LONG BEACH – Long Beach Wilson’s baseball team made the most of its clutch hitting in the early innings and a tremendous effort on the mound from Cooper George for a 6-1 win over Temescal Canyon in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs Friday.
The Bruins (19-12) were led by their left-hander George, who threw a complete game, allowed just one earned run on four hits, two walks and 11 strikeouts.
“Everything,” said George, when asked what was working for him on the mound. “I felt the fastball felt alive, the curveball felt good, and the change-up to top it off.”
Wilson advances to play at Culver City in the semifinals Tuesday.
Wilson head coach Andy Hall spoke glowingly about George’s competitive nature, especially when it came to finishing this game.
“Cooper has been our guy all year long,” Hall said, “and it’s really hard to get the ball out of his hand, especially in the seventh inning of the quarterfinals.”
“I told him he was done, and he (said), ‘No, I got this coach. I got 11 more pitches, I’ll get this done.’ I’m like ‘OK,’ but we felt pretty good about our situation whether he finished it or we had one of our two, three, or four other guys that we were preparing to get ready to go.”
LB Wilson starter @CooperGeor56 was superb with 7 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 11 Ks to lead Bruins to quarterfinals win over Temescal Canyon… he spoke about his start, getting early run support, and advancing to the D5 semifinals @SoCalVarsity @BeachVarsity @LBWilsonBruins pic.twitter.com/k68bd3qErS
— Chris Camello (@Chris_Camello) May 23, 2026
Long Beach Wilson head coach Andy Hall talks about starter Cooper George’s superb performance, the value of getting the early run support, and what reaching the D5 semifinals means to him @SoCalVarsity @BeachVarsity @InsideSoCalSpts @LBWilsonBruins pic.twitter.com/pPE7PZ5U3Z
— Chris Camello (@Chris_Camello) May 23, 2026
One of the key momentum swings for Wilson occurred in the top of the first inning. George allowed a one-out single to Tyler McLaren, who went on to reach third base on a throwing error by George.
However, the lefty got out of the jam by striking out Jake Padden and then Landon Edwards hit a ground out to end the inning.
The Bruins capitalized on the momentum from that in the bottom of the first. James Mirabile and Nico Thiem started the inning with walks from Temescal Canyon starter Alex Castillo.
Mirabile and Thiem both moved into scoring position on a double steal and then scored on a two-run single from Russell Centanni.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Bruins put together a two-out rally against Castillo. It started with a double from Cade Miller, a walk to Shane Guy and a single from Mirabile.
Thiem then ripped a sinking line drive to right field that grazed off the glove of the diving right fielder. The hit cleared the bases for a three-run double and gave Wilson a 5-0 cushion.
Thiem finished 1 for 3 with a walk, double, three RBIs and two runs scored.
“(Castillo) was throwing fastballs a lot,” Thiem said, “and then he started throwing curveballs. And then I saw a curveball hang and I just launched it to right, waited on it enough.”
LB Wilson SS Nico Thiem went 1 for 3 with a walk, a double, 3 RBIs, and 2 runs scored and spoke about his big bases-clearing double in the 2nd inning, giving @CooperGeor56 early run support, and advancing to D5 semifinals @SoCalVarsity @BeachVarsity @LBWilsonBruins pic.twitter.com/slfFS3uh2J
— Chris Camello (@Chris_Camello) May 23, 2026
Thiem said he was happy to see the Bruins give George a nice cushion to work with.
“We haven’t really gave him (run) support all year,” Thiem said. “This was one of the big moments, we’re happy we gave him support.”
Wilson tacked on another run in the third inning against Castillo. Designated hitter Penn Peters hit a single that brought home Eddie Becker and gave Wilson a 6-0 lead.
Temescal Canyon’s lone run came in the top of the fifth inning. George put the first two hitters on base, allowing a single to Colby Nobel and a walk to Anthony Deleon.
After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, pinch-hitter Brennan Massey grounded out to shortstop and Nobel scored on the fielder’s choice.
“The plan was to try to be aggressive on the fastball, try to eliminate the off-speed,” Temescal Canyon head coach Neal Post said about facing George. “Cooper did a great job keeping us off balance, really getting inside and I tip my cap to him. Great player; big things coming for him in the future.”
Temescal Canyon head coach @CoachPost_ talks about the tough D5 quarterfinals loss to Long Beach Wilson, how starter Alex Castillo performed, and how proud he was of his team for making it this far @SoCalVarsity @InsideSoCalSpts @pressenterprise @presstelegram @TCTitansBsbl pic.twitter.com/LwOY4K0LgH
— Chris Camello (@Chris_Camello) May 23, 2026