The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, and Lakewood baseball boosters
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
With over 40 years of experience coaching Lakewood baseball, long-time Lancers coach Walter “Spud” O’Neil likes to switch things up each year and create a new theme for every team. This year, O’Neil’s theme is “discipline and preparation”, and he’s confident in his deep senior class to carry that theme out.
“We have a theme, it’s called discipline and preparation for this year. I have a theme each year, and these kids have shown they’re resilient,” O’Neil said. “We’ve had some great ball games in the fall and I love the way they play. They’re learning. We’re teaching them and we’ve got great coaches. Everyone has an assignment and we all blend together well.”
The experience throughout the Lakewood roster and a strong set of assistant coaches has especially come in handy this winter with a bad case of the flu going around the entire team. O’Neil says that it’s made things difficult at practice and Lakewood hasn’t had a single practice with every player present leading up to their season.
The absence of players has especially made things out of sorts in the infield, where O’Neil says a handful of different players have moved around as they continue to fit into their starting positions. Anthony Rueda has been the guy at first while Nate Gallegos should be at second and Anthony Zepeda at third. Senior Angelo Ortiz will get the start at shortstop while Joe Dizon should also be in the mix.
“We’ve been experimenting with those experienced guys just trying to find the right fit and we’re still working on that,” O’Neil said. “We’re still putting things together before the bell rings but it should be the same four guys in the infield, just a matter of where they’ll be at.”
Nate Garcia, Tanner Miramontes, and Lamar Ford will all get the start in the outfield, meanwhile a handful of returners will look to contribute on the bump for Lakewood including seniors Joe Dizon and Aiden DeStouet. DeStouet has been battling an arm injury but will be fully back to pitching this season, meanwhile Hunter Gershen and Nate Garcia will also be in the mix.
“I have confidence in these guys and the depth that we have at pitching,” O’Neil said. “Dizon and DeStouet are both back, and Gershen has stepped up. Garcia is also pretty good at pitching and is our number four hitter.”
Keeping that group intact will be catcher Drake Merrill, who’s been the centerpiece for the Lakewood roster in recent years. Merrill is a four-year player for Lakewood, and he says he’s owned up to leading an experienced roster.
“I just try to set a good example for my team,” Merrill said. “Just trying to be a good teammate, picking everyone up, hustling and just being the guy. It’s good too since everyone’s been together for a while. We have some good chemistry and we’re just looking to do some good things this year.”
“He’s a bulldog,” O’Neil said of Merrill. “He’s our go-to guy as far as me talking with him about the team and he’s a great leader.”
Merrill will leadoff at the top of the order for a strong Lakewood order that O’Neil says he has confidence in from top to bottom. The Lancers have been known to stick to a small-ball game by moving guys around base-by-base, but O’Neil expects his team to be able to get under the ball as well.
“We feel confident that all nine guys can hit. We don’t have a weak link in the bottom of the order and we can do a number of things,” he said. “We’re really good at [that small ball], but I don’t have to call it as often. We’re hitting the ball well and we feel confident in letting the guys go after it. In fact that’s what we’ve been doing.”
It was a tight Moore League season last year with the Lancers finishing in fourth place, just one game back from Poly. Lakewood split games with the Jackrabbits last season, and the rivalry matchups should be another key decider in League standing again this year. The Lancers open Moore League play against Compton on March 19.
Projected Starting Lineup
P – Joe Dizon, Sr. / Aiden DeStouet, Sr.
C – Drake Merrill, Sr.
1B – Anthony Rueda, Jr.
2B – Nate Gallegos, Jr.
3B – Anthony Zepeda, Sr.
SS – Angelo Ortiz, Sr.
LF – Nate Garcia, Sr.
CF – Tanner Miramontes, Jr.
RF – Lamar Ford, Sr.
