The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, and Lakewood baseball boosters
The Cabrillo Jaguars welcomed back one of their own to lead the program forward in 2025, with Jags Baseball alum Gabe Vigil taking over as head coach.
Vigil brings more than a decade of coaching experience, serving as an assistant coach at Cabrillo, Mayfair, and Bellflower High, plus a stop as an assistant coach and operations director at the University of Charleston. Now he’ll get his first opportunity to lead a program, and there’s no better place to do it than back at his alma mater.
“I’m excited to be back. It’s been a dream of mine not just to come back to my alma mater, but to be a head coach,” Vigil said. “It’s something that I’ve been looking forward to doing for a pretty long time. I’m extremely excited. I think having ties to the city, to the area, and then to the school. It just brings an extra sense of pride, and knowing what it takes to take this program to the next level.”
The Jags will have a good amount of youth throughout the lineup, but with some key veterans in important roles. One of those vets is senior Micah Afoa, who will be the Jags’ ace on the mound and starting centerfielder when he’s not pitching.
His experience will be invaluable to help lead a young group of Jags that has just one upperclassmen starting on the infield dirt. Afoa said that he was disappointed with how last season turned out and is hoping to help make things different in 2025.
“Leading, that’s definitely the part I’ve got to play,“ Afoa said. He added that Coach Vigil has shown how much he cares about the program in his first year back. “He’s showing up on the weekends when nobody’s there, just us and the team, and he’s actually taking us out to eat and stuff, just little stuff that’s definitely a big change.”
Fellow senior John Orozco is a returning bat that will hit in the heart of the Cabrillo order and start either at first base or on the mound. Junior Adam Rosalez will fill a similar role at first base and on the mound, giving the Jags an experienced top three in their pitching staff.
Cabrillo also has some multi-sport athletes who will contribute on the diamond, including sophomore Fernando Leanos on the mound. He’s new to the sport, but the hope is that his quarterback skills will translate from the football field to the pitcher’s mound.
The Jags also have a pair of basketball players on the roster as their starting backcourt will also contribute on the baseball field. Senior Lincoln Jones is back with the squad and will start out in right field. Teammate Aden Jones, who transferred from Huntington Beach, is a 6-foot-4 athlete who could cover a lot of ground in the outfield or fill a utility role for the Jags.
Freshman Vincent Jimenez will start behind the plate for Cabrillo, and a trio of sophomores–Ricky Barron, Eli Torres, and Andy Rios–make up the infield from second to third. Vigil is hoping to instill some core values within the program and develop a winning culture based on trust.
“I think the strength of our team is having trust in each other,” Vigil said. “Just knowing that if I don’t do my job, there’s somebody behind me that’s going to back me up. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell these guys, you don’t have to do everything on your own … This is a failure sport. You’re supposed to fail more than you succeed. So a lot of it for us is just having that trust, honesty and accountability with each other.”
Cabrillo has a packed non-league schedule this season, with home-and-home series against local squads Artesia, Dominguez, Mary Star of the Sea, and Valley Christian.
Their first home game of the season will be under the lights on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field, as the Jags host La Sierra on Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
Projected Starting Lineup
C – Vincent Jimenez (Fr.)
1B – John Orozco (Sr.) / Adam Rosalez (Jr.)
2B – Ricky Barron (So.)
SS – Eli Torres (So.)
3B – Andy Rios (So.)
LF – Bendito Diaz (Jr.)
CF – Micah Afoa (Sr.) / Daniel Rodriguez (So.)
RF – Lincoln Dean (Sr.)
DH – Pedro Diaz (Sr.) / John Orozco (Sr.) / Adam Rosalez (Jr.)
UTIL – Aden Jones (Sr.)
P – Micah Afoa (Sr.) / John Orozco (Sr.) / Adam Rosalez (Jr.) / Fernando Leanos (So.) / Daniel Rodriguez (So.) / Carlos Gomez (Jr.)
