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With the stakes high in a Moore League showdown, Long Beach Poly’s Joshue Sayre came up big for the Jackrabbits with a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 victory against Wilson on Wednesday night at Blair Field.
Sayre almost didn’t have the chance to record the final out Wednesday night, but after a pitch count check, Sayre was at 109 pitches of the 110-pitch limit, which wouldn’t have allowed him to face another batter.
But without a pitch to spare, Sayre was able to record the final out with his eighth strikeout, picking up the win as he helped the Jackrabbits shutout the Bruins.
“I was just hitting all my spots and trusting my stuff,” Sayre said. “Big thing was trusting my defense though. All my guys made some great plays out there. You know, Nate with the big snag at third with that runner on third. That’s a big play from him.”
Sayre finished the game with eight strikeouts and four hits allowed.
While the Jackrabbit defense came up big when it needed to, Poly broke a scoreless game in the bottom of the fifth after Sebastian Morales hit a lead-off double.
That led to Wilson bringing in Angel Urias in relief for starter Ben Howard. Poly’s Izaiyah Guiterrez walked to put two on with one out and Adrian Bernal came up big with a RBI grounder at Urias that went off his glove allowing Morales to score the go-ahead run.
For Sayre, it was a big game for him after he transferred from Wilson to Poly following his sophomore season.
“Joshue pitched a great game,” Wilson coach Andy Hall said. “He certainly had a lot of reason to pitch a great game, and I think that he out-pitched us. He out-pitched our best hitters. He out-dueled us, I mean what else can you say? Hats off to him.”
Ben Howard pitched a solid 4.1 innings for Wilson and struck out seven while getting saddled with the tough-luck loss. Wilson catcher Dawson Precht had a nice game behind the plate, throwing out a pair of potential base stealers for Poly.
Wilson’s best chance to tie the game came in the top of the sixth after Taylor Kirk led off with a bunt single, moving to second on a throwing error. After a one-out steal of third, he was in prime scoring position with a chance to tie the game. Sayre did the job, however, with a second strikeout in the inning. Then it was his defense picking him up as Nate Berumen made a terrific stop at third base to end the inning and strand Kirk at third base.
Poly will have a chance to force a tie atop the league standings when they host Millikan next Tuesday. Wilson will host Lakewood the same day with both games scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.
