Vikings baseball season ends with losing record

The Long Beach City College Vikings’ baseball team ended its season with an 18-21 record for the 2025-2026 season. 

The team had a .462 winning percentage, winning 13 out of the 24 games in their respective conference. The Vikings would not make it to the playoffs, ending a rough first season for the newly promoted head coach, Philip Visico. 

The Vikings miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2018 season. 

The Vikings top two hitters were second baseman Garret Rodriguez who was batting .408 and center fielder Myles Fendrick with a .383 batting average.

Visico talked about his first year and how special this group of guys were to him. 

“This was definitely a special group of guys. I’m definitely going to cherish this and the team along with the guys who are leaving. I know it’s not the season you kind of expected. We definitely had a lot of good moments, like putting up some good sweeps together, like against Rio Hondo and Compton,” said Visico.

_{Vikings baseball pitcher Zach Papscoe throws the next pitch against Los Angeles Harbor College during their game on Friday at The Carson High School Baseball Field. The Vikings won the game 12-6, making the Vikings’ record 18-21. ( Alexandra Rios)}

Visico also talked about what the team wants to build on for the upcoming season.

“We couldn’t get the most out of the teams we played against, but we were still in the game, so we’re gonna definitely try to continue with the process to get better for the next season and hopefully it can transition for the next group of guys,” said Visico. 

Many of the returners like Rodriguez, shortstop Benny Howard, right-handed pitcher Tyzer Handy, and catcher Justin Holt, will be returning, but Fendrick, a sophomore, played his last season at LBCC. 

“Definitely beating Cerritos in game one of our series against them. We came out hot against them and we punched them. It was a very good game and it was definitely a very close game the whole time. We fought hard and we ended up winning, so it was probably my best and favorite memory this season,” said Fendrick when he talked about his favorite moment during his last season. 

Zach Papscoe, the Vikings’ freshman right-handed pitcher, talked about how the sophomores welcomed him to Long Beach with open arms. 

“Guys like (Dylan) Proost and Will (DeBlanc) definitely helped me a lot. I’m from Torrance, so they took me under their wing and just really worked me to be better,” said Papscoe. 

The team played a total of 39 games, scored 276 runs, had a .302 team batting average, a .384 on base percentage, a .414 slugging percentage, and finished off the season with 19 home runs. 

The Vikings will start in September 2026 to begin their second season under Phillip Visico.