SoCal High School Hopes to Boast Three World Champs in Three Years

Since 1967, Lakewood High School in Southern California has seen 14 of its graduates go on to play Major League Baseball. More impressive is this…for the third consecutive year, one of their former students will be playing in the World Series.

2007 graduate (and current New York Mets catcher) Travis d’Arnaud is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow alums Mike Carp and Matt Duffy and not just play in the World Series…but to win it as well. Carp won it all while with the Boston Red Sox in 2013, while Duffy got himself a ring twelve months ago as a member of the San Francisco Giants.

“It’s so neat…I’m so proud of all three of them. They’re true baseball guys,” Lancers head coach Spud O’Neil said. “(Duffy) always tells me how (San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy) tells him how much he likes how he plays the game. That starts here at Lakewood practice. It’s mental and it’s about being well prepared.”

d’Arnaud has been the starting catcher for each of the Mets nine games this postseason…hitting just .206 with three home runs and six RBI. He made news during Game One of the NLCS when his sixth inning home run bounced off the giant apple parked in center field at Citi Field.