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A collection of talented baseball players from the Long Beach area swept their way to a championship last week in Arizona, as the CBA Bears claimed the Perfect Game 17U National World Series Championship.
The Bears roster is comprised of ballplayers exclusively in the Class of 2025, and feature a host of Moore League talent from Millikan, Poly, and Wilson. They went 7-0 last week to cruise to a championship, outsourcing their opponents by a combined score of 59-9.
“It was super cool,” said head coach Matt Joyce. “We had a tough time getting into the tournament because we don’t play a lot of Perfect Game stuff, then once we got in there the boys did great … It’s all local kids, and just a bunch of kids that are really hard workers, and some of them don’t even get a lot of playing time on varsity, depending on the school. But they’re all good players that could definitely play at the next level.”
Tyler Onofre from Kennedy High in La Palma was one of the standouts on the mound, winning Most Valuable Pitcher after collecting 15 strikeouts in just 8.0 innings of work while only allowing a single earned run.
“He’s a dude, for sure,” said Joyce of Onofre, while also crediting the entire pitching staff. “He and Owen Waytas from Millikan are the two guys that started two games for us … There were a lot of guys that all did a really good job on the mound. We pitched our butts off, for sure.”
Waytas allowed just one run in his 6.2 innings of work, helping the Bears to a team ERA of 1.47 over the tournament. Alex Campos from St. John Bosco also got a start for CBA and tossed four scoreless, hitless innings. Wilson’s Ben Howard also pitched out of the bullpen, tossing three innings of one-run ball.
The offense also produced, helping the Bears to five mercy rule wins out of their seven total victories. The top five batters by batting average all hailed from the Moore League, including Millikan third baseman Ben Keisler, who led the team with 8 hits, 6 walks, and 10 RBIs, including a grand slam.
“The most special part of this tournament in my opinion was the team chemistry. Not only was the chemistry on the field flawless, but the chemistry off the field was even better,” said Keisler, who hit .471 for the tournament. “It honestly felt like a vacation with a side of baseball. Everyone was just relaxed and enjoyed being there. Baseball is a sport that you can’t perform at your best if you aren’t relaxed. I think that was one of the biggest reasons why we had so much success.”
Playing next to Keisler at shortstop was his Millikan teammate Andrew Perez, who missed the first three games but was red-hot when he made it to Arizona. He batted .700 in his 10 at-bats, and also drew a pair of walks to post a .750 on-base percentage. Millikan’s Matt Ness led the squad with an .857 slugging percentage as half of his six hits went for extra-bases, including a home run.
Poly’s Miles Hiskey batted .600 (3-for-5) and also drew 3 walks. His Jackrabbit teammate Zee Gutierrez was a .400 hitter, going 6-for-15. Behind the plate, Wilson’s Logan Smith did most of the catching, but also hit .364 and had one of the team’s three home runs on the week.
The tournament also provided a unique opportunity to play in some MLB Spring Training facilities, with stops at fields for the Reds, Guardians, and Rangers. The location also provided some challenges, however, as the triple-digit heat in Arizona forced the games to be played as early as 7 a.m.
Looking ahead, the CBA Bears will be attending team camps at local colleges this summer, as well as a Five Tool Baseball event at the end of the month. None of the players on the Bears are currently committed to play at the next level, but Joyce is hoping the results in Arizona will help kickstart some recruiting attention for his team.
“They all played really, really well, and some of the guys got some good looks from colleges,” said Joyce. “There’s a lot of schools out there. That’s kind of the whole reason we do it.”
Keisler said he was proud of how the “uncommitted” players from Long Beach competed against some higher profile competitors, and he hopes these performances will bring more attention to the Moore League’s baseball talent.
“I think the Moore League gets overlooked sometimes,” said Keisler. “Through the whole week we played teams that had players committed to Division I schools. For a team that has ‘zero commits’ I think this tournament just shows how good the talent is in the Moore League. Five of the seven games weren’t even close, and the Moore League players definitely had a huge say in this.”
