<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
“It was nobody’s goal to break the streak,” said Poly coach Toby Hess of the Millikan Rams’ 42-inning run of perfect defense coming into Friday night’s game. <\/span>“We wanted to win.” <\/span>The Jackrabbits were good enough to put up four runs in the second inning, ending the streak at 43—but Millikan (7-0) instead proved they can win games offensively, as well, in an impressive 8-4 victory that gives them a three-game lead over the rest of the field for the league crown, with five games remaining. <\/span>Poly falls to 4-3, and a three-way tie for second place with Wilson and Lakewood, both of whom the ‘Rabbits have beaten.<\/p>\n In the top of the first, Poly’s Kevin Nanbara opened with a double, and reached third with just one out, as the Jackrabbits looked like they were going to get a surprising start—but Millikan’s Andrew Culver dug in and got a pop out, and a quick ground out. <\/span>Then in the bottom of the first, Millikan pounded Poly’s ace, Mario Gordon. <\/span>Brandon Sadler opened the inning by flying out, then Gordon walked Jon Singleton—a balk moved him to second. <\/span>Then Cody Hazel’s single put Singleton on third—Paul Slater’s fly out brought him home ahead of the throw to give Millikan the lead.<\/p>\n They gave themselves their margin of victory after singles from Matt Clampitt and Adam Annella juiced the bases—catcher Emmy Antoneras sent a shot to left field, where it bounced, and then trickled through the fielder’s legs, with enough speed that it rolled all the way to the wall before a Poly player could pick it up. <\/span>By the time the throw came in, Antoneras had chugged all the way around the bases, for an error inside-the-park grand slam.<\/p>\n With Millikan’s perfect record on defense, that seemed like all she wrote, but Poly answered back in a big way in the top of the second. <\/span>Tyler Maxwell led off by getting on base when the throw to first was high, then Culver walked Jeff Turley. <\/span>A wild pitch went by the catcher Antoneras, advancing the runners to second and third, and Maxwell scored off of Nikko Santos’ single. <\/span>Poly got three more runs that inning, but Culver dug in at the end, getting Henry Severson to ground out, and preserving a 5-4 lead.<\/p>\n Millikan bounced back quickly, with two runs in the bottom of the inning, and they tacked on another in the fifth. <\/span>Josh Frye finished the game for the Rams. <\/span>Frye, who started on Tuesday against Lakewood, came in for a few innings because Millikan coach Scott Glasser wants him to start getting ready to start a game, and then pitch in relief as he’ll be doing in the playoffs. <\/span><\/p>\n After the game, Glasser expressed his happiness with his team’s hitting performance, one of their best this season, against one of the league’s best pitchers in Gordon. <\/span>“I think we proved we can win a lot of ways,” he said.<\/p>\n The Rams will try to keep rolling next Wednesday, when they face Wilson in the nightcap at Blair at 6:30pm. <\/span>Poly will host Jordan on their campus field, in an important clash for playoff positioning. <\/span>When asked about the silver lining of sitting in second after the loss to Millikan, Hess said, “It’s more of a safety net than a silver lining.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Poly scored, but the Rams did too in an 8-4 Millikan win to stay undefeated in 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