{"id":233675,"date":"2026-03-24T04:53:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/233675\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T04:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:53:17","slug":"long-beach-poly-baseball-defeats-st-anthony-with-spark-from-caleb-safotus-hr-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/233675\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Poly baseball defeats St. Anthony with spark from Caleb Safotu\u2019s HR \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Malakai Pruitt (2) tags out St. Anthonys Jaylen Butler (13) in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Freddie Parish (5) slides into home past St. Anthonys Owen Frazier (3) in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Fausto Gaxiola III (13) waits for the right pitch as the Jackrabbits take on St. Antonys in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Anthony\u2019s Nick Galluccio (2) waits for the ball as Long Beach Polys Will Trunnelle (55) slides into second in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Malakai Pruitt (2) gets in front of the hit as they take on St. Anthonys in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s AZ Zuger (4) gets things going for the Jackrabbits as they take on St. Anthonys in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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St. Anthony\u2019s Jaylen Butler (13) gets things started for the Saints as they take on Long Beach Poly at Blair Field in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Tate Hammond (3) throws to first as the Jackrabbits take on St. Anthonys in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Anthony\u2019s Nick Galluccio (2) scores for the Saints behind Long Beach Polys catcher Caleb Safotu (35) in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Malakai Pruitt (2) throws to first as the Jackrabbits take on St. Anthonys in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Caleb Safotu (35) slides into home as St. Antonys catcher Owen Frazier (3) waits for the ball in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Braylen Reyes (1) looks to throw the out as they take on St. Anthonys in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Neil Morris (40) is safe as the ball is overthrown to St. Antonys Aidann Ruiz (4) in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

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Long Beach Poly\u2019s Malakai Pruitt (2) tags out St. Anthonys Jaylen Butler (13) in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Photo by Tracey Roman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

LONG BEACH \u2014 With their game tied at 2-2 after three innings, it looked as if the Long Beach Poly and St. Anthony baseball teams were headed for a close battle to the end.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n

Sparked by an inside-the-park homer by Caleb Safotu, Poly scored eight more runs and defeated the Saints 10-2 in a nonleague game at Blair Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just really happy that my teammates got into scoring position and they gave me the chance to score them in and break the (tie),\u201d Safotu said about his three-run homer. \u201cWe know who we are, so once we step on the field it\u2019s go time. We knew not to stop, and keep adding on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both teams entered the contest with winning streaks.<\/p>\n

The Jackrabbits (10-4), who had a walk-off win over Lakewood, 2-1, on Friday, pushed their winning streak to five games. St. Anthony (10-3-1) entered the contest Monday with seven straight wins.<\/p>\n

Poly opened the game with a two-run single from sophomore Braylen Reyes in the top of the first inning.<\/p>\n

St. Anthony struggled at the plate in the first two innings, striking out three times and recording just one hit.<\/p>\n

Saints infielder Aidenn Ruiz tied the game in the third inning with a hit to right field that brought in two runs to tie the score.<\/p>\n

St. Anthony\u2019s batters struggled throughout the game, recording just four hits and striking out seven times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been the offense that has struggled and it was again today,\u201d St. Anthony head coach Kris Jondle said. \u201cWe\u2019re not hitting, we\u2019re not producing. We\u2019re going to keep working on it, the offensive part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jondle was proud of his team\u2019s pitching despite the loss.<\/p>\n

Starting pitcher Jaylen Butler had seven strikeouts in nearly four innings on the mound.<\/p>\n

After Safotu\u2019s homer in the fourth, Poly scored five runs in the sixth inning.<\/p>\n

Poly began the inning with back-to-back RBI singles from Reyes and AZ Zuger. Saints pitcher Luke Frazier walked Ayden Nakamura with the bases loaded to push the lead to 8-2.<\/p>\n

Poly senior Tate Hammond ripped a two-run double to make the score 10-2.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are where we expected to be. We\u2019re happy we are rolling right now, but we\u2019re not getting overconfident,\u201d Poly head coach Solomon Williams said. \u201cThis was a perfect game that you want to add in the middle of the week to keep going through league.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jackrabbits will resume their Moore League schedule Wednesday against Cabrillo.<\/p>\n

Williams says the Jackrabbits will be counting on senior pitchers Damian Marquez and Ryan King in their upcoming league games.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re super excited where we are going into league,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWe got two league opponents (this week), we are not looking past Cabrillo.\u201d<\/p>\n

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