senior night in a 16-2 mercy rule win.
“Today we just wanted to make sure that we played the game the right way, going out and staying aggressive and staying hungry and we were able to put those seven runs up in the first inning,” said Millikan coach Ron Keester.
After those seven runs in the first inning, coach Ron Keester subbed in each of his ten rostered seniors in honor of senior night. The team hosted a ceremony to celebrate the seniors at the conclusion of the game.
“I wanted to really get everyone in the mix and get everyone some at bats but we made a special point today to get the seniors in as early as we could. A lot of these seniors may not be playing a lot this year but their abilities are really not that far off to where they could be starting if it wasn’t for the guys ahead of them. It’s really close at all these positions but it’s pretty cool that they got this opportunity for the fans and parents to get to see them on such an occasion as tonight.”
Millikan opened up their scoring in the first inning with a pair of singles before an RBI double from Ben Keisler to score Andrew Perez. Two at-bats later Jacob Robinson hit a two RBI single to score Anthony Pack and Keisler followed by a steal at home on a wild pitch by Enrique Lopez. Matthew Ness then hit an RBI double to score Robinson and Ari Ferrel, before an RBI double by Perez to score Ness and conclude a seven-run opening frame for the Rams.
The Rams added more runs in the second after Robinson reached second on an error to score Keisler. Connor Patten then swung an RBI single to score Robinson. Millikan added another four in the fourth starting with an error single from Evan Martinez to score Adrian Ramirez. Noa Morales then hit an RBI single to score Jacob Pauline before Ryan Cuffaro’s single turned into a three RBI inside the park home run off of an error to increase the Rams lead.
“We just wanted to take advantage of what they gave us,” said Keester of Jordan’s seven total errors. “We wanted to just put it away early and capitalize on all of the opportunities to make sure that we were playing the way we know we can.”
Millikan concluded the night with a pair of runs in the fifth thanks to an RBI single that scored Daunte Bell before a run off of an error that scored Ari Farrel. The Rams wrapped up the night in a five inning mercy rule dub, 16-2
Cabrillo will look ahead to Compton on Friday, meanwhile Millikan will face Lakewood on Friday before taking on Poly next Friday in two key matchups to the Rams path to becoming Moore League champions.
“We’re just focused on Lakewood for now. There’s always a certain pride and whenever we play them, we want to beat them. This team will always get up for Lakewood.”
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