The562’s baseball coverage in 2025 is sponsored by the Millikan, Long Beach Poly, Lakewood and Wilson baseball boosters.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
The famous expression goes, “once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern.”
So what do you call it when Long Beach Poly Baseball wins four consecutive home playoff games via walk-off? Jackrabbit Magic, perhaps.
History repeated itself once again on Tuesday afternoon at LBCC, where the Jackrabbits earned another thrilling playoff win, this time over Riverside Poly by a score of 4-3.
The dramatic conclusion almost felt inevitable as senior Deven Munoz stepped into the batter’s box with a chance to win it, and he came through with a line drive to center field to set off another celebration on Joe Hicks Memorial Field. The same way the last three games Poly’s played on that field have ended.
“That was actually my first walk-off I ever hit, and it felt amazing,” said Munoz after getting mobbed by his teammates. “When I hit the ball, I already knew it was getting down. I was just pumped. And all my guys running towards me, it’s a feeling I’ve never felt before.”
Tuesday’s game wasn’t a perfect performance from the Jackrabbits, who committed three errors during the game and fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. But they didn’t panic and made enough plays to win, earning a trip to the CIF-SS Division 5 quarterfinals.
“I think that was the best version of Poly Baseball,” said Jackrabbit head coach Solomon Williams. “It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be home runs and triples. It can be the dirty stuff of reading balls in the dirt, wearing pitches, and taking another 90 feet, and that is Poly Baseball. So, yeah, it wasn’t our cleanest, but we’re happy with it.”
Ryan King got the start on the mound for LB Poly, and pitched well across six frames. He ran into some trouble in the first after a one-out walk and an error put two Riverside Poly runners on base. That set the table for a two-run double by Lucas Burton to make it 2-0 Bears.
But from there, King allowed just one more run in the third, after a pair of infield singles set up Burton with another RBI opportunity. His run-scoring single put the Riverside Poly lead back to 3-1, and King didn’t allow another hit the rest of the game. In total, the righty allowed a pair of earned runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Senior Daylen Carey came out of the bullpen to work the top of the seventh inning, working around an error and striking out a batter to pick up the win in relief.
“We’ve had two horses all year. It’s been Carey and King, and that was exactly what we expected from him,” Williams said of his starter. “After those two runs that the team gave up, we needed him to get kind of mad. I think you saw him get fired up a couple times, get mad, and kind of take this game under control.”
The Jackrabbits were able to respond to the early deficit with a run in the bottom of the first. Leadoff man Tate Hammond ripped a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw, then moved around to third base before scoring on a two-out throwing error by the Bears.
Long Beach Poly was then able to rally for a pair of runs to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth, starting with a leadoff base hit from Fausto Gaxiola. After a sacrifice bunt, Riverside Poly elected to intentionally walk Hammond to put the tying run on base.
Izaiyah Gutierrez followed that up with a bloop single to right field, loading the bases with just one out. Matthew Garcia then lined a single into right center to score the second run for the Jackrabbits, trimming the deficit to 3-2.
After a popout, catcher Caleb Safotu stepped in for a lengthy plate appearance, eventually working a walk to bring home Hammond and tie the game.
That’s where things remained until the bottom of the seventh, when Gutierrez lined a one-out base hit to center. He would promptly steal second base, then move to third on a wild pitch to get in prime scoring position for Munoz’s walk-off.
“Before going up, I asked God, I was like, ‘Please, if you give me this moment, I’m gonna make the most out of it,” said Munoz of his game-winning hit. “And I got the moment, and I didn’t let it go to waste. Confidence-wise, I always go up thinking I’m better than the other team–I try to be a dog, and I hope everyone has the same mindset. Because honestly, a lot of these guys on our team can hit, we just need to stay clean and consistent throughout the game.”
The Jackrabbits will be on the road for the quarterfinals on Friday when they visit Camarillo High School for a 3:15 p.m. first pitch.
