With CIF playoffs underway, four (count ’em – four!) Moore League teams aim their sights on the championship. They’d have to get past Thursday’s first round games first…
Wilson 9, Edison 3
The Bruins got on the board early, and even though Aaron Hicks didn’t have his best stuff on the hill, he more than made up for it by going 2 for 3 and scoring three runs as Wilson beat the Chargers, 9-3.
Hicks set the table from the lead off spot, and third baseman Zach Wilson cleaned up with 2 hits and 3 RBIs. In the top of the third inning it was Wilson and Hicks working together again, but this time on defense.
Hicks pitched six solid innings, giving up four hits, walking three and struck out six, but in the third he started nibbling at the corners and walked two batters. With the bases loaded and pitching from behind, Wilson walked to the mound to talk to Hicks.
“He told me to just throw strikes,” Hicks said with a chuckle after the game. He took the sage advice and got the next two batters to pop out.
“They were sitting on his fastball all day,” said Wilson. “They were lifting their leg before he was done with his windup. I just told him they couldn’t hit him.” And the Chargers didn’t for the rest of the game.
Hicks uses his fastball, which hangs out around 90 mph, to set up his devastating breaking ball. He used the heat to get out of the third, confused the Chargers in the fourth with the bender, and brought back the heat in the fifth in which he used only six pitches.
The Bruins scored two runs in the first inning when Wilson drove in Hicks, and then Jesse Vansickle drove in Wilson. It stayed 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth.
After Hicks used those six pitches to get out of the top of the fifth inning, he singled up the middle to start the bottom of the frame. Max McEleney followed up with another single, and two outs later, Vansickle drove a double into the gap to score Hicks and McEleney.
The Bruins will take on Tesoro next week, and the site will be decided by a coin flip
Lakewood 10, Tustin 2
It was obvious Lakewood starter Matt Johnson didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled through it and held off Tustin long enough for the Lancer offense to tally five runs in the first three innings on the way to a 10-2 victory over the Tillers.
“He told us he felt like throwing up on the mound,” said coach Spud O’Neil about his pitcher, who was battling flu-like symptoms all night. “We kept asking him for one more inning, then one more inning. I just hope it wasn’t nerves,” laughed the veteran skipper. Johnson pitched 6.1 innings with five strikeouts and seven hits.
The Lancers put the bat on the ball, only striking out twice on the night, and made the most of Tustin’s mistakes. The Tillers made four errors in the field, and Tustin pitchers hit two batters while walking three more. With 10 hits on the night, the Lancers were always threatening.
“In the playoffs, it’s about putting the ball in play,” said O’Neil. “Our kids did a great job of that. We were hitters up there tonight.”
Lakewood will take on Valencia next week, the site will be decided by a coin flip.
OTHER MOORE LEAGUE SCORES
Millikan 2, Thousand Oaks 6
Thousand Oaks scored five runs in the first inning, and even though the Rams out hit the Lancers 8 to 6, they couldn’t overcome the home teams quick start.
Poly 0, Los Alamitos 2
Los Al’s star lefty Beau Wright threw a three-hit shut out against the Jackrabbits, and a wild pitch in a decisive second inning ended Poly’s hopes of an upset.