The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, and Lakewood baseball boosters.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
In Moore League baseball, when an offense puts a crooked number on the scoreboard that usually proves to be good enough to win. When they do it twice in the first two innings, you can almost book it.
The Millikan Rams (1-6, 8-1) did just that on Wednesday afternoon against visiting Long Beach Poly (11-11, 6-3), scoring three in the first and three in the second to take a commanding 6-0 lead. The Rams allowed the Jackrabbits to cut that lead in half, but held on for a 6-3 win to remain in sole possession of second place in the Moore League.
“I’m really happy with the execution in the first couple innings, the top five guys in our lineup had really good at bats to get us up 6-0,” said Millikan head coach Ron Keester. “Give (Poly) credit for keeping us where we were, they made a game in the seventh inning with the tying run on deck. But if we can do that the first two innings a lot, we’ll be okay, it’s just a matter of staying focused for the other five innings.”
The Rams smacked six hits in those first two frames, but had just two the rest of the afternoon. Ben Keisler had 3 hits to lead the Millikan offense, including an RBI single in the first to open the scoring, followed by a double in the next frame.
Adrian Ramirez had an RBI double in the first to score Keisler, and Andrew Perez added an RBI double in the second to bring Millikan’s lead to 4-0. Anthony Pack delivered a two-run single right behind him, plating both Perez and leadoff man Shane Wally (2 BB, 2 R) for the 6-0 Millikan lead.
“I’m very impressed with this lineup, and I feel very comfortable because I think we have five, six, or seven, No. 2 or No.3 hitters that could hit up in that spot,” Keisler said of the Rams’ offensive output. “The lineup is pretty deep. We know that regardless of what the lineup is that day, everybody can step up and do their job.”
Rams starting pitcher Daunte Bell didn’t have his most dominant stuff on the mound and lasted just 5.0 innings with an inflated pitch count. In total he allowed a pair of earned runs on three hits and three walks. The junior lefty struck out nine Jackrabbits.
Interestingly enough, the Rams did not strike out offensively for the second game in a row. This time against Poly’s tandem of Ryan King and Daylen Carey, who each worked three innings. Keester is pleased with his team’s ability to put the bat on the ball and have a competitive two-strike approach as they tinker with the batting order in an effort to be their best when the postseason rolls around.
“You’ve got to figure something’s gonna land when you put the ball in play enough. And if enough of those land, it can lead to a big inning or an extra run that you might need at the end,” he explained. “We like the way we’re starting to swing the bats. It’s only taking us 24 games, but we’re getting there.”
Carey worked around a pair of hits and a walk to put up three scoreless innings in relief for the Jackrabbits, who were happy to have him back on the bump after he’d missed time with some arm fatigue.
That allowed the Jackrabbits to chip away at the deficit, scoring twice in the fifth on back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Izaiyah Gutierrez and Matthew Garcia. Gutierrez added another base hit in the seventh as Poly was able to scratch another run across, with Tate Hammond racing home on a ground ball in front of the plate to make it a 6-3 game.
But that’s as close as Poly could get as Millikan’s Owen Waytas induced a game-ending grounder, reeled in by second baseman Noa Morales who charged the ball for a nifty defensive play.
Millikan will be back in action on Friday when they visit Cabrillo, while Poly is waiting until next Wednesday for their next league game. The Jackrabbits will take on first-place Wilson to open the final Moore League Doubleheader on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, with Millikan facing Lakewood that evening in the nightcap.
