The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Tom Petty said the waiting is the hardest part, but Millikan pitcher Lauren Cantwell didn’t mind it and she calmly made the most of her chance to dominate the Moore League rivalry showdown with Lakewood at Lisa Fernandez Field on Friday night. The senior stuck out 13 batters during her complete game two-hit shutout performance as the Rams beat the Lancers 3-0.
“I tried not to think too much about it because when you do you think about living up to that expectation, but you just let go of it all and it’s just a game of softball,” Cantwell said of getting the big game start after sitting behind talented seniors for two seasons.
“I think everybody knows she has been waiting to have her time to shine,” Millikan coach Michelle Lehr said of Cantwell. “We know that if Lauren had been anywhere else she would’ve been their ace for probably four years so we wanted her to have her moment. I’m just so super excited for her that she was able to really dominate today.”
Cantwell struck out six straight batters during the first time through the Lakewood lineup, and only allowed two hits and two walks in the win.
The biggest trouble spot for Cantwell came in the fourth inning when Millikan led 1-0 and Lakewood’s Joy Echeverria smacked a 1-out triple into the left center field gap. Instead of calling a timeout to talk with her pitcher, Millikan catcher Jocelyn Owen just gave her battery mate a reassuring look.
“It’s (body language) so we’re working together instead of two separate parts,” Cantwell said of her and Owen. “(Against the next two batters) I just kept attacking the zone. When they get a hit I can’t think about the hit. I have to keep going with it and think about the next batter, the next pitch and the next strikeout.”
Cantwell got a strikeout and a fly out to end the threat, and the Lancers next base runner didn’t come until the seventh inning when Millikan held the comfortable 3-0 lead.
“We were starting off a little bit in and then going out until they were chasing balls at the end of the game,” Cantwell said. “I feel like I did a great job, also it’s hard to pitch a bad pitch when your catcher is framing everything.”
“I was able to start a relationship with the umpire so we were able to get more of those borderline calls which helped us a lot too,” Owen added.
Owen also helped give Millikan the 1-0 lead in the first inning by legging out an infield single. Her pitch runner Mia Meza came around to score on Addy Everett’s RBI triple.
“Usually it takes me like one at bat to settle in but I was just really taking in the moment because this is going to be my last game (at Lisa Fernandez Field) and I was just working on having fun and having fun with Lauren too,” Owen said.
Lakewood starting pitcher Bella Polanco was able to flummox the Millikan offense a bit with her offspeed arsenal, but the Rams broke through with two insurance runs in the fifth inning. Lauryn Kim, who had two singles in the game, singled to leadoff the fifth. Her pinch runner Liana Lopez scored on Kayla Cisneros’ 2-out single, and then Owen drove her in with an RBI double.
“This week we hit off of our freshman pitchers and happened to play Compton yesterday so we were already used to the slower pitching,” Owen said. “Slowing down to that wasn’t as difficult as if we were playing Los Al or something coming into this game.”
Millikan finished with 10 hits but some of the Rams were noticeably nonplussed after the victory.
“I love the fact that there are girls that are frustrated with their performance today because that means they really want this,” Lehr said. “They want to thrive and do really well. They wanted a (bigger win) in this game. It’s a 3-0 win but they really wanted to make a statement. And I think the person that really did was Lauren.”
Millikan has a big Moore League game at Long Beach Poly on Thursday. Meanwhile, Lakewood will host Wilson.
