Written by Senior Editor Ronnie Flores 

Long Beach, Calif. -- The Brewers Blue team, quite frankly, is expected to do well this week at Blair Field. The Rangers, on the other hand, have been on a roll after a mediocre performance last year. The 20th and final game on Sunday could be a showdown of undefeated clubs, but obviously there is still a lot of baseball to be played before that. Other Thursday highlights include a Washington Nationals outfielder that hit for the cycle in the nightcap.   

Milwaukee Brewers Gray 5, Oakland A's 2

The Milwaukee Brewers Gray club developed a small case of stage fright in their Wednesday evening game and early Thursday morning they attempted to get off the snide against the Oakland A's, a team comprised of players from Florida and the Southeast.  Unfortunately for Milwaukee, the gloves again allowed the opponent a gift run early. It wasn't until the fifth inning that Milwaukee Gray club (Northern and Southern California players) could overcome its early demons at Area Code to pull out the win.             

The Athletics' Ronnie Richardson (Lake Region, Eagle Lake, Fla.) belted a leadoff double off Brewers Gray starting pitcher Robbie Erlin (Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, Calif.) that got out to leftfield in a hurry. A passed ball by catcher Richard Stock (Agoura, Agoura Hills, Calif.) put Richardson at third and he waltzed home after a dropped third strike where Stock's poor throw was not cleanly fielded by the first baseman.

Erlin got out of the stanza without further damage, but in the second inning allowed a one-out single to Eric Brady (Green Hope, Cary, N.C.) that scored Demetrius McKelvie (East Columbus, Hallsboro, N.C.). McKelvie reached on a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. An error by third baseman Stephen Piscotty (Amador Valley, Pleasanton, Calif.) kept the inning alive, but shortstop Kenny Diekroeger (Menlo School, Atherton, Calif.) made a nice play deep in the hole to end an inning where the A's stranded two runners.        

In the bottom of the third inning, the bats of the Brewers Gray finally came alive as A's southpaw Drew Cisco (Wando, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) ran into some trouble. Noah Perio (De La Salle, Concord, Calif.), also a standout on the Spartans Div. I state title winning football team, has done a great job of getting on base in Long Beach. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Darrell Matthews (Clayton Valley, Concord, Calif.) and Piscotty tied the game with a clutch two-out single that scored outfielder Cody Keefer (Davis, Calif.).              

Righty Trevor Hildenberger (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose, Calif.) struck out the side in the top of the fourth for the Brewers Gray, which finally got off the snide in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Cisco (Wando, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) walked the bases loaded with zero outs in the fifth and the Brewers Gray didn't let this golden opportunity slip by them as it scored   three runs to ice the game. Perio again was on the base paths and he came around to score his second run on a sac fly by Wes Hatton (Norco, Calif.). There was an errant throw back to the infield on that play and Andrew Aplin (Vanden, Suisun, Calif.) and Keefer were able to advance an extra base. After Cisco beaned Piscotty square in the back, Geno Escalante (Rodriguez, Fairfield, Calif.) came through with a clutch single that scored Aplin and Keefer. Escalante continues to impress behind the plate as well, with a live arm that makes him a threat to pick off runners from any angle.

Richardson, the player who got the A's off on the right foot to start the game, came up with two outs in the top of the seventh inning with runners on second and third. He was already two for three in the game and made solid contact with the ball. The throw from the second baseman barely beat him to the bag, ending the threat and game.  

Milwaukee Brewers Blue 6, New York Yankees 4     

The New York club, now in its second tour of duty handling the elite players from the Northeast Region, came to Long Beach with the Bronx Bombers moniker. The Brewers Blue Murders' Row lineup came up with the clutch hits, however, and the Yankees aided their cause with some fielding miscues. 

The Brewers Blue (an all-Southern California squad) didn't waste any time, scoring in the bottom of the first. Cameron Garfield (Murrieta Valley, Murrieta, Calif.) drove in Jake Marisnick (Poly, Riverside, Calif.) on a broken bat single with two outs. Milwaukee starting pitcher Paul Strong came through with a strong two innings, including a second frame where he struck out the side, but the Yankees got things going in the third. 

Outfielder Mike Trout (Millville, N.J.) knocked in teammate Jimmy Brennan (Suffern, Airmont, N.Y.) on a triple to leftfield with two outs. Trout then scored on a fielding error by Brewers Blue shortstop Christian Lopes (Valencia, Calif.). Lopes couldn't make the play, but he is the only 2011 prospect that made either Milwaukee club and will be one to watch the next two summers.    

Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, the Brewers Blue took control as Marisnick scored when a throw to second base on a steal attempt by Garfield was bobbled. After designated hitter/pitcher Matt Hobgood (Norco, Calif.) struck out, Milwaukee took the lead when Garfield scored on a Nolan Arenado (El Toro, Lake Forest, Calif.) triple.

The inning continued with a bloop single by Lopes that drove in Arenado. The fourth run of the stanza was similar to the first as Lopes scored all the way from second on an errant throw by Yankees' catcher Nelfi Zapata (Boston English, Dorchester, Mass.) that ended up in centerfield.             

Hobgood, the CalHiSports.com State Junior of the Year and the L.A. Times Player of the Year last season, got himself into a two-out bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth inning. He allowed another base on balls to Patrick Stover (Rocklin, Calif.) that scored Anthony Italiano (St. Anthony's, West Sayville, N.Y.).

The Brewers Blue made up for Hobgood's struggles by scoring an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Matthew Moynihan (Cathedral Catholic, San Diego, Calif.) scored on a sacrifice to make the score 6-3 after taking two bases and ending up on third on a fielding error at first base. The Yankees made four errors in the contest.

For Milwaukee, Marisnick went two for three with a stolen base and two runs scored. Garfield ended up two for two with a RBI, a stolen base and a run scored. 

In the top of the sixth, the Yankees scored their final run when Marcus Stroman (Patchogue, Medford, N.Y.) scored from second after a hit ball took a bad hop on Brewers Blue second baseman Brian Berry (Smithtown East, Nesconset, N.Y.). The Yankees had hoped to load the bases to give Trout one last chance to make something happen, but the inning ended with the all-around standout on deck and two runners stranded.      

Trout ended up striking out in the seventh, but he did finish with a single, triple, RBI, steal and run scored. Trout also recorded the second highest SPARQ Rating (83.07) on Tuesday morning behind Kenny Diekroeger (Menlo School, Menlo, Calif.) of the Brewers Gray (85.96). He also ran the second fastest sixty time (6.52) behind Kyrell Hudson (Evergreen, Vancouver, Wash.) of the Washington Nationals (6.33). 

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