Friendly Fire: Oilers’ arms become crosstown rivals
Huntington Beach High’s baseball program has housed one of the deepest talent pools around over the last couple of years.
On Wednesday, several of the Oilers’ top arms made their commitments official by signing their National Letters of Intent.
Pitchers and longtime friends Nick Pratto and Hagen Danner have made their decisions. They will remain close, to home and each other, but for the first time in a while, they will find themselves in opposite dugouts.
Pratto signed on with the USC Trojans, while Danner will lace up his cleats for the UCLA Bruins.
The senior left-hander doesn’t know if he and Danner will be penciled into their school’s respective starting rotations once they get there, but he found the possibility of matching up against each other enticing.
“That would be awesome if I were to face up against Hagen,” Pratto said. “Being great friends all the way through, that would be fun.”
The two have played together for years, not just in a Huntington Beach uniform, but on several other platforms. They won a gold medal in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in the summer before their junior year.
In addition, they won the Little League World Series as members of the Ocean View Little League championship team in 2011.
“It’s obviously special to win all of those events,” Pratto said. “To have someone by your side with you makes it even more special.”
Cory Moore of the Oilers also signed with Santa Clara.
Another Olympian to the Pac-12
The youngest member of the U.S. Women’s Water Polo National Team signed on the dotted line to play collegiately at Stanford.
Laguna Beach’s Aria Fischer will be the seventh member of the current national team roster to play for Stanford and the 16th to compete for a Pac-12 school.
Only Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton) did not play within the sport’s foremost power conference.
Fischer’s older sister, Makenzie, also goes to Stanford.
Orange County was heavily represented on the gold-medal-winning women’s water polo team in Rio during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Those representatives are Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach), Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach), Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills), Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach), Alys Williams (Huntington Beach), and the Fischer sisters (Laguna Beach).
FALL SIGNING DAY LIST
Baseball
Hagen Danner, Huntington Beach, UCLA
Ashton Goddard, Laguna Beach, Utah
Cory Moore, Huntington Beach, Santa Clara
Nick Pratto, Huntington Beach, USC
Boys’ Lacrosse
Eric Rymer, Marina, Elmhurst College
Boys’ Swimming
Ethan Archer, Corona del Mar, UC Santa Barbara
Boys’ Track and Field
Mason Crane, Corona del Mar, UC Riverside
Boys’ Beach Volleyball
Cole Paxson, Laguna Beach, USC
Boys’ Indoor Volleyball
Alexander Anastassiades, Huntington Beach, Long Beach State
Clayton Dickinson, Corona del Mar, USC
Barry Greenough, Laguna Beach, Erskine College
Mitchell Haly, Corona del Mar, USC
Spencer Lawrence, Newport Harbor, Ohio State
Carlos Rivera, Newport Harbor, Long Beach State
Girls’ Lacrosse
Jensen Coop, Corona del Mar, San Diego State
Katie Hendrix, Newport Harbor, Arizona State
Kennedy Mulvaney, Corona del Mar, Fresno State
Girls’ Crew/Rowing
Claire Cannon, Huntington Beach, UCLA
Kendall Fearnley, Newport Harbor, Cal
Ali Hinmon, Laguna Beach, UCLA
Darien Moses, Corona del Mar, Michigan
Maggie Osumi, Newport Harbor, University of Pennsylvania
Anise Potjes, Costa Mesa, Gonzaga
Charlie Toffel, Newport Harbor, San Diego State
Softball
Chance Burden, Huntington Beach, Oregon State
Ivy Davis, Huntington Beach, Arizona
Janie Hammond, Huntington Beach, Belmont University
Girls’ Swimming
Jacquelyn Harris, Marina, UC Santa Barbara
Girls’ Beach Volleyball
Kendyl Brennan, Laguna Beach, Tulane
Camryn Sanchez, Huntington Beach, UCLA
Ashley Stevens, Huntington Beach, Hawai’i
Girls’ Indoor Volleyball
Jamie Dailey, Sage Hill, Columbia University
Julia Jackson, Huntington Beach, UC San Diego
Emmaline Walters, Huntington Beach, Illinois
Girls’ Water Polo
Aria Fischer, Laguna Beach, Stanford
Jaleh Moaddeli, Corona del Mar, George Washington
Emily Ritner, Corona del Mar, Michigan
Claire Sonne, Laguna Beach, Cal
