The562’s high school baseball coverage is sponsored by Tribe Athletics. Visit TribeAthlete.com for more information on their fitness community.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
History was made on a cold, rainy Thursday night at Blair Field, as longtime Lakewood head baseball coach Walter “Spud” O’Neil reached another milestone in his storied career.
With the Lancers’ 9-0 win over Cabrillo in their Moore League opener, O’Neil earned career win No. 947, moving him into second place on the career wins list for high school baseball coaches in California.
O’Neil now trails just one man on the all-time wins list, Coach John Stevenson of El Segundo, who amassed 1,059 wins in his career before his passing in 2010.
“Coach Stevenson and I were friends, and it’s an honor to be up there with him,” said O’Neil, reflecting on his 45 years as head coach. “And I’ve had a good career. You know, it’s a new age with all the younger guys after the pandemic. And I’ve really had to change my philosophy on how to talk to kids and stuff like that. My wife’s been the one that’s let me know, you don’t have long sentences with these guys, you have short sentences.”
The milestone win has been delayed this season, in part because of a slow start to the year by the Lancers, but also due to Mother Nature. Rain on Wednesday forced the league-opener to be delayed until Thursday, then a steady rain started to fall just before first pitch. The water may have contributed to a sloppy night on Bohl Diamond, but didn’t derail the historic achievement for O’Neil and the Lakewood Baseball program.
“You look back at all the places that I’ve coached at, I’ve had great assistant coaches, and right here, these guys are awesome,” said O’Neil, giving credit to his coaching staff of Vic Guzman, Davis Towne, Alex Van Horn, and John Yakel. “We have great practices. Our record doesn’t show it, but let’s see what happens by the end of the season. O’Neil’s teams usually at the end of the season are playing at a high level.”
Junior starting pitcher Aiden DeStouet was key to Thursday’s shutout win, recording his longest outing of the season with 6 scoreless frames. The southpaw allowed just two hits and two walks, while racking up 8 strikeouts on the night. He credited his fastball command and execution for helping him pitch ahead in the count and limit traffic on the bases.
“Throw strikes, pound the zone. A first-pitch strike is the most important, gotta get ahead,” said DeStouet of his game plan. “Hitting my spot, making sure they’re out in front, just getting those rollovers to guys and trusting the defense.”
DeStouet did run into some trouble in the fourth inning, allowing a pair of walks around a sharp single by Cabrillo’s Omar Estrada, loading the bases with two outs in the inning. After a mound visit, DeStouet was able to pick off a runner to escape the jam, then retired the final six batters he faced in order to preserve the shutout.
“Just focal point. I always try to find somewhere in the stadium where I can look and reset, get a deep breath in,” DeStouet said of how he was able to refocus after the fourth-inning jam. “Then trust the defense most importantly, and keep trying to throw strikes and get guys out.”
Lakewood opened the scoring with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Luna was hit by a pitch, then came all the way around to score as Drake Merrill dropped an RBI double into shallow right field.
The Lancers would tack on five runs in the second, but all of them were unearned against Cabrillo starting pitcher Johnny Orozco. After a hit batter, the Lancers had consecutive bunt base hits to load the bases with one out.
An error on a fielder’s choice at the plate allowed two Lancers runs to score, then a sacrifice fly from Nate Gallegos and RBI singles from Luna and Anthony Zepeda made it 6-0 Lakewood.
The Lancers would strike again in the third, as Gallegos bounced a two-run single through the right side of the infield. He would later come in to score on an RBI triple to left field by Luna.
Cabrillo held Lakewood scoreless for the rest of the night, as the game was even over the final four frames. Despite the miscues early on, the Jags did have some nice defensive plays, especially by center fielder Micah Afoa, who threw out a runner at the plate on an attempted sac fly in the fourth frame.
At the plate, Afoa hit the ball hard a few times, but didn’t have any hits to show for it. Orozco battled on the mound for 5 solid innings, allowing nine runs on nine hits, but that stat line is deceiving. Only three of those runs were earned, and four of those hits never left the infield. Orozco had four strikeouts and was plagued by four hit batters throughout the night–three of which came home to score.
The game ended on a major defensive highlight for Lakewood, as replacement center fielder Noah Nunez laid out for a diving catch in center field. The Lancers were then able to double off a Cabrillo runner at second base, who’d already crossed home plate thinking the ball was destined for the left center field gap.
The Jags (6-2) will be right back at Blair on Friday afternoon, taking on Long Beach Poly at 3:30 p.m.
Next up for Lakewood (2-6-1) is a home game against Compton on Friday at 3:15 p.m., followed by a matchup with crosstown rivals Mayfair on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
