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.
The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
A pair of Moore League baseball games were played simultaneously at the MLB Youth Academy in Compton on Wednesday as Lakewood and Wilson came away with blowout wins.
Lakewood 11, Jordan 1
Solid fundamentals and a total team effort got the Lancers back to winning ways in league after a disappointing loss to Wilson last week. Coach Spud O’Neill feels like his team is starting to embrace the grindy approach they need to be successful.
“This team has had so much adversity and we just put out a lineup and play Lakewood baseball and see what happens,” O’Neil said. “We’ve tried different lineups and they’re all competing so that’s good.”
Lakewood senior pitcher Hunter Gershen got the start and tossed three scoreless innings while striking out four. He also drove in two runs as part of a six-run third inning and scored twice.
“It feels good (to win a league game) when the offense was hot today and the defense did its job,” Gershen said. “We relied a lot on our defense today, and we were able to hit the ball well today and hopefully we can carry that over to the Millikan game (on Friday).”
Jordan’s biggest threat to score came in the third inning when Adrian Mendez walked and Isaiah Gutierrez was hit by a pitch. They moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt, but Gershen struck out the next two batters to kill the rally.
“He’s competitive and we need him to be part of our top four (pitchers),” O’Neil said of Gershen.
Lakewood used some small ball and Jordan miscues to score once in the first two innings. Then the Lancers put up six runs in the third by being patient at the plate and taking singles the other way.
“You just have to stay in the mindset that you come into the game with,” Gershen said of keeping composure and pressure in a lopsided game. “Every game, it doesn’t matter the competition, you just have to attack and don’t play passive. Always aggressive.”
Lakewood junior Nate Gallegos scored twice and drove in two runs from the leadoff spot, while senior Joe Dizon chipped in three singles and two runs scored in the three hole. Lancers senior Nate Garcia also reached base three times, and junior Anthony Rueda scored twice after a single and a double in the early innings.
On the mound, Lakewood senior Aiden DeStouet (2 IP, BB, 2 K) and junior Lathan Rivas (2 IP, 2 H, 4 K) finished off the shutout behind Gershen.
Jordan junior Sam Dixon and senior Cris Aleman were the only Panthers to reach base twice.
“It’s cleaning up the little details because we didn’t really play that bad, it didn’t feel like a Jordan/Lakewood game that’s 10-0,” Jordan coach Phillip Berman said. “But you can’t walk guys, and guys need to be backing up (on defense). It’s just the little details and mistakes you can’t make in Moore League games.”
Wilson 17, Compton 1 (5 INN)
Wilson scored early and often in its win over Compton while the Bruins punted out 19 hits.
Nathaniel Parris was the only Bruin with three hits while Diego Valdez, Rudy Carlos, Josh Di Flore and Cade Miller each had two hits. Carlos and a team-high three RBI and scored twice. Wilson pitchers Cole Mountain (3 IP, H, ER, 6 K) and Jaaden Romero (2 IP, H, K) only allowed three runners to reach base.
On Friday, the top four Moore League teams will be playing each other on campus fields. Lakewood will visit Millikan while Wilson hosts Long Beach Poly. Both games are scheduled for 4 p.m.
