I want to give you all a little background before I go into my observations about covering Moore League baseball this season— so that I can claim some legitimacy.

I played baseball at Glendora High School and at the college level with and against Jason Giambi, Jim Edmonds, Shawn Wooten, Cory Lidle and others.  I’m from an area that has produced Mark McGwire and a number of prominent professional players, and am a member of the Glendora Baseball Hall of Fame, along with the San Francisco Giants’ outfielder Aaron Rowand.

I have covered baseball in the San Gabriel Valley area since 2000 and had little to no knowledge of the history of ML baseball— other than covering Wilson through the playoffs last season.

That said, NOTHING compares to a Moore League doubleheader at Blair Field.

Having played, coached and covered baseball at a high level, I have never seen a league with this much talent, especially pitching.  And the rivalries and bad blood that I’ve witnessed have been intense, but mostly healthy.

After covering each team this season, I’m offering my thoughts, and my opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the LBPostsports.com.

Early on I gathered as much information as I could for the Press-Telegram’s baseball preview, and the consensus was Wilson and Lakewood would battle it out for the title, with the Lancers having the edge.  Depending on which coach you spoke to, Millikan, Poly and Jordan would fight for the final two playoff spots, in different orders from every source.

Millikan
After watching Millikan fall to 2-6 on a Saturday morning to Los Alamitos, Mike Guardabascio was putting together the Moore League preview, and he asked me “Brian, which of these three teams (Poly, Millikan or Jordan) won’t make the playoffs?”

I didn’t hesitate. I said “Mike, Millikan looks horrible. They won’t make the playoffs.”  I have never been so happy to be wrong, because the Millikan players and coaches have been a story of redemption, courage and class.

To be fair to myself, Andrew Culver said “we sucked after the first eight games, so I don’t blame you.”  But Millikan was— and is— a 13-man version of the Dirty Dozen, and if you didn’t have a stake in the race, the Rams were a great story even if you subtract the 43-inning league scoreless streak.

Jonathan Singleton was somebody we in the media knew as a stud, but other than the buff lefty, the Rams weren’t well known.  Josh Frye and Andrew Culver turned what looked to be a potentially dismal season into what turned out to be a dream year for all involved.

Frye and Culver played the leading role on the mound, but they also got victories from Cody Hazel, Matt Clampitt, Adam Annella and Andrew Doten.  Ralph Davis played a solid shortstop without fan fare and Emmy Antonaras was the rock behind the plate.

As I’ve said several times, everyone (Brandon Dopplick, Paul Slater, Brandon Sadler and all those mentioned above) were part of this historic run.  Despite liking every Millikan player I talked to, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Clampitt was my favorite.

Here’s this skinny, scholarly-looking kid who hit .464, with 39 hits and 19 RBI’s. He also went 3-1 on the mound with a save and a 1.62 ERA.  Clampitt, for my money, is as valuable as anyone in this league.

Poly
As surprising as the Millikan rise to glory, I would have lost my house if someone bet me that the Jackrabbits would finish second after watching them begin league play with one run offensively.

But Poly coach Toby Hess stayed the course with his recipe of Mario Gordon on the mound, Kevin Nanbara at the plate and five starting sophomores who have come up big down the stretch.

Nanbara has kept his average above .400 all season and won the biggest game of the year on Tuesday.  The senior right-hander threw a three-hit shutout over Lakewood to all but claim second place.

Poly did it with good starting pitching and some timely defense, because Nanbara, Henry Severson and Tyler Maxwell were the only three players that hit over .300.

Lakewood
I know I’m in the minority as I am on many issues, but I respect the hell out of Lakewood and the way they go about the game.  My first glimpse of the “competitive” hatred many have against the Lancers was when Lakewood beat Wilson in the first round of league play.  Even players from other teams stuck around to openly root against Lakewood.
I hear that Lakewood plays dirty, is obnoxious, arrogant and has “fake hustle,” when they run on and off the field.

But when I talk to the kids, (and yes I know players/coaches talk more politically correct to the media) they have never made excuses for their losses, nor have they ever diminished someone else’s success.  Many fans chirp at Lancers’ legend Spud O’Neil from the stands, and yet he’s always the first in a loss to credit the opponent.

I recall a tough loss at Millikan where O’Neil was devastated, but said “I give all the credit in the world to Scott Glasser and his team. They deserve to be where they’re at and they make the Moore League so much better.”

Matt Duffy, Jeff Yamaguchi, David Peters, Anthony Razo, Jonathan Worrell and Alex Padilla can play on my team any day.

Wilson
I knew the Bruins lost a lot with the graduation of Aaron Hicks, Zach Wilson and Ray Hanson— to name a few.  Andy Hall is used to nothing but winning, but with injuries to his best two pitchers (Tommy Nance and Cody Harris) Wilson was short-handed.

Yes, Wilson had an up-and-down season, but the Bruins improved mightily over the season, as Hall-coached teams do.

Nance has come back and looked nothing short of dominant, and Wilson has gotten offensive production from Tanner Perkins, Bryan Haver, Phil Visico, Lester Salcedo, Daniel Juarez, Tyler Dennison, Chris Hubbard and Harris.

Jordan
There’s a reason Jordan coach Marc Prager has a head full of gray hair. The Panthers’ skipper has witnessed quite possibly more errors than Millikan, Poly, Lakewood and Wilson combined.  The fielding got better as the year got longer, but it wasn’t quite enough to bust into the

The lone superstar was hard-throwing ace Marcos Lara, who pitched his butt off. And despite a 6-4 record and a 0..74 ERA, Lara deserved so much better.  The senior also hit over .600 in Moore League play.

All things considered, it was my privilege to cover such a great league with so many quality kids and coaches.  Lastly, I’d like to thank the Moore League players, coaches and 99.9% of the parents who made this season so memorable.

You are, without a doubt, the premier baseball league in Southern California.