Fountain Valley pounds Huntington Beach, hands state’s top-ranked baseball team worst loss of season

The last time Fountain Valley High beat Huntington Beach in baseball, the Barons went on to reach the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

The Barons took a huge step toward making their first postseason appearance in three years, and they did so by shocking the host Oilers on Wednesday.

They not only beat the top-ranked team in the state by CalHiSports.com, the Barons blew out the Oilers 20-4.

Sebastian Murillo hit two home runs, Cole Wentz belted a grand slam and Cedrick Perez hit a solo homer, and Fountain Valley ended the Oilers’ perfect reign in the Sunset League. The Barons handed defending league champion Huntington Beach its first loss in league and worst loss of the season.

Only two other teams had the distinction of knocking off the Oilers all year. San Jose Bellarmine Prep defeated Huntington Beach at the start by sweeping a doubleheader at home on Feb. 24, and West Covina South Hills rallied in the seventh for a 3-2 walk-off win over the Oilers to open the Boras Classic South tournament at Mater Dei on April 3.

The loss against Fountain Valley was different. The Oilers suffered their first setback at home.

With five games to go in league, Huntington Beach (21-4, 9-1 in league) remains in first with a two-game lead over Los Alamitos (15-8, 7-3). Fountain Valley (15-8, 6-4) sits in third place, holding onto the league’s third and final guaranteed berth into the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

“Any team that can come in and get wins at H.B. is feeling like they get two wins in league,” said Fountain Valley coach Deric Yanagisawa, whose team has a two-game lead on fourth-place Edison (12-12, 4-6). “We have five tough games remaining, with two games each against Edison [and] Marina [in the next two weeks], and one more against Huntington [on Friday].

“We have our work cut out for us, but at least we control our own fate. We don’t have to rely on anyone to win for us. If we win, we get in. If we don’t win, we don’t go to the playoffs and that is only on us.”

The Barons, winners of three straight in league, have been playing with a sense of urgency. They wasted no time to jump on Huntington Beach starter Nate Madole.

Conrad Villafuerte led off the game with a single, one of his three hits on the day. Murillo followed with a two-run homer to left field. The runs batted in were two of six for the sophomore committed to the University of Arizona.

Murillo, who went four for five with a double, a walk and four runs, and Jake Brooks, a sophomore committed to UCLA, led the Barons with four hits. Brooks also drove in two runs in the first inning to put Fountain Valley up 4-0.

Madole, a senior left-hander bound for Loyola Marymount University, exited after only getting two outs.

“Everyone was focused throughout the whole week,” Murillo said. “Everyone was preparing themselves for the game, and everyone’s been hitting. It was a great team win.

“Everyone was confident coming into this game.”

The Oilers chipped away in the third inning. They scored on an error, on an RBI double by Justin Brodt and on a RBI sacrifice fly by Cole Minato, cutting the deficit to 4-3.

That was as close as Huntington Beach would get.

The Barons loaded the bases in the fourth inning for Wentz. And Wentz hit a grand slam, putting Fountain Valley ahead 8-3. It was just the beginning.

Fountain Valley had the bases loaded again in the fourth, and Villafuerte singled in two runs. With two runners on, Murillo came up next. He hit his second homer, a three-run shot, and the Barons added a 10th run in the fourth inning on Perez’s solo shot.

Fountain Valley High’s Sebastian Murillo gets high-fives after hitting a three-run home run in the fourth inning at Huntington Beach on Wednesday.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer )

“We hung a changeup and Wentz hit the grand slam,” said Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure, who used seven pitchers and they combined to give up 18 hits, seven for extra bases. “We just missed the spot and that kind of set the stage for the rest of their at-bats. They were having tough at-bats from the first inning to the last inning. Their hitting approach was awesome. It was one of those days where we got our butts kicked, and it is not going to affect us at all on Friday. We are going to come back. We’re going to be fine.”

The Barons added six more runs in the sixth inning, two coming on a two-run double by Brooks.

Jackson Ouellette, Wentz and Luke Bundesen slowed down the Oilers. The trio combined to strike out 11 and only allow six hits.

Huntington Beach’s Jake Vogel hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the sixth. He went two for three with two runs.

The rubber match of the three-game series is at Fountain Valley on Friday at 3:15 p.m. Huntington Beach will start Josh Hahn, a junior committed to UCLA, and Nathan Wilson, a senior bound for Colorado Mesa University, will go for the Barons.

“[The win] gives us way more confidence,” Wentz said. “We just beat the best team probably in the league, and we’re going to get ready for Friday.”

MANNY ALVAREZ is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @MAlvarez02