Alex Lumino singles in a run in the first inning for West Coast Prospects.
By Rich Bevensee
What began as an exciting East Coast trip for West Coast Prospects 2028 to get the ballplayers some college exposure, turned out to be a solid week of competitive baseball with some outstanding family side trips.
West Coast Prospects, a program based in Pasadena, California, was making its first out-of-state trip in a few years and was thankful to have chosen Diamond Nation in Flemington as its destination.
It didn’t hurt that West Coast Prospects, playing up an age group, closed out a successful 3-1 week with a six-inning, 4-3 victory over previously undefeated Locked In Baseball Expos Blue 17/18U in the Wood Bat division of the Super World Series at ‘The Nation.’
“The competition has been amazing, we love seeing the velocity reads on the scoreboard, and it’s been fun seeing college coaches walking around,” said West Coast catcher Nick Aparicio, a rising senior at Flintridge Prep in La Canada, Cal. “The whole thing has been amazing.”
Coach Austyn Walker’s group improved to 14-9-1 and will leave New Jersey vastly impressed with the facilities at ‘The Nation.’ Walker is the founder and head coach of West Coast Prospects, a travel baseball program serving the San Gabriel Valley.
“First and foremost, these are the best facilities we’ve ever played at,” said Walker, who played his college baseball at Glendale Community College and at Adams State. “We don’t get facilities like this in California. Only at the college level. This is immaculate to us. Also, we heard colleges are coming in and out of here and a lot of our tournaments don’t have that, so we’re trying to get the kids noticed. Just trying to get some exposure and show them what’s around the nation.”
West Coast players’ families were making the most of their trip to the East Coast.
Aparicio said his family visited Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, Citi Field in Queens, and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia — all three not much more than an hour from Flemington. And they plan on driving down to Baltimore to see Camden Yards, a more adventurous, but doable, two and a half hours.
Alex Lumino, a rising junior at Maranatha High in Pasadena, visited Coney Island with his family.
“I was ecstatic when I heard we were playing in New Jersey,” said Lumino, who led the team in hitting this week by going 6-for-9. “My dad grew up on the East Coast, but this is new to me. I was excited to be here. And this is probably the best facility I’ve ever played at.”
Brendan Mahoney, a 6-3 right-handed pitcher for West Coast and a rising junior at St. Francis Prep in La Canada, threw twice this week and is leaving ‘The Nation’ impressed with the trip and the facilities.
In two appearances this week, Mahoney gave up four runs in 7⅓ innings on seven hits and five walks with eight strikeouts.
“He’s been dialed in lately,” Walker said. “He’s one to watch.”
“I was pretty excited to come here,” Mahoney said. “It’s pretty far away but I’ve never been to New Jersey so I’m happy to go to a new place. This is a great place to play.”
Combining baseball with family trips seemed to appeal to everyone involved, even though traveling cross-country can be a tricky proposition for any club team.
“We heard great things about Diamond Nation, we asked the parents, we all voted for it, so here we are,” Walker said. We have 22 guys on the roster, we had enough to go and everyone was excited about it. And let me tell you, we appreciate being out here. The hospitality has been fantastic and everyone has treated us great.”
The Expos’ Jack Webber dives back to first with Jacob Ghaly of West Coast covering the bag.
“I remember the first time walking in here, I thought how the balls drop from the nets into the funnel was awesome,” Aparicio said. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. The bullpens, the backstops, I love the multiple batting cages. It’s a beautiful place to play.”
Earlier this week West Coast edged the Garden State Naturals, 2-1, and the Philadelphia Reds, 5-3, and lost to Ghost PA, 12-2.
It was the team’s first taste of out-of-state competition in quite some time, according to Mahoney, who said the team usually sticks to a Southern California schedule.
“When I heard we were going to be the only team from California here, I thought we have to play with a chip on our shoulder,” Aparicio said. “I thought everyone might be gunning for us. We went 3-1 so we definitely lived up to the expectations.”
Aparacio, a 5-8 catcher, was one of West Coast’s leading hitters in the Expos game, going 2-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. This spring he broke the Flintridge Prep single-season hits record with his 39th hit, breaking the record of 38 set by Ben Grable, who was drafted last year out of Indiana by the Yankees in the 11th round of the Major League Baseball draft. Grable recently pitched in the Futures Game during All-Star festivities in Philadelphia.
Also for West Coast, Lumino went 2-for-2 with an RBI and run scored. Landon Simpkins singled, doubled, walked and drove in a run.
The West Coast Prospects jumped on the Expos for three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Aparicio and Lumino stroked back-to-back RBI singles and three batters later Simpkins singled in a run.
The Expos cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third when John Tyler Jacobs smashed an RBI triple and later scored on an infield error.
West Coast answered with a single run in the bottom of the third when Simpkins walked with the bases loaded.
The Expos threatened to tie the game in the top of the sixth when Jack Webber walked and advanced to third on a Drew Friday single. Webber attempted to score on a passed ball but was cut down at home as Aparicio flipped to Lumino, now on in relief of Mahoney. With Friday now at third and representing the tying run with two out, Lumino struck out the final Expos batter.
The loss ended an otherwise impressive week for the Expos (9-5), who went into the West Coast game unbeaten. They beat the Out Of The Park Cyclones 17U Prospects, 8-0, 17U East Coast Ghost, 10-1, and Bucks County Generals 2027s Black, 7-3.