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The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
In their final Moore League game of the 2024 season, Wilson used a stellar performance from starting pitcher Ben Howard and timely offensive execution to defeat Lakewood 3-0 at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field Friday. The win marks four straight wins for the Bruins as they end their season on a strong note.
Wilson’s three runs came mostly by taking advantage of defensive mishaps from Lakewood. Wilson struck early as Taylor Kirk reached base on a fielding error from Lakewood, and advanced to 2nd on a single from Andres Molinar. Kirk attempted to steal third and was able to take advantage of another throwing error from Lakewood’s catcher, whose attempt to catch Kirk ended up with the ball in left field, allowing Kirk to score.
Wilson got their second run on a wild pitch from Lakewoods’ Aiden DeStouet in the top of the 3rd inning, as Matt Pappas was able to round home plate following two singles from Pappas and Aaron Mingto that put runners on the corners. Wilson’s third run came on a sac fly by Owen Ehmann after Lakewood again advanced runners into scoring position as a result of a fielding error.
“I don’t think either team had their best defensive game, we definitely struggled at times also, but glad we were able to take advantage of any unforced errors and capitalize on their mistakes,” said Wilson Manager Andy Hall.
On the mound, Ben Howard was nothing short of dominant, pitching a complete game shutout, surrendering 7 hits, 2 walks, and striking out two Lancers. However, the most impressive aspect of Howard’s performance was his resilience when there was traffic on the bases in all of the final four innings.
Howard was able to escape a two out jam with Lakewood runners on 1st and 2nd following singles from Andres Roman and Anthony Rueda. He also fought hard in the 6th inning, where Howard saw runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, and was able to draw a fielder’s choice and a double play to close out the inning. Howard’s most impressive inning was his final, where he faced bases loaded with two outs following back-to-back Lancer singles from Angelo Ortiz and Tanner Miramontes and a walk. Despite this late inning traffic, Hall showed confidence in Howard by leaving him in the game, and he delivered, striking out Brandon Luna to punctuate a complete game.
“I think it’s amazing having Ben Howard on the mound and having him be able to command the strike zone as well as he did today,” said Hall. “I like that he can pitch to contact, and he has good defense around them, guys catching balls and fielding balls accurately.”
Lakewood struggled defensively and couldn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities against Howard. Aiden Destouet got the start for the Lancers and pitched 3 innings, while Joseph Dizon came in relief and pitched 4 strong innings with zero earned runs.
“Sometimes it’s good to win ugly,” said Hall. “Happy we were able to battle hard and get a good finish to the season.”
The CIF-SS baseball playoff brackets will be released on Monday morning, we’ll have them posted live.
