The Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits will challenge the Cathedral Phantoms at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Long Beach Poly is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-2 win over Sunny Hills. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Jackrabbits have posted since March 20th.
Malakai Pruitt spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on three hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Tate Hammond, who went 2-for-3 with one home run. Another player making a difference was Will Trunnelle, who went 1-for-3 with one home run.
Meanwhile, Cathedral had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.2 runs) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They skirted past the Cougars 4-2.
Nathan Rodarte made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over 6.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off six hits. Rodarte was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI. That home run was his first of the season.
In other batting news, Victor Galvez was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
Long Beach Poly's record is now 16-11. As for Cathedral, their record now sits at 16-9.
Long Beach Poly got the 'W' when the teams last played back in March of 2022 against Cathedral by a conclusive 18-6 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Jackrabbits since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
