{"id":202831,"date":"2026-03-03T22:14:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202831\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:14:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:14:06","slug":"long-beach-poly-rolls-over-valley-christian-the562-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/202831\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Poly Rolls Over Valley Christian \u2013 The562.org"},"content":{"rendered":"

The562\u2019s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell \u201cWoWo\u201d Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.<\/a><\/p>\n

Redemption was up for grabs for the Long Beach Poly baseball team.<\/p>\n

Monday, the Jackrabbits faced the Valley Christian Defenders, and it was a chance for them to take back last year\u2019s 1-0 loss against the Defenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Poly was able to redeem themselves Monday with an impressive 7-1 win over the Defenders at Valley Christian\u2019s home field. Consistent pitching and strong offense were what truly set the Jackrabbits up for success.<\/p>\n

Taking the mound for Poly was junior Malakai Pruitt, who remained on the mound for the entire seven innings of the game. Pruitt allowed only four hits, two of which occurred in the final inning. Striking out five and walking none, Pruitt threw a solid game, notably pitching the first complete game of Poly\u2019s season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis performance was amazing. I wanted a pitcher that was gonna go deep into the game, and Malakai has been excellent, really, since he came onto varsity,\u201d coach Solomon Williams said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Backing up Pruitt on the field was shortstop and UCLA commit Tate Hammond, who took control of the infield and secured key outs for the Jackrabbits. Hammond, likewise, was crucial for Poly\u2019s offensive performance, as he hit two singles and a double, a 3\/4 performance with three RBIs.<\/p>\n

In the top of the fourth inning, the bases were loaded, with a walk to Ayden Nakamura, a hit-by-pitch to Neil Morris, and a bunt single from AZ Zuger. With a 2-2 count, sophomore Evan Bagley flew out to center field, enabling Nakamura to tag up and reach home plate for another run for the Jackrabbits.<\/p>\n

The Defenders\u2019 solo run came in the bottom of the fourth inning, where Quintin Ekstrom tripled on a line drive to right field and was immediately brought in to score by a ground ball up the middle from Lucas Witt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After one of his RBI hits, Hammond was able to score himself from Caleb Safotu\u2019s line drive to center on the first pitch of his at-bat. Following this hit, Fausto Gaxiola III singled up the middle, to which Safotu tallied another run for Poly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Safotu was behind the dish for the game, and he supported Pruitt greatly, including throwing out a runner at second.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI trusted my catcher, Caleb Safotu. He\u2019s calling the game, and I just trust him. That\u2019s my guy,\u201d Pruitt said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The teamwork seen across the roster was prominent. Pruit also said, \u201cBats were woken up, pitching was great, and the defense was the best I\u2019ve seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the season starts along, the Jackrabbits are off to a 4-2 start and excited for the rest to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we are on an upward trajectory. We couldn\u2019t be more excited to get into Moore League,\u201d said Williams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poly will be on the road again to play Cerritos on Thursday and Katella on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The562\u2019s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-202831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-long-beach","9":"tag-long-beach-headlines","10":"tag-long-beach-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202831","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=202831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}