The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, and Lakewood baseball boosters.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
Long Beach Poly watched its 3-run lead disappear in the late innings at Lakewood on Tuesday, but the Jackrabbits jumped right back into the lead with two huge hits in the seventh inning for a 6-4 Moore League baseball win.
With the game tied in the seventh inning, Matt Garcia led off the top of the inning with a double to the right center field gap and Devon Munoz followed that up with a triple to the left center field gap to score Garcia. Munoz would come home on a wild pitch and Ryan King came out of the bullpen to get the Lancers 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
Shortstop Izaiyah Gutierrez also made an incredible play in the seventh when he charged a short hop and whipped a perfect throw to first base for the out.
“Our defense has been locked in all year. I think we have the best infield in the league,” Poly coach Solomon Williams said. “The win tight games and get ready for the playoffs, those are the plays you have to make.”
Garcia also delivered an RBI double to score Gutierrez, and came around himself on Giovanni Migliazza’s RBI single to give Poly a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
“We’ve had better practices and focusing on the little things,” Garcia said of Poly’s steady improvement this season.
“He’s one of those guys who had to work his way into the lineup at the beginning of the year and he took the three hole and said, ‘Coach, it’s mine,’” Williams said of Garcia. “He’s really made some adjustments on flattening out his swing. And he’s not nervous up there. We expect those big hits out of him.”
Lakewood got back into the game with a 2-run fourth inning thanks to a string of singles. Anthony Rueda and Joe Dizon. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Nate Gallegos drove in the game-tying run to make it 4-4 and set up the dramatic finish in the seventh.
Poly’s Daylen Carey got the start and was fantastic in the early going by retiring the first 12 batters he faced.
The Jackrabbits (14-13, 8-4) secured their second third finish in the Moore League and Lakewood (12-16, 6-6) is fourth.
