Warriors’ baseball cruise past Vikings for fifth straight win

By Oriana de Quay • February 26, 2026

El Camino College right-handed pitcher Cameron O’Neil throws a shutout against the Long Beach City Vikings, winning 5-0 at the ECC baseball field on Tuesday, Feb. 24. O’Neil finished the game with six strikeouts in eight innings. (Ryan Hirabayashi | The Union)

At the top of the ninth, and last inning, Long Beach City College Vikings utility player Aaron Mingo was up to bat.

“Have some fun,” his teammate, outfielder Carson Slager, shouted to Mingo on what felt like a game already over.

With a swing and a miss, the game ended 5-0 as the El Camino College Warriors roared out their cheers of victory to pitcher Gavin Sanchez.

And with that, the Warriors extended their winning streak to five games in a row after their at-home face off against the Vikings on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

El Camino College centerfielder Dane Rhodes singles through third with the bases loaded and earns one RBI at the ECC baseball field on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Rhodes finished the game with one hit and one RBI. (Ryan Hirabayashi | The Union)

The streak first began when the Warriors outpaced the College of the Desert Roadrunners 6-5 at a home game on Saturday, Feb. 14.

This was followed by three games against the Compton College Coyotes on Feb. 17, 19 and 21, of which the first two matches were relocated due to conditions caused by recent rainstorms.

Nevertheless, Warriors’ head coach Grant Palmer and assistant coach Kyle Mora said that the Vikings are a respectable opponent with veteran players and strong pitchers and hitters.

“[The Vikings] have a lot of older guys [players],” Mora said, “It was about getting ahead of guys [players] early.”

After a stalemate of 0-0, it wasn’t until the bottom of the 5th inning when Warriors catcher Nathan Rivera made the first run of the game, bringing the score to 1-0.

El Camino College Warriors dugout hype after a hit from catcher Nathan Rivera at the ECC baseball field on Tuesday, Feb. 24. (Ryan Hirabayashi | The Union)

“It was a close game the whole way through,” said Warriors first base player Dylan Mares.

The Vikings had to make due with the absence of infielder Garrett Rodriguez, pitcher Johann Gibbs, and short stop Jackson Pohl due to injury and ineligibility.

But, the game was a pitching duel up until the seventh inning, interim head coach for the Vikings Philip Visico said.

“Maybe I left the pitcher in too long, but I felt good about him facing Slater Nunez,” he added.

Mora said that the game took a turn for the better when the Warriors started to slow down.

“It was about getting it to the next guy, and not…[making] the big swing,” Mora said.

At the bottom of the eighth inning, the Warriors demonstrated a flow as a team.

The El Camino College Warriors shut out the Long Beach City College Vikings 5-0, and Warriors' infielder Peyton Tate backflips to celebrate the win on Tuesday, Feb 24, at the ECC baseball field. This was the first of a three-game series against the Vikings, where they face off next at the Vikings on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 2:00 pm. (Ryan Hirabayashi | The Union)

Mares—batting—walked to first base due to four Viking pitches made outside the strike zone, getting the Warriors their second point of the game, scored by infielder Nolan Fox, who walked to home base from third base.

Warriors infielder Kelvin Martinez, infielder Slater Nunez and outfielder Phelan Bucknor followed Fox through to home base at the end of the eighth inning, bringing the Warriors 5-0 at the top of the ninth.

“Baseball is an emotional rollercoaster. We didn’t get too high when we made good plays and we didn’t get too low when we might have struggled,” Mares said.

UP NEXT

The Warriors will play the Vikings two games in a row