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Long Beach Poly’s Moore League opener was everything they needed it to be. After a 2-7 preseason, the Jackrabbits started league play with a big confidence boost at Cabrillo on Wednesday, using an explosive seven-run third inning en route to a dominant 16-1 win.
“It’s not a secret that we’ve been struggling a little bit, especially scoring runs, but we were happy with how it worked today,” said first-year coach Soloman Williams. “We got up early and got some of the guys in that haven’t gotten too many at-bats so we’re happy with the offensive production today.”
Poly tallied 16 hits and 13 RBI which is a good sight after struggling to find contact early in the season. Williams was especially pleased with the quick start on Wednesday, which he says is a focus for his guys.
“All teams are contagious and we are really contagious,” Williams said. “You saw that today. Once we got a couple hits we really started to roll. The focus for us, especially in those first couple of innings, is to remain aggressive and then it gets that ball rolling on offense.”
Izaiyah Gutierrez led the way at the top of the order, going ⅔ at the plate with three RBI and one run. Sophomore Caleb Safotu went ⅗ with one RBI and three runs while Matthew Garcia went ⅔ with an RBI and a run.
After an unearned run in the first inning, the Jackrabbits batted around in the third inning starting with a single from Safotu. Fausto Gaxiola, Daylen Carey, and Antonio Yepez all followed up with RBI singles, while Garcia and Gutierrez each hit two-RBI doubles in the frame. Tate Hammond also reached on an error to score Gutierrez.
“I just try to play my game and get my teammates hyped,” said Gutierrez, who’s batting .267 on the season. “It was good [to set the tone]. We’ve been struggling to hit so doing that small ball helps us a lot.”
The Jackrabbits tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning after a two-RBI double from Victor Gonzalez and an RBI single from Gutierrez. Poly concluded its scoring in the sixth with a run from Gonzalez off of an error and an RBI from each Safotu, Deven Munoz, and Gaxiola.
Poly held Cabrillo scoreless until the Jags’ second to last at-bat in the seventh inning where Adam Rosalez hit an RBI single to score Erik Orozco.
Starting on the bump for Poly was junior Ryan King who pitched a scoreless three innings while racking up six strikeouts with just one hit. King did so all while staying just one pitch under the 50-pitch limit which will leave him available later in the week.
“It’s big to set the tone especially when I have my team putting up runs on the board,” King said, who worked his fast ball all around the strikezone. “Today set the tone and showed that we want to play and we’re ready to play. We have a young team and we’re gonna come out and fight every game through Moore League.”
Both teams will look ahead to Millikan next with Jackrabbits matchup against the Rams coming on Friday in the tail end of a doubleheader at Blair Field. Cabrillo will face them on Wednesday.
