Baseball: Crook gets record-breaking career win No. 514 thanks to 8-0 victory at Irvine Valley

Casey Crook began his coaching career at Long Beach City College in 1993. One year later, he took over as head coach of the Viking Baseball program. 23 seasons and 514 career wins later, Crook has surpassed LBCC coaching legend Joe Hicks as the college's all-time wins leader thanks to the Vikings' 8-0 non-conference victory at Irvine Valley College on Tuesday.

"It's definitely an accomplishment," said Crook on the record-breaking victory. "I'm just glad we got the win. On the way home, I was talking with (assistant coach) Steve Boaz and he asked me, 'do you realize who you passed? Joe Hicks is a legend in this city.'"

Sophomores Jackson Foss (Wilson HS) and Sean Williams (Wilson HS) both smashed three-run home runs to lead LBCC at the plate. Foss' third home run of the season gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead in the third inning before Williams' drive closed out Long Beach's scoring in the ninth.

Freshmen Daniel Rocha (Narbonne HS) and Steven Nuno (Warren HS) combined for the five-hit shutout on the mound for the Vikings. Rocha went six innings, allowing three hits while Nuno closed out the victory with a three-inning save.

Long Beach improved to 5-5 overall and return to action on Thursday (Feb. 25) to host Irvine Valley at 2 p.m.