Simi Valley Tripped by Millikan

Simi Valley High exhibited an uncanny ability to avoid critical mistakes this season, and it resulted in 22 victories.

And for much of the Pioneers’ second-round Southern Section 5-A Division playoff game against Long Beach Millikan on Tuesday, the Pioneers again played flawless baseball.

But what normally would have been innocuous mistakes were magnified when Simi Valley squeezed them into one inning, and the Pioneers fell, 3-2, after allowing three unearned runs at Blair Field in Long Beach.

Entering Simi Valley’s frustrating fifth inning, pitcher Bill Treadway had needed only 37 pitches in limiting Millikan (21-6) to two singles and one base on balls.

But Treadway (7-2) walked Jose Salazar to lead off the inning and, after a strikeout, shortstop Brian Vasey misplayed Dante Powell’s ground ball. Scott Allen followed with a sharp grounder to third baseman Mike Cardenas, who stepped on third for the second out and threw to first in an effort to end the inning.

First-base umpire Sandy Purtle ruled that first baseman Aaron Fischer had pulled his foot off the bag, a call that eventually led to the ejection of Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers.

After a brief discussion between Scyphers and Purtle, Millikan’s Pat Thacker pumped Treadway’s next pitch over the left-field wall to give Millikan a 3-0 lead. Scyphers, who believed the inning should have ended on Cardenas’ throw, resumed his dispute with Purtle from a distance and was ejected for the third time in his 13 years at Simi Valley.

Simi Valley (22-5) pulled within one run in the sixth on Fischer’s ninth home run, a two-run shot.

In the seventh, Vasey led off with a single, his second hit, and advanced to second on Kevin Nykoluk’s sacrifice. Steve Bernstein walked but Fischer hit into a fielder’s choice and Tyler Nelson grounded out.

Simi Valley left nine runners on base, including five in scoring position, and wasted a sterling performance by Treadway, a sophomore who limited Millikan to three hits and threw only 67 pitches.

“I feel like this one was stolen from us,” Scyphers said. “When the plate umpire comes over to me after the fact and says all I needed to do was ask him for help on the call, that tells me (Purtle) blew the call.”

Scyphers stared at the ground, shaking his head. “That kid was out. He was flat-out out,” he said. “It seems like every time we come down here, we get homered.”

Millikan Coach Dan Peters disagreed.

“(Purtle) is one of the best umpires in the area,” he said. “The first baseman came off the bag. But if I were Simi Valley, I’d think (the runner) was out too.”