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.
It was a cloudy day for Sunny Hills, and there ain’t no party like a Funkhouse party. The grey rolled in and Long Beach Poly shined in a first round CIF-SS Division 5 win on Friday.
The Jackrabbits hosted the Lancers at Cabrillo High School, where the home team captured a tight 3-2 victory for the early postseason win. A strong performance on the mound and a pair of home runs fueled Long Beach Poly through the first round of playoffs.
“Once you get into the playoffs, it’s just about finding a way to get it done,” Head Coach Soloman Williams said. “Obviously, we had a really gutsy performance from Malakai Pruitt, so we’re feeling great, ready for round two.”
Pruitt was the starting pitcher for the Jackrabbits and immediately got things going, ending the first inning with a looking strikeout.
“When I threw that first bullpen, I knew I was ready,” Pruitt said. “To be honest, I was kind of iffy on my nerves because this is my first year on varsity as a pitcher. It was just surreal that coach gave so much trust to me, and I really appreciate Coach Soloman for that.”
Each offense took some pokes at the ball early in the game, getting on base through some line drives but not finding success in bringing those runners across the plate.
Sunny Hills found a way first, scoring their first run in the top of the second. Jacob Park hit the ball to deep center for an RBI double to put the visitors up 1-0.
The Jackrabbits bounced back immediately, as junior Will Trunnelle hit a leadoff home run — his first of the season — in the bottom of the second to even the score out 1-1.
“I just wanted to answer with something — a walk, get on base, help my team somehow,” Trunnelle said. “Honestly, I got lucky. I saw it going, I was hoping it got out and it did. That feeling is probably one of the best ones I’ve ever felt.”
The next inning, UCLA commit Tate Hammond led off with a solo shot of his own over the right field fence to give Poly a 2-1 lead.
“We don’t call ourselves a home run hitting team, but we have shown a lot of power this season,” Williams said. “When Will was able to turn the tide a little bit with that big home run, I feel like it really loosened up the offense. Then, when Tate hit another big one, that gives us excitement, but then also kind of demoralizes the other team.”
And the Jackrabbits kept riding that high tide. The Lancers weren’t able to get anything going through the middle innings, and when the fifth inning rolled through, Poly tacked on another run to their lead.
Manny Gonzales led off the inning for the home team with a line drive single to centerfield. After stealing second base, the senior advanced to third on a soft ground ball to the pitcher that resulted in an error, putting a pair of Jackrabbits on the corners for Fausto Gaxiola III coming to the plate.
The senior Gaxiola III smacked the ball to right center field for an RBI single, giving the home team a 3-1 lead with two innings left in the ballgame.
“Those have been the guys that we’ve had to lean on all season and trusted,” Williams said of his upperclassmen. “They were excellent again today, and we’re gonna need them to be good every game to continue this run.”
Long Beach Poly maintained their 3-1 lead until the seventh inning. Pruitt retired the first two Lancers in their final at-bats, striking out Jack Verity and forcing Riley Shaw to fly out.
“These guys work so hard, they put 110% effort on the field,” Pruitt said of his team. “If I see that they’re putting 110% effort offensively and defensively, I’m gonna show them 110% effort on the mound as well.”
Down to their final out, Sunny Hills was fighting to stay alive. A walk, single and hard-hit ball to third loaded the bases for the visitors. Pruitt ended up walking the next batter to give the Lancers an edge with a 3-2 score.
That was when the junior took a lap around the mound and kneeled for a reset. With his team behind him and a Green and Gold community cheering for him, Pruitt knew what he had to do.
“To calm myself down, I always go down on my knee and just talk to God,” Pruitt said. “That’s my coping mechanism when in a stressful situation. I always ask God for help, and He helped me today.”
After taking his breather, Pruitt settled back into his rhythm on the bump, closing out the complete game with a lineout to left and securing the first-round win for the Jackrabbits.
“I feel great, but this is not just about me, this is a whole team effort,” Pruitt said. “I just really appreciate everyone on this team that really supported me and helped to get this dub.”
Despite the shaky final inning, Williams said he trusted his junior ace to come through. He pushed Pruitt to his max amount of pitches in the complete game performance.
“We told him that we were going to need seven innings from him,” Williams said. “It went down to the very wire, but that’s what we expected. That’s a good team, had a really good lineup and they’re going to fight for their season to continue, but Malakai was able to hold on for us.”
The Jackrabbits ended the first round with a 3-2 win vs. Sunny Hills, shining on offense and defense to fuel the playoff opener. Although Poly has struggled to stay in games this season, Trunnelle said the postseason energy is keeping his team together.
“Hopefully this win is one of many,” Trunnelle said. “We want to keep the streak going and stay hot.”
Long Beach Poly will be on the road for the second round. The Jackrabbits are travelling to Cathedral on Tuesday to face off with the Phantoms and fight for their playoff chances to stay alive.
“Our game plan is always the same — it’s going to be about putting the ball in play, making plays on defense and throwing strikes on the mound,” Williams said. “I feel like we have a really talented team, especially in this Division 5 bracket. We just have to keep doing what we can do.”
