{"id":193550,"date":"2026-02-25T20:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/193550\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T20:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:00:40","slug":"long-beach-poly-jackrabbits-softball-preview-the562-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/193550\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits Softball Preview \u2013 The562.org"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long Beach Poly\u2019s softball program is coming off a dream year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jackrabbits won the first CIF Southern Section championship in program history, and boast a roster packed with Division 1-bound talent. It was the type of year that kids and their families remember forever. With so many big-time players returning, it\u2019s the type of year that also asks a question: what\u2019s next?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Longtime Poly coach Elizabeth Sanches said her team isn\u2019t walking around feeling the pressure as far as repeating.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly been the same since CIF,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re having just as much fun now as we did last year at this time. I\u2019m not trying to downplay it\u2013it\u2019s just the memories and relationships are the foundation of our program, so win or lose we\u2019re always going to have a good time. A lot of people don\u2019t understand that or think it\u2019s not the most competitive or practical approach as a coach, but it\u2019s worked so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only thing stressing Sanches and the Jackrabbits out this Spring is the injury bug, which has taken a big bite out of Poly\u2019s roster. Top national recruit Ki\u2019ele Ho-Ching, an Oklahoma commit, is out for the year with injury, as are Isabella Cisneros and I\u2019Kaika Afamata, all of whom would have been big contributors for Poly this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them all back but we have to think about the big picture and protect their lifelong health, not just the February to May health,\u201d said Sanches.<\/p>\n

The good news for Poly is that the depth of their program has progressed to a place that most eras of Jackrabbit softball couldn\u2019t have dreamed of. Leading the way for them will be Emoni Lam Sam, a Cal commit who\u2019s a top 50 senior in the nation according to Softball America. Lam Sam is an excellent fielder and a top-tier power bat that was critical to Poly\u2019s playoff run last year, earning her CIF Southern Section Player of the Year honors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way she trains is unlike any other I\u2019ve ever seen, ever,\u201d said Sanches. \u201cSoftball is her life and her family\u2019s life\u2013everyone knows that she\u2019s different and special. She trains every day. If it\u2019s raining she\u2019ll find a patch of grass somewhere that\u2019s not underwater to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lam Sam said she\u2019s excited for the challenge of her senior year and appreciative of already having left a legacy at Poly with a CIF-SS title as part of a historic senior class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels like so many blessings have come my way,\u201d she said. \u201cGod\u2019s doing his big one with me\u2013being able to go into my senior year with these same girls I went into my freshman year with, knowing that I have them by my side is heartwarming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship between Lam Sam, Ho-Ching, and the other elite players Poly has boasted in the last few years highlights the family atmosphere Sanches hopes to maintain in her family. It\u2019s clear that Poly\u2019s best players root for each other. Anyone who\u2019s been around high school sports for any period of time knows that two top-tier talents don\u2019t always exist in harmony, but Sanches says her players\u2019 selflessness has allowed it to happen.<\/p>\n

\"The562<\/a>Star senior Emoni Lam Sam hopes to power another historic season for the Jackrabbits<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at Emoni\u2019s social media, there\u2019s never anything about herself, she\u2019s always hyping everyone else up,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s not just humble on the softball field\u2013she\u2019s almost like the mom of the Polynesian community at Poly. She\u2019s just a loving person and I know she and \u2018Ele see each other as real sisters. I love that\u2013I\u2019m sad that this is their last year. I try not to think about it, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lam Sam said she\u2019s never seen any competition between she and her teammates, and emphasized how close she and Ho-Ching are.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s someone I look up to not only as a player, but as a family member and a teammate,\u201d she said. \u201cI can have her back and she has mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poly\u2019s other major contributors include senior Janelle Morris, another longtime starter who is headed to the NCAA level next year at Southern University. Morris brings another big bat to the Poly lineup. Morris will be behind the dish as she has been for four years; pitching to her will be Tegan Breaux and Bella Correa, juniors stepping into starring roles due to injuries.<\/p>\n

Sunnie Vaafuti (first base), Victoria Sepulveda (second), Bailey Holder (short), and Lam Sam (third) will round out the young and talented Poly infield.<\/p>\n

In the outfield, Persjah Lam Sam, Alayna Veavealagi, and Bella Correa figure to start with a number of talented freshmen filling into other roles, including utility outfielder Abigail Rodriguez, Elizabeth Marquez, Harper Daniel, and Ariana Nava.<\/p>\n

Lam Sam likes Poly\u2019s squad this year, and said the Jackrabbits are excited for the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to make history winning the first CIF championship in program history,\u201d she said. \u201cIt gave us the boost of confidence knowing that if we honestly put our heart and soul into this, we can do anything. It\u2019s just a matter of how our team wants to show up and how bad we want it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Projected Starters<\/p>\n

P: Tegan Breaux (Jr.) \/ Bella Correa (Jr.)<\/p>\n

C: Janelle Morris (Sr.)<\/p>\n

1B: Sunnie Vaafuti (Jr.)<\/p>\n

2B: Victoria Sepulveda (So.) \/ Persjah Lam Sam (Sr.)<\/p>\n

SS: Bailey Holder (So.)<\/p>\n

3B: Emoni Lam Sam (Sr.)<\/p>\n

LF: Alayna Veavealagi (Sr.)<\/p>\n

CF: Persjah Lam Sam (Sr.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

RF: Bella Correa (Jr.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach Poly\u2019s softball program is coming off a dream year.\u00a0 The Jackrabbits won the first CIF Southern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-193550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}