Baseball: Livingston Breaks Tie in Sixth Inning to Beat Millburn, 8-6

LIVINGSTON,  NJ -- In its first game since receiving the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, the Livingston baseball team faced a stern test from last year's GNT champion in a regular-season game at The Oval on Wednesday afternoon.

Millburn rallied from a five-run deficit after three innings to tie the game in the top of the sixth, but the Lancers pushed across two runs in the bottom of the sixth for an 8-6 victory.

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The GNT doesn't begin for either Livingston or Millburn until a week from Friday, but carrying the No. 1 seed puts a target on the Lancers' backs. That "target" didn't have anything to do with the five pitches that Livingston batters were hit by on Wednesday, but those free -- albeit painful -- bases helped Livingston build a lead in a five-run third inning.

Millburn scored three in the top of the fourth inning then three more in the top of the sixth to tie the game, 6-6.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Alex Yang singled to right-center. E.J. Frayne, Livingston's No. 3 batter, followed with a line-drive triple into the left-field corner to give Livingston (8-2-1) a 7-6 lead. Frayne was 2-for-4 on the day. With two out, designated hitter Ethan Sze hit a slow chopper to the left side and legged it out for a single as Frayne crossed the plate with an insurance run.

Livingston might have had more, but John Marco Maiello's two-out blast to deep left was tracked down by Keigo Fujita, who made a great catch for the Millers to end the inning.

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Junior right-hander Robbie Lynn, who got the win in relief, then pitched a hitless seventh inning to close things out. On this day, Lynn was the best of the six pitchers who took the mound (three for each team). After playing five innings of outstanding third base, Lynn came on in relief and went two innings and allowed two hits and no walks.

"I was throwing a fastball, a change and a curve today, and I was really focusing on throwing strikes," Lynn said. "Coach (Mickey) Ennis preaches throwing strikes. We work hard on our defense and drill work, and on the mound, it's up to us to trust the seven men behind us."

On a hitters' day, both teams were rewarded in their trust in their respective defenses in a game replete with several outstanding fielding plays. One of those came after Millburn had cut its deficit to 6-4 on an RBI single by Charlie Krasnove in the sixth that loaded the bases with none out. Lynn induced the next batter to hit a comebacker that he turned into a 1-2-3 double play. That play's significance was magnified when Greg Rosenthal, the next batter, tied the game with a two-run double to the gap in left-center to make it 6-6.

From there, Lynn buckled down against the biggest threats in the Millers' batting order.

Millburn put two runners on base in the top of the first inning, but Lancers pitcher Adam Goldberg picked them both off -- one at first base, the other at third, where Lynn made the putout to end the inning.

A walk, three hit batsmen and a wild pitch contributed to Livingston's first five runs of the game in the third inning, but Sze also had a two-run double on a looper to shallow right that got past Millburn's right fielder when he stumbled. The next batter, Maiello, drove in two runs when he chopped a single over the head of the second baseman in Millburn's drawn-in infield to give the Lancers a 5-0 lead.

Peter Lawrence led off the top of the fourth inning with a triple to left-center. He scored on Matt Weiner's sacrifice fly. Alex Faust, who was 2-for-3, rocked an RBI triple to left-center, and Brett Ploetner's RBI double to center cut Millburn's deficit to 5-3.

Livingston scored a run without a hit in the bottom of the fifth, but Millburn erased that 6-3 deficit in the sixth, with Lynn coming on to relieve with the bases loaded and none out.

Fujita finished 2-for-3 with a run scored for Millburn. Lynn did not get a hit for Livingston, but he reached base three times, scored a run, and lined hard to right the one time he put the ball in play. But his defense at third and his ability to throw strikes in relief were essential.

"The hunters become the hunted," Lynn said of Livingston's status as the No. 1 seed in Essex County. "We worked hard for (the top seed), but it doesn't mean anything until we prove it in the tournament. But we'll continue to work hard every day."

Millburn (4-8) has experienced uncharacteristic struggles, but the Millers swung the bats well on Wednesday -- eight total hits, four for extra bases -- and have been in a position to win in the late innings of every game they've lost this season. They are a No. 5 seed that nobody will relish the prospect of playing once the GNT gets under way on May 3.

MILLBURN (4-8)        000 303 0 -- 6 8 0
LIVINGSTON (8-2-1) 005 012 X -- 8 7 1

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