Millikan Enters 5-A Playoffs Seeded No. 2

Millikan High School, which opens the Southern Section baseball playoffs Friday afternoon as the second-seeded team in Division 5-A, hits so well that Coach Dan Peters is reminded of his 1983 CIF championship team.

“It’s very comparable to that club,” Peters said. The Rams (22-4), who play Alemany (13-13) at 3:15 at Blair Field in Long Beach, are batting .364 and feature four .400 hitters.

Senior center fielder Aaron Seja leads the team with a .463 average, followed by senior first baseman Omar Diaz (.434 with five home runs), junior designated hitter Larry Satterlee (.432) and junior second baseman Dante Powell (.411).

Peters, who is in his ninth season at Millikan, won the Moore League title for the third time when the Rams edged out Lakewood, their biggest rival. He has a 189-60 record and has reached the CIF finals three times.

The Rams are consistently successful, he said, because most of the players come out of the strong Long Beach Pony League program. The situation is similar at Lakewood High, where players come from the Lakewood Pony League.

“These players have battled each other for years,” Peters said. The Rams won two of three games from Lakewood this season.

Nineteen teams from the Southeast/Long Beach area are in the playoffs. Here is a look at the rest of Friday’s games, which start at 3:15 unless otherwise indicated.

5-A:

Del Rey League champion St. John Bosco (19-2-1) will be at home against Bishop Amat (16-9).

Lakewood (18-4), the Moore League runner-up, will play Redondo (18-11) at 7:30 p.m. at Blair Field.

Angelus League runner-up St. Paul (17-9) will be at Rolling Hills (11-9).

Wilson (15-10), which finished third in the Moore League, will play at Riverside Poly (21-4-1).

4-A:

San Gabriel Valley League champion Paramount (14-4) will play at home against Irvine (15-13).

Gahr (18-8), which finished second to Paramount in the San Gabriel Valley League, will play at Troy (14-9).

3-A:

Whitmont League champion El Rancho (16-4) will play host to Artesia (11-11), the third-place team in the Suburban League.

Glenn, which tied for the Suburban League title with Bellflower, will take a 17-7 record into its game at La Quinta (19-8).

Bellflower (14-8) will be at home against Woodbridge (13-11).

2-A:

Whittier Christian (18-4), the Olympic League champion, has a bye and will not play until Tuesday against the winner of Friday’s game between St. Anthony (12-8), which finished third in the Camino Real League, and Sierra Vista (18-7) at Sierra Vista.

Cantwell (9-8), which finished third in the Santa Fe League, plays at Yucaipa (19-4-3).

Small Schools:

Leffingwell Christian (10-7) will play at Pioneer Baptist (14-2).