The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
There’s no such thing as a sure win in the Moore League softball scene, and Tuesday afternoon proved it. Lakewood hosted Long Beach Poly in a rematch of their season opener, but it was far from the ten-run shutout the Jackrabbits delivered the first time around.
Instead, Tuesday afternoon featured five lead changes, fueled by a pair of three-run innings from Lakewood that put Poly behind midway through the fourth. The Jackrabbits answered with a pair of home runs in the bottom half of the frame as part of an 18-hit performance, regaining the lead for good before outlasting Lakewood in a 10-6 win.
“This is a completely different team from when we played them last time, and I love these intense games,” said Poly coach Elizabeth Sanches. “I love the back-and-forth and today was a dogfight. We told them coming in that the last game wasn’t any sort of precursor to what today was going to be. Lakewood doesn’t quit, and they’re well coached, so I thought it was a great game and we’re very happy with the outcome.”
The Jackrabbits trailed by a run in the middle of the fourth before a one-out solo home run to deep left field from pitcher Tegan Breaux tied the game at six apiece. After a walk, Alayna Veavealagi followed with a two-run shot to right to give Poly its final lead, allowing Breaux to finish off a complete game in the circle with eight strikeouts.
“I felt nervous coming in because I got a little rattled in the last game,” Breaux said. “Sometimes I forget how good I am, and I need my team to really pump me up. I knew today was going to be tough, but when you’re down it makes you want to fight back even more. I just relied on my teammates, and they helped with their bats and their fielding.”
Poly had six different players record multiple hits Tuesday afternoon, including three with three or more. Senior Persjah Lam Sam was one of those players, going a perfect 4-for-4 while sparking the Jackrabbits’ first rally of the afternoon with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning.
From there, Bailey Holder singled to move Lam Sam to third, with the throw to third getting away allowing the senior to come home for the game’s opening run. Poly tacked on another in the first after Janelle Morris singled in the next at-bat to score Holder and make it 2-0.
After a scoreless second inning, Lakewood took its first lead in the third thanks to a Jamie Ramirez RBI single that scored Bella Polanco. The Lancers continued the two-out rally with a single from Jaszee Childress before a two-RBI single by Elise De La Torre gave Lakewood a one-run lead.
The advantage swung back in Poly’s favor in the bottom of the inning, as the Jackrabbits started a two-out rally of their own with three straight singles. Elizabeth Marquez then cashed in with a two-RBI single, before an RBI single from Emoni Lam Sam one at-bat later gave Poly its two-run lead back.
Lakewood took its final lead of the game in another three-run inning, as Ramirez drove in all three runs on a two-out double in the top of the fourth to put the Lancers back up by one.
Breaux and Veavealagi’s home runs in the bottom of the frame gave the Jackrabbits their final lead of the game before they added a run in both the fifth and sixth innings. Breaux smacked her third hit of the afternoon with an RBI single to score Holder in the fifth, before an RBI double from Persjah Lam Sam in the sixth capped the scoring.
Lam Sam finished with a pair of RBIs and two runs to go along with her perfect day at the plate, continuing her dominance against Lakewood from the season opener. The senior went a combined 6-for-7 in two games against the Lancers with four runs and four RBIs, and said she expected a tougher matchup Tuesday
“We already knew that this game wasn’t going to be the same as before, but pressure is a privilege,” she said. “Lakewood is always a team that’s right behind us, so having that pressure today made me want to do even better at the plate.”
Poly will have a quick turnaround to Thursday when they face Millikan in a rematch to avenge the Jackrabbits’ only loss of the season, as they’ll look to Breaux on the mound once again in hopes of another big performance in the same week. The Jackrabbits’ only loss of the season came to Millikan in a 4-1 defeat at the end of March.
“Rest, and work on my spins,” Breaux said of her focus going into Thursday. “I felt like I was lacking with my spins in the first game, so this time I’m going to rest my arm, and just work on my spins to try and come through on Thursday.”
