Long Beach Poly Secures First Round Win Over Edison – The562.org

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If you walked up to LBCC’s softball field hoping to catch the first round of CIF Division 4 playoffs between Long Beach Poly and Edison, you might be very confused to see 30 identical players on the turf. Each team wore identical uniforms from their pinstripes down to their socks, but the Jackrabbits brought the bats and energy on their way to a 5-1 win over the Vikings.

As Poly geared up to take the field, Ki’ele Ho-Ching; the 2024 Moore League Player of the Year, No. 1 recruit for the class of 2026 and an Oklahoma University commit; returned to her place on the field at shortstop for the first time this season – and she immediately made her presence known.

After starting Poly pitcher Tegan Breaux struck out the first two Edison hitters, senior Sophia Hannappel was the first Viking to get on base after a line drive deflected off the glove of first baseman Kween Tauala. Sophomore Aubrey Catron hit a deep fly to the left field wall that sent Hannappel racing for home, but she couldn’t outrun Ho-Ching’s arm.

As the cutoff man positioned in left field, Ho-Ching completed the relay on a one-hop shot to keep Edison scoreless in the first inning. She completed another huge relay from left field in the top of the fourth to prevent another Edison run.

“We cut those two girls off at home with those terrific relays, even with her cannon not being at 100%,” Head Coach Elizabeth Sanches said. “75% Ki’ele is still 120% everybody else. So, we’re grateful.”

While the relays could easily be added to Ho-Ching’s defensive highlight reel, her and junior Emoni Lam Sam held down the left side of the infield with more top-notch defense. The two Division 1 commits knocked down any ball that came at them, which helped hold Edison to six hits throughout seven innings. 

“Honestly, it was a little hard at first. The mental side of it is a lot,” Ho-Ching said of her defensive return. “Not playing for one, then all of a sudden coming back and just being thrown back out there, first play, first throw, a relay. I didn’t expect to throw the ball at all today, to be honest, but hey, I threw it like 20 times.”

Ho-Ching and E. Lam Sam are two major players in the strong junior class at 1600 Atlantic. E. Lam Sam was defensively clean on the turf but also played a big role in the lineup, going 2 for 4 with two RBI doubles to left field. 

Long Beach Poly was the first to get on the board in the bottom of the third. Freshman Victoria Sepulveda led the inning off with a single to right field and was moved over to second off a sac bunt from junior Persja Lam Sam. 

E. Lam Sam knocked in her first RBI as the next batter, followed by another RBI double from Tauala, who was also 2 for 4 on the day.

Edison responded in the top half of the fifth inning with their only score of the game. After Catron led off with a double, she was thrown out by Ho-Ching’s second relay on another left field double from sophomore Elina Garcia. 

Garcia advanced to third on the throw from Ho-Ching. Sophomore Savannah Fisher was walked to put runners threatening at the corners. A double pickle resulted in a run for the Vikings after a misthrow got out of the Jackrabbit infield. 

With a close 2-1 score, Poly’s bats came alive in the bottom of the fifth. P. Lam Sam was hit by a pitch and soon driven in off Emoni’s second RBI double. Emoni came around to score herself when junior Alayna Veavealagi singled to right.

Junior Janelle Morris doubled to move Veavealagi to third, who eventually scored off an RBI single from junior Sunni Vaafuti. Morris was 3 for 3 and the only Jackrabbit to swat 1.000 on the day.

“[Morris] made the adjustments and was able to trust her hands and trust her experience and trust her reps and stay back long enough to where she was driving it, not just to the right side, but right in the gap, in the perfect spot to get those runs in,” Sanches said.

This series of offensive adjustments from Poly’s junior class proved to be successful, as the bottom half of the fifth saw the Jackrabbits increase their lead 5-1. The home team rode this lead all the way to the end, defeating Edison after seven innings.

“Today, we went through the lineup once, and then the adjustments were instantaneous,” Sanches said of her team’s offensive rebound amidst some defensive and call struggles. “There’s 17 other girls out there to pick you up. Everybody has a bad day. We just got to be able to pick each other up.”

Breaux went the distance for the Jackrabbits, striking out five across the seven innings. Poly now turns their attention to Saturday when they will travel to South El Monte.

“I’m approaching our practice tomorrow as one that the girls can curate themselves based off of what their needs are and whatever they need us to do,” Sanches said of her team’s preparation. “Whatever it is that they need us to do, tomorrow is what we’re going to do. But, we’re still going to keep it loose, we’re still going to keep it relaxed, and we’re still going to keep it fun.”