Millikan beats top-seeded Hart to reach Division 3 title game
LONG BEACH >> Terrific pitching, great defense and clutch hitting often result in victory, and that was the case Tuesday in the CIFSS Division 3 baseball semifinal between host Millikan and topseeded Hart.
The Rams got another fine pitching performance by junior Myles Patton, what proved to be the game-winning RBI by senior Gabe Ceja in the bottom of the fifth and a spectacular play by senior shortstop Daniel Murillo in the top of the sixth as Millikan defeated the Indians 2-1 at Blair Field to advance to the championship game.
The Rams (23-4) will play Arlington on Friday or Saturday for the title.
Patton pitched six-plus innings and struck out 12 to earn his seventh victory of the season. He allowed an RBI single by Victor Pico in the top of the fourth inning.
He began the seventh, but when Pico reached safely on a hard-hit ground ball that third baseman Sam DeCarlo couldn’t handle, Patton was relieved in favor of Murillo.
Rams senior catcher Troy Harding, whose RBI single in the bottom of the fourth tied the game 1-1, threw out Pico trying to steal and Murillo struck out Will Johnson and Caiden Helgeson to end the game, sending Millikan and its fans into a wild celebration.
This was Patton’s third victory in the playoffs, having previously struck out a combined 19 in complete-game victories over Mary Star in the first round and Torrance in the second round.
“I just felt pumped up, I felt focused,” Patton said, as players and fans whooped it up behind him. “Our season has been building a lot of momentum these last few games and when I’m out there on the hill, I’m just ultrafocused, more than I’ve ever been in my whole life.”
He tried to remain composed as he talked about this victory.
“I know this is the biggest game of my life and those were some of the biggest pitches I’ve had to throw,” said Patton, who had a mean slider. “I just wanted to get out there and just stay focused, not let the moment get too big and just keep my head on straight and keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Asked what it means for him to help get his team to the championship game, Patton said, “It means more than words can describe, man.”
The game might have gone a lot longer had Ceja not delivered an RBI single to left in the fifth off relief pitcher Massimo Vega, who was facing only his second batter after coming in for southpaw starter Jake Villar.
“Yeah, I was just thinking fastball because I saw in warm-ups he was only throwing fastballs for strikes, so that’s my pitch and I’m just sitting on it the whole time,” Ceja said.
With runners at second and third and one out in the Hart sixth, Malaqui Soqui hit a blooper off Patton that looked like it might fall, but Murillo raced out to short left field and made a spectacular catch before whirling and doubling up Matt Quintanar at second to end the inning.
Murillo was asked if he thought he would get to the ball once it was hit.
“In practice, we practice these every day,” he said. “I knew there was a chance, but you never know.”
Hart coach James Ozella praised the Rams.
“We knew coming in here they had been playing well, we thought we’d been playing well,” said Ozella, whose team is 21-3. “You got yourself two good teams battling. Shortstop doesn’t make that great play there in the sixth inning, we score two runs.
“That’s kind of where we are, you know, you get into that situation where one play makes the game. Give them credit. The big guy pitched real well, we had a lot of problems with him. Obviously, he’s been pitching real well for a long time.”
Ozella would not fault Quintanar for getting caught off second in the sixth.
“Our guy knows that it’s not very far out, just kind of going for it,” he said. “I got no qualm with that. He’s going for it, he’s aggressive, we’re trying to win the game.
“If it goes off his glove, we