Esteemed Esperanza Is Caught by Surprise

Don’t take it too hard, Esperanza. Even though your beloved baseball team lost its semifinal game, 6-0, to Long Beach Millikan on Tuesday, the dreary fog of failure can be broken with a bit of positive thinking:

Hey, the Aztecs looked great during that pregame warm - up, didn’t they?

Weren’t those infield sprints something else?

And what about those synchronized practice swings?

It’s not as if the fans were the only ones to notice. Millikan’s players pointed it out, too. Said you looked poised. Precise. Very impressive.

Just what they expected from the team ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today.

But then the game started. And suddenly, Esperanza, the top-seeded team in the 5-A, was being brushed back by a defense so sound, not even their normally whomping, stomping hit parade could put a dent in it.

The Rams were for real. This was no Millikan Vanilli.

But the admiration was mutual.

“I’ve never seen a better hitting team than Esperanza,” Millikan Coach Dan Peters said.

But in this game, it was the catches that counted. Millikan’s fielders dove this way and that, treating each play as if it were their last.

Millikan left fielder Dante Powell--who Cal State Fullerton fans can look forward to seeing next season--had the catch of the day in the third inning with his diving pick of Mark Allen’s blast to left center.

“I’ve never done that before,” Powell said, rubbing his left shoulder, which ached from the impact. “I saw the ball, ran, and just got closer and closer. I just took a heave at it and got there.”

Fans oohed and aahed at Powell’s speed as he raced across the field. It’s that speed--10.6 seconds in the 100 meters--that qualified Powell for the Southern Section track finals two weeks ago. He didn’t run, though, opting to play in Millikan’s first-round baseball game against Hart on the same day. In that game, Millikan came away with a 14-5 victory.

“Baseball’s my first love,” he said, smiling the ways boys do when they know their next game will be played at the Big A.

His passion is apparent. Along with his big catch, Powell had two doubles and scored two runs. But he knew it was his defense that boosted his team to a giant-killing confidence.

“I catch that ball and it’s like a contagious thing,” he said.

--Third baseman Greg Negrete caught Brian Harman’s line drive to end the fourth inning.

--In the fifth, Negrete lunged for a backhanded stop of Keith McDonald’s sharp grounder in time to throw McDonald out at first.

--In the sixth, right fielder Jason Manack made a major league toss to get Rich Hills at third.

Millikan’s defensive prowess went on and on, frustrating Esperanza the way no other team has this season. Not bad for a club that finished second in its league.

“We were real tight in the beginning of the game,” Peters said. “But once Dante set the tone with that catch, I think we all loosened up.”

All except pitcher Greg Gregory.

When Ram pitching Coach Chuck Johnson tossed Gregory the game ball, Gregory--who is 13-0--just smiled, ducked his head and walked away. When a reporter asked what he thought of the game, Gregory rushed away saying, “I just don’t like talking!”

That, of course, was the feeling in the Aztec dugout after the game. No one was feeling too chatty.

They might feel better if they check in with a longtime tradition:

Not since the 1970 Lakewood squad has a top-seeded team won a major division title.

If that doesn’t help, Aztec fans, remember this:

Every fog burns away in time.

Barbie Ludovise’s column appears Wednesday and Sunday.