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 Long Beach Poly baseball program played each of their CIF-SS Division 5 games in the utmost dramatic fashion. Their quarterfinal against Camarillo was no different, as the Jackrabbits took the game through eight innings with the Scorpions.
After two consecutive walk-offs helped Poly advance, their season came to an end when Camarillo beat the Jackrabbits on a “balk-off.” The Scorpions brought home the winning run when Poly’s pitcher did not come completely set in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing Camarillo to take the game in a 4-3 final score.
“We played really good, we’re proud of it, but we just lost off a small margin today,” Poly head coach Solomon Williams said. “I know that we were a better team today than we were at any point throughout the season, and that’s always what we hope to create.”
Despite four hours of travel via bus, the Jackrabbits looked ready to go at game time. They got their first two men on base and got the scoring going early when Deven Munoz roped a double to score both runs.
This energy carried over to the second inning, starting with Daylen Carey’s leadoff single. Carey stole second and was moved to third on a bunt from Fausto Gaxiola III before he was brought home by Izaiyah Gutierrez.
“We’ve been building up to get off hot like that, which we haven’t really done all year, so we were happy with that,” Williams said.
The momentum seemed to be in Poly’s favor, as Camarillo couldn’t get anything going for them in the first two innings. The Jackrabbits tried to continue pressing in the third, but back-to-back pick offs put a stent in their efforts.
“We made some mistakes in the third inning, and then we got beat on our approach,” Williams said.
There was no more action from either team until the fifth inning when the home team came alive. The Scorpions only had two hits through the previous four innings, but added a third when Austin Phenix led off with a single to left field.
Three consecutive RBIs allowed Camarillo to tie it up. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Blaise Meylemans and Brayden Smith brought in the first two runs, and Travis Wade capped off the third run with a single to right field.
Poly was able to limit the damage to three runs when the next two batters grounded and flew out, respectively. However, the teams were now tied 3-3 going into the final two innings.
Some terrific defensive plays and strikeouts kept each side at bay through the next 12 outs. Carey, who started on the bump for the Jackrabbits, sent his team into extra innings with a strikeout against Smith to end the seventh.
“DC [Carey] has obviously been our horse the entire year,” Williams said. “When I first got here, he told me that he was going to do exactly what he did the whole year. We’re super proud and impressed from him.”
The Jackrabbits went down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, looking to take the field and keep their season alive. The Scorpions managed to get a guy on after Nate Escobar hit a one-out double to center field that couldn’t be caught despite Antonio Yepez’s diving efforts.
A ground out to shortstop moved Escobar to third and left Poly with one more out to go before they could hit again. Carey maxed out on his pitches through 7.2 innings, forcing the Jackrabbits to bring in Damian Marquez.
The junior came into a tough spot but did well to get ahead of the final batter with a 1-2 count. On the ensuing pitch, the home plate umpire stepped out from behind the plate and pointed at the mound to signal a balk.
He then signaled Escobar to come home, which proved to be the game-winning run for the Scorpions, and set off a celebration at home plate. With this win, Camarillo advances to the CIF-SS Division 5 semifinals.
“I’m not going to harp on one little mistake in a nine inning game,” Williams said. “There were a lot of really good plays and there were a couple mistakes, and in a game this tight, the margins are going to be small for who’s going to win.”
The Jackrabbits ended the season with a 16-14 overall record and finished third in the Moore League. Game changers, like Carey, Munoz, and Gutierrez, are part of a strong senior class for this year’s Poly squad.
“We’re proud of our seniors; they’re what Jackrabbits are supposed to be,” Williams said.
Williams, who wraps up his first year as the head coach at 1600 Atlantic, has high hopes for the future of his program. Many familiar faces will return for Poly, as well as some rising underclassmen who will fill in the gaps.
“We have really good players coming up for returners and our freshmen and JV teams. People are excited about our program right now, and I just think that it’s only up from here for us,” Williams said. “The Jackrabbits are here to stay for a long time.”
