Burden’s home run in extra innings leads Huntington Beach to Newport Elks Tournament title at Foothill

This is supposed to be a rebuilding year for Huntington Beach High’s baseball program, which lost so much talent from a team that reached the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals last year after entering the postseason ranked No. 1.

The Oilers reject that storyline, and their 4-3 triumph in extra-innings on Friday at Foothill in the top-tier title game in the Newport Elks Tournament made that clear.

Sophomore Jag Burden, dropped to the No. 9 slot in the batting order after a tough start to the season, led off the ninth inning with a homer to right field to lift Huntington Beach (6-2) to a wild victory in the tournament’s Frank Lerner Division.

“I got moved down to the nine spot, and that was for a purpose,” Burden said. “So I was hunting fastball, he missed over the plate, and I made him pay for it.”

Starting pitcher Nate Madole took a one-hitter into the sixth inning, freshman Shane Stafford shut down the Knights (3-2) after surrendering the tying run on his first pitch to claim his second victory in relief, and Nick Morlett retired three batters in the ninth with a man in scoring position to get the save.

“I’m proud of my guys,” Oilers coach Benji Medure said. “No one gave us a chance this year. Everybody thinks just because we lost a bunch of big dudes last year that we’re not going to be good, so I’m proud that they have a chip on their shoulder.”

The first five innings sailed, with Foothill’s Sean Higgins’ working a no-hitter until Nick Lopez’s one-out double off the wall in left field brought home Josh Hahn, who led off the sixth with a walk. Lopez got to third when left fielder Hunter Grieves missed his cut-off man, and he came home on Justin Brodt’s double to right.

Cole Minato followed with a single to left, and Brodt made it 3-0 when Minato ran halfway to second base, drawing an off-target throw from catcher Zach Yoo. Huntington Beach, which is in a tie for ninth in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, lost the advantage in the bottom of the sixth inning.

With one out and Kyle Ashworth on base after a single to left-center, Higgins was awarded first base when Madole hit him on the hands. Medure argued to no avail that Higgins was swinging and it should have been ruled a foul ball.

Chad Castillo then belted a double to right to bring home two runs, Stafford replaced Madole, and Griffin Selby doubled to deep left to bring home the tying run. Stafford retired the next eight batters he faced, and the Oilers put two men on base in the seventh and eighth innings.

Foothill got out of the seventh on a running mistake by Jake Vogel, who reached when Knights third baseman Ryan Taurek threw the ball away trying to start a double play at second. That got Burden, who started the inning with a bloop single to center, to third, but he was held at third when Dylan Ramirez flew out to left — in respect to Grieves’ arm — and Taurek took the throw between third and home and nailed Vogel at first to end the threat.

Burden hammered the second pitch he saw from Foothill reliever Jack Sampson beyond the scoreboard in right, a lead Huntington Beach was unable to build upon after loading the bases with two out.

“[Burden] was our three-hole hitter for all of fall, all the winter, until this game, because he’s been struggling for a little bit,” Medure said. “So for him to get moved down to the nine hole and to hit that home run is bigger than everybody knows.

“Everybody just thinks, ‘Oh, nine-hitter hit a home run.’ That’s a struggling kid right there, a sophomore who’s hard on himself. To hit the game-winning home run is huge for him.”

The Oilers weren’t yet safe. Jeremy Wiegman came in to pitch the ninth, and Selby singled his first pitch to center. His second pitch went wild, with Selby taking second. Medure immediately brought in Morlett, who got a groundout, strikeout and flyout to end it.

SCOTT FRENCH is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottJFrench