Wilson catcher Cade Miller (2) cant get the stop as Millikan’s Xavier Kennard (23) scores the winning run for the Rams in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Ethan Briones (12) gets a hit as the Rams take on Wilson in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Wilson’s Cade Miller (2) is tagged out by Millikan catcher Gavin Reyes (19) in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s AJ Nonato slides into home as Wilsons Cade Miller (2) tags the plate in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Ethan Barrientos (2) looks to get the out at first as the Rams take on Wilson in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Wilson catcher Cade Miller (2) tries to tag out Millikan’s Shane Wally (14) who slides in safe at home in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Wilson’s Cooper George (3) is safe at first as Millikans AJ Nonto (45) looses the ball in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan players celebrate as they take a 4-0 lead over Wilson in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Xavier Kennard (23), AJ Nonto (45), and Maison Crommie (3) celebrate as they beat Wilson to take first in the Moore League standings in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Wilson’s Shane Guy (1) reaches for the ball as Millikans AJ Nonto (45) races for first base in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Wilson’s Cooper George (3) gets things started for the Bruins as they take on Millikan in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Wilson’s James Mirabile (11) closes things out for the Bruins as they take on Millikan in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Daunte Bell (5) gets things started for the Rams as they take on Wilson in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikan’s Adrian Ramirez (17) throws to get Wilsons Cesar Castro (23) out at first in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
Millikans Maison Crommie (3) looks to close things out for the Rams as they take on Wilson in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
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Wilson catcher Cade Miller (2) cant get the stop as Millikan’s Xavier Kennard (23) scores the winning run for the Rams in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)
LONG BEACH — The Millikan baseball team took over sole possession of first place in the Moore League the hard way — and thanks to one of the more unlikely sources.
The Rams blew a four-run lead but recovered Thursday to beat rival Long Beach Wilson, 5-4, on pinch-hitter Maison Crommie’s walk-off infield single with the bases loaded.
With one out and facing an 0-2 count, Crommie hit a sharp grounder to the right of diving Bruins shortstop Nico Theim against a drawn-in infield.
FINAL: Millikan 5, Wilson 4
PH Maison Crommie hits the grounder to SS, Xavier Kennard beats the throw home for the walk-off @BeachVarsity @johnwdavis pic.twitter.com/L3KzFZlw7o
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) April 24, 2026
“I knew when I came up to the plate, the fastest guy on the team was at third,” Crommie said. “Put the ball in play, that’s all I had to do. I knew we were going to win this game.”
Thiem fired a one-hopper to the first-base side of home plate, but the ball bounced away as Millikan center fielder Xavier Kennard dashed down the third-base line and slid in for the game-winning run.
Millikan coach Ron Keester credited Crommie for staying ready, taking batting practice every day despite entering the game with just one at-bat on the season.
“He hits every day so it wasn’t a surprise for him to do that,” Keester said. “But he was kind of nervous. You could see how the moment was getting big for him, but he calmed himself down and he hit the ball hard. He does that in BP and it was amazing what he just did.”
Kennard and first baseman AJ Nonato had three hits apiece to lead the Rams (17-6, 8-1), who now hold a one-game lead in the Moore League with three league games remaining. Millikan has won 11 of its last 12 after losing to Wilson 1-0 on March 20.
Kennard finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs. He had a pair of singles and the double off Wilson relief pitcher James Mirabile to open the bottom of the seventh.
“I kind of saw something out of the hand, right in my wheelhouse, and was able to poke it out there and get it over (the fielder’s) head for a double,” Kennard said.
Crommie was also the winning pitcher after starter Daunte Bell was pulled once he reached his 110-pitch limit with two outs in the seventh.
Bell’s last pitch was the game-tying double from Wilson cleanup hitter Russell Centanni, who smoked the offering over Kennard as he was racing to left-center field. The hit scored Bruins pitcher Cooper George, who led the team with three hits.
Wilson’s 2-3-4 hitters were 7 for 11 against Bell, who recorded three of his four strikeouts over the first two innings before the Bruins started to make consistent contact.
“I was kind of looking at my lineup card because I keep track of that stuff,” Wilson coach Andy Hall said. “You kind of line (the hitters) up that way because you want them to get the most at-bats.”
Crommie faced just one hitter and struck out Eddie Becker looking to leave Centanni stranded at second.
“I knew who was at the plate,” Crommie said. “I was like, ‘I got this guy. I know him.’ He wasn’t getting a hit off me.”
The Bruins (13-10, 7-2) fell into a four-run hole through four innings thanks in large part to a pair of errors and a hit batter that contributed to two unearned runs out of the three Millikan scored.
Kennard’s chop single up the middle scored two runs to open the 4-0 lead.
Thiem’s second hit of the game, an RBI single, ignited Wilson’s three-run inning in the fifth to start the comeback attempt.
Bell stranded the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second, escaping the inning after a flyout to right.
The Bruins also failed to capitalize on run-scoring opportunities after the first two hitters reached in the third.
With one out and runners in scoring position, George hit a high chopper that Rams third baseman Ethan Barrientos fielded cleanly and fired home to cut down Cade Miller trying to score from third.
“We were a base hit away here, a base hit away there,” Hall said. “A better defensive effort in certain spots of the game, we handed them four runs for the most part. It’s hard to come back from that, especially Daunte Bell and the Millikan Rams.”
MID 3: Millikan 1, Wilson 0
The Rams’ defense makes a play on a chopper to third to cut down the runner heading to the plate for the second out @BeachVarsity
Daunte Bell then gets out of the inning with a fly to RF.
Bruins squandered a first-and-second chance w/ 0 out. pic.twitter.com/n3Pov538mG
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) April 23, 2026