Millikan Sidetracks Simi Valley Again in Baseball Playoffs, 8-5

For the third time in four years, the Simi Valley High baseball team could not get past Long Beach Millikan in the Southern Section 5-A Division playoffs.

Millikan, the defending 5-A champion, overpowered Simi Valley, 8-5, in a quarterfinal Friday at Simi Valley.

“I don’t think there is anything that Long Beach Millikan has over Simi Valley,” Simi Valley Coach Mike Scyphers said. “It’s just that today wasn’t one of our better performances.”

Millikan (20-5-1) pressured the Pioneers from the opening pitch, landing the leadoff batter on base in the first six innings, stealing four bases and roughing up relievers Trevor Leppard and Bill Treadway when the game was still close.

Millikan snapped a 2-2 tie with three runs in the fifth, then put the game away with three more in the sixth. Only with Kevin Nykoluk’s two-out, three-run home run--his 10th homer--in the seventh did the Pioneers make the score respectable.

Millikan senior left-hander Greg Gregory (4-3), who earned the win in last season’s 3-2 playoff victory over Simi Valley, went the distance, despite a shaky fourth inning in which Simi Valley scored twice to erase a 2-0 deficit. Gregory walked three, including pinch-hitter Chris DeLaTorre with the bases loaded.

Earlier in the inning, Britten Pond drove in Simi Valley’s first run with a two-out single to bring in Nykoluk from third. Gregory prevented a big inning by striking out Jason Alcala on a full count with two out and the bases loaded.

“I couldn’t find it today,” Gregory said of his control. “The umpire wasn’t giving me anything.”

Simi Valley left-hander Chris Devlin, Leppard and Treadway found the going more difficult.

Devlin yielded an unearned run in the first, then yielded to Leppard with two out and runners at first and third in the fourth.

Pinch-hitter Santos Cortez greeted Leppard with a sharp single to give Millikan a 2-0 lead.

In the sixth, after Millikan already had scored a run to take a 6-2 lead, Treadway replaced Leppard with two out and runners at first and second. Greg Walbridge immediately tagged Treadway for a long double to center that drove in both runners.

Leppard (7-4), who was charged with six runs, took the loss.

“We’ve done a pretty good job throwing strikes all year,” Scyphers said. “But we didn’t throw strikes today. Leppard has been pretty darn good. I don’t know why he was wild today.”

Gregory retired eight of nine batters before Alcala’s infield single with one out in the seventh.

Ryan Briggs followed with a single and Aaron Whitley struck out. Nykoluk followed with a home run, but Aaron Fischer tapped out to second to end the game.