The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, and Lakewood baseball boosters.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
They say that defense wins championships, and that couldn’t have been more true for Long Beach Poly pitcher Ryan King and his defense on Friday night.
In a game that saw just five total hits, the junior found 18 put-outs from his defense and delivered a two-hit complete game shutout against Lakewood on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field. A two-run first inning ended up being the difference in a 2-0 Poly victory.
“Tonight was just all about my defense,” credited King. “My defense was big for me. Just knowing I can go out there and trust my defense, who was making web-gem after web-gem, it’s a great feeling.”
King has served as the second pitcher this year for Poly to senior ace Daylen Carey, but he’s taken advantage of every opportunity so far. King looked every bit the part of an ace on Friday night, recording four strikeouts with just one walk, and retiring 14 of the first 16 batters he faced.
“I’ve just been playing when my number is called,” King said. “I just wanna go out there and give it a 100% effort each time they need me.”
Leadoff batter Tate Hammond cracked the game open for Poly in the bottom of the opening frame, smacking a double down the line before scoring off of an error to give the Jackrabbits their first and only lead. Izaiyah Gutierrez added a run later in the inning off of an RBI ground-out from Deven Munoz.
“I saw fastball outer half so I just waited back on it and went with it the other way,” Hammond said of his big opening at-bat. “Definitlely getting those two runs in the first [felt big]. Definitely.”
“We moved him up to the leadoff because of his ability to not strikeout,” added Poly coach Soloman Williams of Hammond. “He’s the one guy on the team that has more walks than strikeouts, so you saw a good long at bat [to open the game]. Then to drive a double down the line to start the game, I think that kind of set the tone for us.”
Hammond’s mark was also felt from the infield on defense, where he and shortstop Izaiyah Gutierrez combined for 11 total put-outs. The junior-senior duo have been playing together since they were nine years old at El Dorado, and the chemistry was evident in their lockdown night for the Jackrabbit defense.
“We’ve been playing together since we were young, and at this point it’s just automatic for both of us,” said Hammond, who had seven put-outs of his own. “We expect all of the hard plays to be made.”
“We’ve always had that connection,” added Gutierrez. “Game knows game and we just bond together.”
Lakewood had its closest chance at scoring while in desperation mode midway through the seventh inning, putting the tying run on second base after a wild pitch and a single from Gavin Koontz. King would again rely on his infield for the final out, which was again thanks to the fielding of Hammond at second base.
“I’ve said since the beginning that our defense is going to be key,” said Gutierrez. “As you can see, our defense showed out today. It was pretty lockdown defense.”
Poly’s game against Lakewood followed Wilson’s upset of Millikan at Blair Field, and several Jackrabbits mentioned that the game before them provided some extra motivation. Wilson ended Millikan’s 20-game Moore League winning streak, which gave the Jackrabbits hope that they could disrupt the standings for the rest of the season.
“To be honest, after that Wilson win we just had the thought of like, ‘Okay we can get this Moore League,’” Hammond said. “It got us fired up.”
The Jackrabbits now sit at third place behind those Rams with half of the Moore League season still in front of them. They’ll look to keep things going when they face off against Jordan on Tuesday.
For Lakewood, the Lancers will get almost a week of rest before they return to league play and look to bounce back when they visit Compton on Thursday.
