Huntington Beach players look on during Wednesday’s game (Photos: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
It was a great start Wednesday afternoon for Huntington Beach’s baseball squad.
The Oilers, ranked fourth in this week’s CIF Division 1 rankings, set the tone with four runs in the first inning in a Sunset League crossover game against Corona del Mar.
There were some nervous moments in the final inning for the home team when Corona del Mar put the tying run on base but the Oilers held on for a 6-5 victory over the Sea Kings.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
“We really didn’t want to go that far into the bullpen but sometimes you need to do it to get the win,” said Oilers Coach Benji Medure. “I thought Dylan (starting pitcher Ramirez) threw the ball well to start the game. (Jeremy) Wiegman came in and tried to do too much and we just had to fight and scrap to get out of that inning. Thank goodness for that 4-6-3 (double play) we got (ending the fifth.)
“But (Shane) Stafford did a good job and got outs when we needed to in the fifth and the sixth. It’s one of those games where you don’t even want to watch the pitch. I’m glad we came out with the win.”
In the bottom of the first inning, Chad Minato singled and Josh Hahn followed with an RBI double. With one out, Brett Barrera drove in a run with a double and Jag Burden delivered an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch.
Corona del Mar (7-2-1) battled its way back from the four-run deficit cutting the lead to 6-5 on a home run by catcher Nicholas Rottler (his third) with two outs in the seventh inning. Reece Berger walked but reliever Jordan Vance, the fourth Oiler out of the bullpen, struck out Matthew DeCrona to end the game.
Corona del Mar got off the mat in the fourth inning when Carter Haight belted his first home run of the year, driving in DeCrona, who had singled.
The Sea Kings scored two runs in the fifth inning, cashing in on five walks. Rottler walked with the bases loaded to drive in one run and Berger drove in another run when he reached on a fielder’s choice. But Haight hit into a double play to end the inning.
Still, CdM Coach Kevin McCaffrey liked the way his team, ranked seventh in this week’s CIF Division 2 poll, battled back.
“It was so neat seeing Carter compete like that; that ball was hit really well,” said McCaffrey. “And Nick, we’ve been talking the last two weeks about battling with two strikes and he gets up there with two strikes and puts the ball in play and the ball goes over.
“I was happy with the way we competed. Things could have gone real bad after that first inning and our guys stuck with it and battled back and we were right there in the last inning.”
Huntington Beach (9-2 overall) outhit Corona del Mar 9-6.
Jarrett Thompson pitched the first four innings for CdM and was relieved by Ryan Borquez in the fifth. Luke Joyce finished up on the mound for the Sea Kings.
Both Huntington Beach and CdM now get ready for their conference openers Friday. The Oilers are in the Surf League which also includes Fountain Valley, Edison and Los Alamitos.
Corona del Mar is in the Wave League which includes Newport Harbor, Laguna Beach and Marina.
“They call them crossover games,” Medure said. “They don’t count toward your league record. I wish they counted then we would be 4-0 in league, but they don’t and it really counts on Friday and I want to see how our boys really handle the pressure because this is real pressure when it comes down to these nine games.”
Next up: On Friday, CdM plays at Marina and Huntington Beach hosts Fountain Valley. Both games start at 3:15 p.m.
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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