Poly's Scott pitches a two-hit shutout to beat rival Millikan
LONG BEACH ❯❯ In a game twice postponed due to rain, the third time was the charm as Long Beach Poly baseball senior pitcher Lucas Scott threw a dominant complete-game shutout to lead the Jackrabbits to a 3-0 win at Millikan on Monday.
Scott, a UC Irvine baseball signee, had eight strikeouts in seven scoreless innings, throwing a complete game while only allowing two hits and three total base runners.
“We've been eyeing this game since the day we stepped on the field for fall games,” Scott said. “We didn't have the best season last year, so coming back and really setting the tone in the biggest Moore League game was really a big deal for us.”
Poly improved to 8-1 and 3-0 in the Moore League and is tied with Lakewood for first place. Jackrabbits junior catcher Max Pemberton went 2 for 3 with an RBI single in the top of the first inning. Pemberton also score a run and had two stolen bases.
The Jackrabbits had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the third inning. Poly took a 3-0 lead when junior second baseman Nate Berumen and Pemberton scored on back-to-back passed balls thrown by Millikan senior starting pitching Demetri Syrengelas. Syrengelas finished with six strikeouts and gave up three runs in five innings.
“Our chemistry is as good as it's ever been ... this game was very important to us,” Scott explained. “We didn't beat any of Millikan,
Wilson, Lakewood last year. We didn't win a single one of those games, so coming in and setting the tone was really important to us. This was a huge game.”
Millikan, the defending Moore League champion, is now 7-5 overall and 2-1 in Moore League.
The game was initially scheduled for last Wednesday at Blair Field but was postponed due to rain. It was rescheduled to Thursday at Millikan, but that game was postponed due to poor field conditions due to the recent inclement weather.
“We hit, we hit and we hit some more,” Scott shared when asked what
Poly did to prepare for this game when they couldn't play or practice outside several times last week. “We pretty much did exactly what we wanted to do this game.”
Meanwhile, Poly baseball coach Curtis Thompson III said every Moore League game against Millikan, Wilson and Lakewood is important.
“Our plan is to dominate and come out with the win,” said Thompson, who moved practice indoors during last week's rainy weather. “We played defense well too so that helps our pitching.
“We're playing with a chip on our shoulder, a lot of teams look down on us but we have something to prove this year.”
Millikan baseball coach Ron Keester said his message remains consistent about the importance of limiting mistakes against the top teams in the Moore League.
“This game, this league, it's been that way since I've become the head coach, it seems like whoever makes the least mistakes is going to win the game and we made more mistakes than they did,” Keester said. “I don't know if they made a single mistake. They were really good and we were just very average but we'll get better and we will see what happens the next time.”
Last week: unranked
8. WILSON (8-5): The Bruins will play No. 6 Long Beach Poly at Blair Field on Wednesday. Quality pitching for all seven innings could make or break Wilson's season.
Last week: 9
9. ST. JOHN BOSCO (5-8): The Braves are 1-5in Trinity League play after three-game series against Servite and Mater Dei. Overall, Bosco has a young team but senior infielder Evan Chavez is batting .452through 13games.
Last week: 7
10. NORWALK (9-2): The Lancers are on a seven-game winning streak, which was highlighted by beating MidCities League rival Mayfair 1-0last week.
Last week: 8
Honorable mention: Mayfair (8-5), Cerritos (5-5), Downey (6-6), Rancho Dominguez (4-0), St. Anthony (6-3), Calvary Chapel (6-4-1), Bellflower (3-6), Valley Christian (3-5)
—John W. Davis