Newport Harbor Sailors celebrate after winning the CIF Regional championship. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Newport Harbor’s baseball team made the most of a second chance, defeating Bakersfield Christian 5-1 Saturday afternoon at home to earn the CIF So Cal Regional Division II championship.
A large contingent of Newport Harbor fans cheered on the Sailors as they recorded the final out on a strikeout by senior Gavin Guy, who completed the mission with three scoreless innings and five strikeouts. He did not allow a hit and walked two.
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The stands were packed, also with many fans from Bakersfield Christian and many fans were standing as Newport Harbor bounced back from a tough 2-1 semifinal loss to eventual CIF Southern Section Division 2 champion Ganesha in the semifinals.
Ganesha scored late in the semifinal to advance.
That game seemed to be a distant memory Saturday for the jubiliant Sailors, who celebrated on the field and were joined by Newport Harbor students in the outfield.
“What it means to the program, that’s something we will cross at a later date,” said Newport Harbor’s fifth year coach Josh Lee of the regional crown.
“What it means to these young men, that’s everything, just really proud of them, these regionals get to be an opportunity for redemption and they took full advantage and just really happy for them and for these seniors that get to go out, this is their last game, that’s a rare thing to end your high school career on a win once you’ve gotten into the playoffs.
“It’s really hard to do, just super proud, super happy, feel grateful.”
Bakersfield Christian (28-7-1) took an early lead with a run in the first inning. Deakin Brinkley doubled with one out and stole third base. Following a walk to McCoy Sillicz, Ryan Burgess had an RBI single.
But Newport Harbor (25-10) battled back in the second inning. Henry Mann and Grant Horsley singled. Brooks Francis then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt which was misplayed at first base, allowing Mann to score. Francis was thrown out at second base.
Cameron Hatfield drove in the second run on a sacrifice fly.
The Sailors added three insurance runs in the fifth inning. Leadoff hitter Keoni Wun was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on an RBI single by Guy. Mann then singled and Horsley reached on a bunt single.
Brooks Francis then walked with the bases loaded to drive in a run and Hatfield knocked in a run on a groundout for his second RBI.
Then, it was up to Guy, who notched the win in Newport’s regional opening victory, to finish the mission on the mound.
“It definitely shows our hard work throughout the whole season,” said Guy, who has signed to play baseball for UC Santa Barbara. “This feels like a defining moment for us because I feel like we put in so much work.
“I definitely came in with a little adrenaline because it was a packed house, I was just trying to execute all my pitches and do good and it worked out. It means a ton, going out with a bang is super nice and cool, I’m super happy for the boys.”
Guy said he tried to put the semifinal loss to Ganesha behind him.
“Honestly, I tried not to dwell on it too much,” he said. “Once we made regionals, I just tried to focus on the next outing and do my best in that outing.”
The combination of starting pitcher Ryan Williams, Horsley, who came on in the fourth inning and Guy, limited Bakersfield Christian to four hits.
Bakersfield Christian had two runners on in the third and fourth innings, but Newport Harbor pitchers were able to work out of trouble.
“The three guys who threw today, we talked yesterday at practice, I pulled them aside and said ‘this is the game plan if we can pull it off, here’s what we’re going to do.’ Those three have been clutch for us all year, really proud of Ryan especially, hat’s a really good team, they got guys on base right away and they got a run right away,” Lee said.
“There were hundreds of people here, the stands were packed, it was a really cool environment, there were a lot of 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds that would crumble under that, but he stood tall and got himself out of it and got us through three innings. Grant came in after a collision (on the basepaths), he was knocked on us butt. He came in and did his job and then he passed the torch to our horse and Gavin took it the rest of the way. Just all-around excellence from them.
“Ryan and Gavin have been four-year varsity starters, there’s something emotional about that when you’re with them every day during the school year for four years. You get to send them off like this is pretty cool.”
Bakersfield Christian starter Spencer Watkins was effective through four innings before the Sailors offense got going again. He came out with an injury in the fifth and was replaced by Zach Hall.
Lee was proud that his team was able to handle adversity of the tough loss in the CIF playoffs to take the top prize in the regional.
“These kids have done a great job,” Lee said. “There’s this stereotype of Newport kids, and I understand it but our baseball program, these kids are tough. They were upset, they were devastated with the Ganesha loss, they were angry at how they played and then we didn’t win. They were processing those emotions when we found out we were going to be able to play again.
“So it took a couple days, but great kids rebound from that and these are great kids, they care and I just think they love this program and they love each other and at the end of the day, if they were going to do this they didn’t want to flop, just happy for them.”
In the end, the Sailors had plenty of reasons to smile, and celebrate with their fans.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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