By John Alvarado

The Millennium Tigers snapped their five-game losing streak with a narrow 1-0 victory road victory over the Centennial Coyotes.

The game turned into a pitching duel between the starting junior pitchers, Millennium’s Michael Sears and Centennial’s Aaron Forrest.

The winning pitcher, Sears, struck out eight of the 23 batters he faced and allowed only two hits in seven innings.  

Sears secured the win by mixing up his pitches on a consistent basis and hitting his spots, he said. His also said that he didn’t stress out during the close contest and credited his offseason conditioning for helping him pitch the entire the game.

“He (Sears) has been a big different maker on the team this year,” Millennium coach Ryan Bethel said.

Having a week off also helped keep Sear fresh, Bethel added.  

Sear’s shutout victory performance overshadowed Forrest’s day on the mound.

In seven innings, Forrest struck out seven of the 27 batters he faced. However, loading the bases in the fourth inning turned out to be the crucial moment of the game for Forrest.

After allowing Tigers catcher Caleb Stull to walk, third baseman David Enriquez singled and infielder Marques Reese walked. Alex Figueroa followed with a sac fly to allow Stull to score the game’s only run.

This was the fourth games this season in which Forrest allowed four or fewer hits yet wasn’t able to get the win. It was also the second time Forrest pitched seven innings and still lost.

Centennial head coach Mike Oesterle said that he knew whoever scored first in Friday’s game would win.

“He (Forrest) pitches," Oesterle said, "but for some reason we can’t get that hit we need to win a ball game for him, which is disappointing,”

For Centennial (11-14) to qualify for the playoffs, it must likely win three out of its next four games.

The next game for Millennium (10-11) is at home on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m. versus Pinnacle.

John Alvarado is a sports journalism student at Arizona State. He is covering Millennium High this semester for his sports writing class.