Huntington Beach softball beats Vista Murrieta in Michelle Carew Classic opener

The Michelle Carew Classic always puts together a phenomenal field.

Huntington Beach High’s softball team makes regular appearances at the tournament, and this year, the Oilers have shown that they mean business.

The Oilers have played a stacked schedule that includes showings at the Best of the West and the Clovis Lead-off Classic tournaments. Their eye is trained on the most meaningful games of the Sunset League, those to be played against defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion Los Alamitos.

“We’ve done pretty well in this tournament in the past,” Oregon-bound senior shortstop Allee Bunker said. “This is my fourth Carew tournament, and we’ve always played some of the best teams in Orange County and even teams that are coming from San Diego.

“It’s just nice to get ready for the Los Al game because these are tough teams just like Los Al is going to be for us.”

Bunker set the tone on Wednesday, reaching base safely four times with three hits and two runs scored. The Oilers defeated Vista Murrieta 5-3 in their tournament opener at Peralta Canyon Park in Anaheim.

Huntington Beach (8-3) has done well with a mixture of superstar talent and role players who are ready to contribute at the drop of a hat.

Morgan MacBeath, one of the team’s three pitchers, came off the bench to lay down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the fifth inning. The junior fouled off two bunt attempts, but the at-bat was not over. She made the most of it, singling to center to drive in the go-ahead run.

“The thing with Morgan is she competes on every play, every pitch and every at-bat,” Oilers coach Jeff Forsberg said. “She has the tools to compete, and that’s what we love about her.

“We don’t follow the book. Every kid is ready. That’s like Morgan. We have a kid that is a catcher that is a courtesy runner. Erin Greenlaw has scored some big runs for us. Everyone is ready, and they want to compete.”

The Oilers struck for two runs in the bottom of the fifth after Vista Murrieta (8-5) had scored two in the top half of the inning to tie the game. Alesia Denby hammered a two-out, two-run home run to left-center for the Broncos.

Thanks to the response by the Oilers’ offense, starter Grace Uribe picked up the victory. She went five innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits.

Freshman Devyn Greer pitched the last two innings in relief to earn the save. She allowed just one hit and struck out three, leaving Denby in the on-deck circle to end the game.

Jadelyn Allchin, Shelbi Ortiz and Katelyn Mangrello had two hits apiece for Huntington Beach.

Mangrello, a junior catcher, said she worked hard in the offseason to build rapport with the pitching staff.

“I got really comfortable with Grace during the fall because we had our intrasquad games,” Mangrello said. “As the season went on, me and her got really close.

“The same thing with Devyn. I built a relationship.”

Mangrello added that she is set to undergo thyroid surgery on Monday. Forsberg said that Mangrello would be out for three weeks, with Reanna Rudd getting most of the playing time behind the plate.

Kelly Ryono, Ortiz, MacBeath and Mangrello drove in runs for the Oilers, who resume tournament play on Peralta Canyon Park’s Field P2 at 1:15 p.m. on Thursday. They face the winner of the game between Pleasanton Amador Valley and Lakewood.

The Oilers also got dirty on defense against Vista Murrieta. Third baseman Kelli Kufta made a diving catch to retire Ashley Cortez in the third. In the sixth, second baseman Megan Ryono dove to her left to take a hit away from Abie Nowak.

“We’ve practiced it a lot,” Forsberg said of his team’s defense. “We’re not afraid to leave our feet. They do a good job.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner