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 Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
As the Long Beach Poly baseball team celebrated their seniors, it was a fitting celebration as Tate Hammond put on a show for the Jackrabbits one last time at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field on Friday.
The senior UCLA signee went 3-3 from the plate with an RBI and had numerous highlight plays at shortstop as Poly defeated Cabrillo, 8-5.
“It’s been special since my sophomore year,” Hammond said while reflecting on playing at Blair Field. “You know, I always dreamed of it and now that it’s over, it’s a little bittersweet. But I’m just glad we ended it in a fun way with all the seniors that have stuck it out with me.”
Cabrillo was ready from the opening pitch as senior Bendito Diaz hit a one-out single and scored after Ricky Barron hit an RBI single to give the Jaguars a 1-0 lead.
“Every game’s important for us,” Cabrillo coach Murphy Su’a said. “We play every game to win, we play every game to execute, as if it’s a championship game. Technically, these are our playoff games. The next game is our senior game – that’s a playoff game. When we play Millikan, that’s a playoff game. So we’re in our playoff season right now. After that last game, we don’t know what’s going to happen, so this is our season as we move forward. It’s fun, a playoff atmosphere, and we love it.”
Long Beach Poly responded right away after Hammond crushed a shot to left field and looked well on his way for a possible inside-the-park homer, but Cabrillo made a heads up play after the ball got lodged in the bottom left field fence gate and Hammond had to settle for the ground-rule double. Caleb Safotu tied the game when he hit an RBI single as the Jackrabbits tied the game 1-1 after the first.
“Moore League games are going to be tough,” Long Beach Poly coach Soloman Williams said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. We loved that we made zero errors today. That’s been a huge emphasis for us, and it doesn’t matter who we’re playing – if we make zero errors, we’re going to be a good team. So yeah, we were happy with it. Our seniors had a great day, all five of them. Super proud of them.”
The young Jaguars made things interesting for Poly starter Damian Marquez at the top of the second after Julian Vigil reached first on an error and Adam Rosalez put two on after a hit by pitch. But, Marquez stranded the runners to keep the game tied.
Poly took advantage of freebies as they added two runs in the second to take a 3-1 lead. After Marquez retired the Jaguars in order at the top of the third, Neil Morris pushed the lead to 6-1 after he drilled a line drive to center that got past the centerfielder giving him just the time he needed to clear the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
Cabrillo continued to fight at the top of the fourth after Torres doubled to left field. Daniel Rodriguez drew a walk in the next at bat to put two runners on with no outs. Torres eventually advanced to third and scored on a back-to-bacxk wild pitch to cut the lead to 6-2.
Daniel Jauregui followed that with a sacrifice fly that let Rodriguez score to cut Poly’s lead to 6-3. With the momentum on their side Diaz singled to push another run across as Cabrillo cut the Jackrabbits to 6-4 midway through the fourth.
Poly answered back in the bottom of the fifth after Hammond hit an RBI triple and Manny Gonzales hit a RBI single to push the lead to 8-4.
The Jackrabbits threatened to score again in the bottom of the sixth but with two outs and Hammond up looking to complete the cycle, Cabrillo elected to intentionally walk the senior and it paid off as the next batter lined out to left, leaving the bases full.
Cabrillo continued to battle as Diaz continued his hot night with a stand up double to start the action at the top of the seventh. Alex Vargas followed that with an RBI double as the Jaguars cut the lead to 8-5.
Long Beach Poly will be back in action next Wednesday against Millikan, while Cabrillo will have a non-league contest against Calvary Chapel on Tuesday.
