{"id":229930,"date":"2026-03-21T09:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/229930\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T09:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:06:11","slug":"long-beach-poly-walks-off-lakewood-at-blair-the562-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/229930\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Poly Walks Off Lakewood at Blair\u00a0 \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

The562\u2019s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Long Beach Poly junior Neil Morris wasn\u2019t in the lineup to start the Jackrabbits\u2019 big Moore League showdown with Lakewood on Friday at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. But the power-hitting Morris spent the game getting ready for a big moment, and he delivered. Morris hit a leadoff triple in the bottom of the seventh and ended up scoring the walkoff run in a 2-1 victory.<\/p>\n

Asked how he stayed focused all game so he\u2019d be prepared for a winning moment, Morris just smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly it\u2019s really just cheering on my teammates,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I stay cheering all my teammates, then I know I\u2019m in the game and I\u2019m with them. If I\u2019m with them and they\u2019ve got my back, then I know I\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris said was hunting fastball and when he saw it, he knew what to do with it, smacking a two-hopper to the wall in left center. As he was rounding the bases he said he didn\u2019t take any time to enjoy the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just thinking you got a bit hit, don\u2019t mess anything up, get there safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The hit ended up being the game-changing moment for the Jackrabbits. AZ Zuger drew a walk, then UCLA commit Tate Hammond was intentionally walked to bring up catcher Caleb Safotu with the Lakewood infield in. Safotu hit a chopper that was fielded cleanly by the shortstop, but the throw home was high bringing the catcher up off the plate and allowing Morris to slide in for the winning run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The win keeps Poly unbeaten in the young Moore League season and gives them a big win at Blair in many of their key players\u2019 first time playing a significant game at the historic facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was proud of the way we played,\u201d said Poly coach Soloman Williams. \u201cI would chalk up the lack of hitting to the first game at Blair, whether it\u2019s the size of the field or just the overall feeling and pressure of this field, it\u2019s hard to hit\u2013and we found a way to win. I thought we played a good baseball game all around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both starting pitchers were efficient, as Poly\u2019s Malakai Pruitt went six innings on the bump, with four hits, two strikeouts and two walks. Lakewood\u2019s Xavier Nunez went 4.1 innings with two hits, one strikeout and three walks.<\/p>\n

The Lancers struck first in the top of the fifth. Nate Gallegos led things off with a single deep in the hole. Tanner Miramontes rolled into a fielder\u2019s choice that saw Gallegos out at second, but the throw to first was high allowing Miramontes to reach. A fly out was the second out of the inning, but a single by Nate Gallegos moved Miramontes to second, and then Anthony Rueda\u2019s line drive single to center scored him from second to put Lakewood up 1-0.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jackrabbits answered in the bottom of the fifth. Manny Gonzales drew a leadoff walk from Nunez, then Will Trunnelle reached on error, and Zuger hit an infield single, loading the bases with just one out for UCLA commit Tate Hammond.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the grand slam highlight kids dream about, but Hammond put together a Division 1 at-bat as he saw nine pitches, eventually fighting to an RBI walk that tied the game. Lathan Rivas then got up on the mound and got two strikeouts to end the inning.<\/p>\n

The two teams just had seven hits between them in the game, and it felt like it could have gone into extras and possibly lasted a long time, especially after some nice defensive plays by Hammond, Gallegos and third basemen Rueda and and Zuger, and Poly center fielder Evan Bagley.<\/p>\n

But Poly relief pitcher Trunnelle plunked Nunez to start the top of the seventh, and he reached second on a grounder by Rueda. A fly-out ended the chance and gave Poly their walkoff shot in the bottom of the frame.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The leadoff triple from Morris changed the game, and potentially the season for Poly in the always tightly-contested Moore League.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven days before this game I was just thinking about, \u2018Man I want to do something at Blair for my first game,\u2019\u201d said Morris. \u201cLuckily it happened, and I\u2019m just thankful for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pruitt drew high praise from his coach for the job he did managing the game on the mound.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a typical Malakai Pruitt start, he filled it up for us,\u201d said Williams. \u201cTheir lineup impressed me\u2013they put together tough at bats. Malakai gave our defense a chance and they made some good plays behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pruitt admitted he had some nerves about making the big start for the Jackrabbits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cI told coach I was ready to start on Friday. I just listened to my music, talked to my friends and got some jokes in, just staying in my zone trying to stay loose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poly (8-4, 2-0) will host St. Anthony Monday back at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field and resume Moore League play at Cabrillo Wednesday and at Millikan Friday. Lakewood (3-10, 1-1) will host Compton and visit Wilson Wednesday and Friday next week.<\/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":229931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-229930","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\/229930","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=229930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}