The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, and Lakewood baseball boosters.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
Millikan had over a month to sit with the loss to Wilson that snapped their 20-game Moore League winning streak — but it took just one inning to respond when they finally got their chance.
In the same way Wilson dominated the first matchup, Millikan returned the favor, taking control in all phases and batting around in a three-run first inning. That early outburst was more than enough run support for Rams ace Daunte Bell, who pitched a complete game in a 7–2 Millikan win on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field to secure a share of the Moore League title alongside Wilson.
“I’ve been thinking about that game since we lost,” said Texas commit Anthony Pack. “We were coming into this game taking it personally with a chip on our shoulder. [Daunte Bell] held up down on the mound and we gave ‘em runs behind him.”
“We wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again,” added Millikan coach Ron Keester. “That’s what set the tone for us offensively. To get those three runs in the first inning allowed Daunte to breathe a little bit and he just went out there and shoved for seven innings.”
The two teams will share the Moore League title after both finishing the season 11–1 and handing each other their only loss. The split marks back-to-back championships for Millikan and their third in the last four years. For Wilson, it’s their first Moore League title since 2017 when they split it with Millikan and Lakewood.
“I told the kids that when all of the emotion and the energy wears off and you wake up tomorrow you’ll realize you’re still Moore League champions along with Millikan,” said Wilson coach Andy Hall. “We’re going to dust ourselves off, take the day off tomorrow and come back Friday and we’ll be alright.”
Millikan was quick to get into scoring position after a leadoff double from Shane Wally—somthing they weren’t able to do well in the first matchup. Anthony Pack cashed in immediately just one out later with an RBI single, and Adrian Ramirez tacked on another pair of runs later in the inning with a 2 RBI single.
Pack finished the game 3/4 at the plate with that single and two doubles, and tacked on three RBI with two runs.
“Ben Howard is a great pitcher but I was just taking what he would give me,” he said. “He was throwing me on the outside corner a lot so I just took it where it was pitched and tried not to do too much. I had runners in scoring position, [Andrew Perez] did a good job getting to second, and I was just trying to hit ‘em in.”
Daunte Bell stepped up onto the bump and began his masterclass performance with the luxury of three runs worth of support. Bell retired 11 of the first 13 batters he faced and finished the evening with eight total strikeouts.
“The last time I played this team it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go so I kinda just carried a chip on my shoulder going into this game,” said Bell, who let out plenty of emotion with each out. “I’m not even really an emotional guy too so when I showed it I felt like it pumped up my team. I really wanted to finish it all the way and win the game and the fact that I was able to do it with these fans and the players behind me was awesome.”
The Rams added insurance runs in the final three innings including one off of a Pack RBI double in the fifth to score Perez. Xavier Kennard singled in the sixth inning and had Noa Morales score on an error by the shortstop. Another Pack RBI double in the seventh scored Perez once again.
Wilson didn’t show any signs of life until the bottom of the seventh when James Mirabile and Logan Smith hit a single and double, respectively. Mirabile then scored on a passed ball before Russell Centanni’s ground-out then scored pinch runner Turner Anderson.
The Bruins got 6.1 innings from ace Ben Howard, who finished the game with a pair of strikeouts. The senior had a quiet outing, a rare way to end his season thats been a campaign among those in discussion for Moore League Pitcher of the Year honors.
Both teams will await their playoff positions when the CIF-SS brackets release on Monday. Division 2 matchups will be held the following Friday and Division 3 games will be Thursday. Check back at The562 for live updates of bracket release and playoff matchups.
