The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
Once winning becomes the norm, how those wins look starts to become the challenge.
The Millikan softball program has done a lot of winning against the rest of the Moore League lately, and all but clinched their sixth consecutive Moore League title with a 3-2 win over rival Lakewood on Tuesday.
The Rams will be the first team in league history to accomplish that feat, but they weren’t doing much celebrating after their win over the Lancers. Instead, they were running sprints in the outfield shortly after the final out was recorded.
“I feel like sometimes this team needs to have moments like this,” said a frustrated Lehr after the game. “We played (Palos Verdes) right before Poly, and they beat us pretty good, and we left the game with me really upset with them. They came back on Wednesday, they locked in, they had a really productive practice, taking initiative on everything. And then we came out and we played really well against Poly … I feel like our team just thought we were just going to roll over on them and Lakewood turned it around after the first inning, and we didn’t make any adjustments after that. So there’s really not much to say.”
Millikan was able to strike early with three runs in the bottom of the first, appearing well on their way to a comfortable win. The Lancers played a bit tentative defensively, and left a couple plays on the field that may have changed the outcome out of the gate.
The Rams didn’t hit the ball particularly hard in that three-run first, getting RBI singles from Riley McAndrew and Lizzie Hobbs, who plated a pair with her first of two base hits on the afternoon.
Lakewood starting pitcher Bella Polance was not overpowering, but mixed her speeds well and got some weak contact from the Rams. She didn’t allow a run after the first inning, and only allowed four hits and a walk over her remaining five innings of work.
The Lancers also settled in defensively, and got a great play from left fielder Isabel Jovel in the second. She came up firing on a two-out single from Addy Everett, and was able to nail Hailey Fematt at the plate trying to score. That kept the score at 3-0 and shifted momentum into the Lakewood dugout.
In the top of the next inning, senior catcher Katelynn Lewis stepped up for Lakewood with a runner on base. She smacked a ball that drifted back over the heart of the plate deep to left field, well clear of the outfield fence for a two-run shot, pulling her team within a run. Lewis also walked and was hit by a pitch, reaching all three times for Lakewood. She also threw out a runner trying to steal in an impressive all-around game.
Millikan also countered with some solid defense behind McAndrew in the circle. Particularly at shortstop where sophomore Aisley Smith played a really sound game as she continues to fill in for injured starter JuJu Dizon.
“I felt like she made three or four really good plays, and that’s really the only thing to kind of take away from today,” said Lehr of Smith’s play on defense. “I feel like Aisley is starting to finally get settled in at shortstop … But I think Juju will probably be back before the playoffs, is my guess. So hopefully we’ll get it back on the field before then.”
Lakewood put the tying run on base in each of the last two innings, but a really nice play by Everett and Smith on bunt defense cut down the lead runner at third for Lakewood. That helped stymie the best scoring chance for the visitors in the sixth. McAndrew ended that inning with her 5th strikeout to strand a pair of Lancers.
Lakewood (10-12, 4-4) will be hosting Jordan, Cabrillo, Compton and Wilson to close out their league season as they look to officially clinch a playoff spot soon. Millikan (17-6, 8-0), meanwhile, will look to keep their unbeaten league streak going–they visit Compton on Thursday before hosting Wilson next Tuesday.
