The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
If Millikan’s three-game sample size to open Moore League play has taught anything, it’s that the Rams have certainly brought their bats.
Those bats combined for 17 hits at Joe Rodgers Field on Thursday afternoon against Wilson, as the Rams piled on eight runs between the second and third innings en route to a 9-1 win. Senior Kayla Cisneros drove in four of those runs across the two frames, going 4-for-5 with a double and three singles.
“It feels great. I went up there just having fun and swinging hard,” Cisneros said after the win. “I was less worried about the outcome and more focused on helping my team. We just wanted to make sure we got runs early and help [our starting pitcher] Riley McAndrew as much as we could.”
McAndrew pitched another gem at Joe Rodgers Field, scattering just two hits across six innings while racking up six strikeouts. The senior’s performance marked her second Moore League win after a shutout over Lakewood last week, and she also had a strong outing at the plate Thursday going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs.
“Similar to the last game I just wanted to do what I can, compete and control the controllables,” McAndrew said. “We kinda struggled with the tight zone today on both sides so I really just tried to pound the zone as much as I could.”
McAndrew fueled Millikan’s first big scoring opportunity in the top of the second after smacking a shallow fly ball to left field for a triple. After a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners, senior Hailey Fematt lifted a pop-up that brought McAndrew home. Cisneros then drilled a line drive into left field to drive in two runs and give Millikan a three-run lead.
The Rams continued their outpouring in the third, starting a rally with a pair of singles from Addy Everett and Maya Hernandez. Peyton Dobrovolny then laid down a perfect bunt to score Everett while reaching first, before Fematt delivered a two-RBI single one out later. Fematt finished 2-for-3 at the plate with those three RBIs.
Following a Mia Meza single in the same frame, Cisneros continued her big afternoon with a two-RBI double to collect her third and fourth RBIs and cap the third-inning scoring. After spending the start of the year as the leadoff hitter, Cisneros was back in the No. 2 spot for the first time Thursday, where she had previously hit the last two years.
“Honestly, leadoff is a lot of pressure and takes a lot of skill, and I feel like the pressure is off me hitting second,” Cisneros said. “Plus, I just feel more confident swinging hard when we have runners on base, which obviously happened a lot today.”
Millikan added one more run in the top of the seventh when McAndrew led off with a single and later scored on a two-out RBI single from Meza. That gave sophomore Jade Torres the opportunity to come in and pitch in the top of the inning, where she allowed one hit before recording a strikeout and inducing a double play to end the game.
“I think we would’ve liked to finish the game in five innings, but it did give us the opportunity to get [Torres] in there and help her get used to competing in the Moore League,” said Millikan coach Michelle Lehr. “She can dominate, and we know that, so once she gets the nerves out and settles in faster I think she’s going to do really well.”
Wilson had a solid finish after the first three innings but struggled to get much going at the plate, finishing with just three hits. The Bruins had seven baserunners on the afternoon, while freshman pitcher Madeline Bowser threw a complete game with four scoreless innings and a pair of strikeouts.
“When you play a team like Millikan, you have to play almost perfect—we can, but we have to score runs,” said Wilson coach George Molina. “We made some mental mistakes and physical errors, and a team like that is going to capitalize on them. We have to improve, eliminate the big inning, and be better than that.”
Wilson will turn its attention to Compton on Monday, while Millikan will face Jordan that day before a highly anticipated matchup against Long Beach Poly on Tuesday after the game was rescheduled due to excessive heat two weeks ago.
“I think we know they’re our toughest team, and they’ve got a lot of offensive power,” Lehr said of Poly. “We just have to keep them off balance—that’s the game plan, and Riley has been doing a phenomenal job of that.”
