Knowledge of baseball nuance wasn’t necessary to understand and enjoy the game at Millikan High School yesterday. Lakewood’s Shane Watson and Millikan’s Josh Frye dominated most of the afternoon from the mound. Meanwhile the Lancers ran the bases successfully, and the Rams didn’t. After a scoreless five, Lakewood scored in the sixth and seventh innings to run away with the 5-0 victory.
Watson worked quickly through his three-hit complete game shutout, retiring 13 straight batters to open the game and getting the first-pitch strike over 68 percent of the time (17-of-25, seven breaking balls). Still scoreless in the sixth, senior Hunter Jones wore an off-speed pitch, took second on a balk, stole third, and scored the would-be winning run on an error.
“He’s darn good,” said Lakewood coach Spudd O’Neil of his sophomore pitcher Watson. “To make a run you need two pitchers, and we feel like we have that with Jeff (Yamaguchi) and Shane (Watson) but it’s not over, we’ve got to stay calm.”
The drama in this one started in the bottom of the fifth when Frye singled to center for the first hit off Watson. Zachary Hauter ran for the pitcher and stole second before Brett Beato raked one to left, but Hauter was held at third. With one out and runners at the corners on a 2-2 pitch, Caulin Anderson (running for Beato) got caught in a pickle between first and second. The run down lasted long enough for Hauter to break for home, but second baseman Jimmy Gosano’s throw to catcher Tyler Schultz was in time to get Hauter at the plate. On the next pitch, Watson struck out Tanner Lowrey to end the inning and keep it scoreless.
In the top of the sixth, Frye plunked Jones to lead it off. After a few tosses over to first, Frye threw a fastball for a strike but the base umpire called a balk, saying the senior pitcher didn’t come set before the offering. After Frye got Yamaguchi to pop out, Anthony Razo came to the plate. Jones broke for third on the first pitch and beat the throw as Matt Clampitt went to his knees to catch the ball. He maintained the tag as Jones went over the bag head first, and for everyone who was on the first base line (including the Ram dugout) it looked like Jones’ foot came off the bag. The base umpire called him safe, and Millikan head coach Scott Glasser came out to argue.
“(The umpire) was in position and he’s good enough to make the call,” said Glasser. “I didn’t ask him to ask for help (from the home plate umpire) and that’s my fault… but I don’t think he would have given it to me.”
On the very next pitch, Razo sent a hot shot to the third base bag and it bounced wide off Clampitt’s glove as Jones scored. Schultz doubled in Razo and Joseph Bernal singled in Schultz, taking the game from 0-0 and a pitchers’ duel to 3-0 and Lakewood’s game to lose in five at-bats.
But the Rams didn’t go quietly, and in the bottom of the sixth a single and stolen base by Dylan Sadler led it off. A fielder choice and a walk put runners on the corners again, and again when Schultz threw down to second when Paul Slater stole second the Ram at third broke for home. And again, the throw home cut the run down. This time it was shortstop JP Crawford throwing high to Schultz, and the junior catcher going up the ladder to get it and bring it down quickly for the high hard tag.
The Lancers added two more runs in the seventh as Crawford and Jones came around to score on a single by Razo, and Watson set them down 1-2-3 in the last frame with one of his six strikeouts.
“I just concentrated on each hitter, and tried to keep the fastball low for strikes,” said Watson. “Getting that runner at home (in the fifth) really took the weight off my shoulders.”
“Let’s just say I’m not too happy we have to see him for three years,” said Glasser of Watson. “His velocity, his command… he had command of the game. You have to be near perfect to beat Lakewood, and we weren’t. I think we’re close to beating a team of that caliber, but we have to learn from this.”
Lakewood improves to 6-1 in the Moore League, and Millikan falls to 4-3