From LBPOSTSports.com: Half the defense made at least one great play, two pitchers had clutch performances, and after seven innings there was only one run scored—in other words, it was a Millikan Rams kind of baseball game, as the East Long Beach scrappers picked up a 1-0 win over Villa Park in the second round of the CIF playoffs.  Millikan now advances to the quarterfinals, where thanks to a huge upset win by Poly/Riverside over JSerra, they’ll be hosting the Bears on Friday, likely at Blair in the early evening—stay tuned for details.

Asked about his team’s razor-edge defensive effort, Rams coach Scott Glasser just smiled.  “Yeah, that’s our recipe to win a game this year.”

Even for Millikan, this one was close—Villa Park left nine base-runners stranded (eight in the first four innings), any one of whom would have erased the Rams’ slim margin by crossing home plate.  Starting pitcher Andrew Culver allowed no hits in 4.2 innings, but walked six Spartans and hit another—both his strikeouts came at crucial times, though, and he did a good job battling despite struggling to throw strikes early.

And of course, the defense stepped up—outfielder Cody Hazel made two great catches in the first couple innings, third baseman Matt Clampitt’s smooth fielding kept a Spartan run off the board in the bottom of the third, and diminutive shortstop Ralphie Davis played very tall to get the second out in the fifth inning.  The one mistake the Rams did make, a dropped fly to center field, nearly cost them big in the fourth—the Spartans’ best scoring chance.

Culver got the first Spartan to ground out, and then Wyatt Strahan reached second on the dropped fly.  Culver’s struck out the next batter to put two outs on the board, but then walked the next two batters, loading the bases.  Even though he hadn’t given up any hits, Glasser knew he had to pull Culver.  “It was time to pull the trigger,” he said after the game.  “It’s the end of the season if you make the wrong call.  I couldn’t let him hang out there any longer.”

Click here for the full article by Mike Guardabascio…