From LBPOSTSports.com: Great streaks don’t happen by accident, and in baseball they don’t often happen as the result of just an individual either. Usually, a great accomplishment is the result of a lot of work from a lot of players and coaches, guys selling out for each other and believing in their system. It might sound like it’s June and we’re talking about a championship team—actually, we’re talking about a feat much rarer. Namely, the Millikan Rams’ start to the 2009 season: after the first round of Moore League play, after six games, they still have yet to allow a run. Halfway through the season, the Rams have scored 58 runs, and allowed none—42 consecutive scoreless innings, with no errors, the first time in city history a squad has begun a season in such fashion.
Eight games into the nonleague season, it was hard to forecast the way the Rams’ accomplishment, and their two-game hold on first place in the league—Millikan started just 2-6, and it looked like it might be a long season. Then, something changed, says coach Scott Glasser. “We started coming together—it wasn’t a gradual thing, it was just a commitment—they were frustrated with losing and they figured that selfish play wasn’t going to get it going.”
The team has gelled, in the way great teams do, but with a senior-laden roster they’ve done it very early in the season. Glasser says his team’s motto has been “Win with class, lose with dignity.” But after the frustrating start, “I got tired of saying lose with dignity, so I just started saying win with class,” he says. “I didn’t even want to plant that seed.”
There are some obvious big figures who deserve credit, including Glasser, ace pitchers Josh Frye and Andrew Culver, and big bat Jon Singleton, the Rams’ preseason All-American. Those players have gotten their ink over the last month (and are likely to continue to), but as Glasser pointed out following his team’s victory over Jordan, a defensive shutout, not to mention six strung together, is the product of a whole program working together, from the starting pitcher to the bullpen catcher.
Click here for the full article by Mike Guardabascio…