History continues to be made during the first two weeks of the Moore League baseball season
Poly, behind a combined effort on the mound by Josh Rios and Paul Estrada, sent Lakewood to its third consecutive league loss, 2-1, to stun the Lancers faithful.
Rios went the first three innings, allowing one run and Estrada threw four scoreless. Poly came into the game having dropped four of their past five games.
Spud O’Neil, who has been at Lakewood for 31 years and won two CIF-SS titles and nearly 800 wins, could not recall the last time Lakewood (7-5, 1-3) had dropped three straight.
The play of the game, which for all intents and purposes was the defining moment, took place in the bottom of the first inning.
Lakewood tied the game 1-1 on a RBI single from pitcher Nick Reeser and had the bases loaded and two outs with Caleb Lew at the plate. Lew hit a ground ball to third and the Poly third baseman threw the ball down the right field line, sending two runners across the plate.
But the home plate umpire called Lew out for runners interference, the runs were scraped and the Lancers never scored again.
Poly got an unearned run in the first when Tai Tiedemann singled and scored on a throwing error. Tiedemann drove in the other in the second with a single.
“I can’t remember the last time we lost three in a row in this league,” O’Neil said. “It’s not that we’re not trying, it’s that our No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 hitters are not coming through offensively.”
Estrada retired the side in the seventh, including strikeouts of Darren Teson and Matt Fields.
“It was our plan all along to try and get two or three innings out of Rios and get Estrada to close it out,” first-year Poly coach Erick Bryant said. “Paul is our guy and did a great job. We told them at practice if we eliminate errors, we can play with anyone.”
