Marina sweeps HB
Having gone 20 games in the 2016 prep baseball season, the Huntington Beach Oilers finally played a home game Friday.
The Oilers had been tough road warriors through those first 20 games, winning 14 contests away from their home field while a major stadium renovation was nearing completion. They played host to Marina in a key Sunset League game that not only marked their home debut, but drew a capacity crowd that included city and school officials and a field dedication prior to a battle that would determine which team — for the moment, would take sole possession of first place in the league standings.
Marina put a damper on Huntington’s celebration by holding off the Oilers late for a 2-1 victory that unfolded in a beautiful setting and ended in dramatic fashion.
The win allowed the Vikings to sweep the league series, 3-0. It also put them at 5-2 in league, and gave them a one-game advantage on the Oilers and Edison who both are 4-3.
Edison defeated Los Alamitos Friday, 4-3.
Marina started last week trailing Huntington by a game in the standings. The Vikings scored a 5-2 home win April 13 over the Oilers to move into a tie for the league lead.
“It’s pretty awesome to get this sweep,” Marina Coach Bob Marshall said of his club which won for the eighth straight game to improve to 13-6. “This was such a great atmosphere here and there was a lot riding on this game.
“We are a scrappy group. We play together and it’s all about execution. We had our big dude [pitcher Riley Ohl out there who was phenomenal, and we made some terrific defensive plays to back him. This team has exceeded my expectations, and our coaches’ expectations. There’s still a long way to go but we’re happy to be where we are right now.”
Marina was sitting pretty heading into the bottom of the seventh with a 2-0 lead and Ohl, an outstanding 6-foot-7 right-hander who will play next year at Nevada, trying to shut out Huntington for the second time this year (he threw a one-hitter to power the Vikings to a 4-0 win over Huntington in a league opener March 18). But on the first pitch of the bottom-half of the frame, Landon Silver got a hold of a fastball from Ohl and slugged a home run deep over the fence in left field. Suddenly, it was a one-run game.
“I felt good on that pitch but [Silver] is a really good hitter and he made the connection,” Ohl said. “I just knew I had to get through the inning so that we could get the win.”
Ohl got the next two Huntington batters to ground out. Freshman first baseman Cory Lewis made a nice snag of a bad-hopper past the bag for the first out, then third baseman Joe Waked bobbled a grounder but made a nice recovery to throw to first where Lewis made a wide stretch to just beat a hustling Trevor Windisch for the second out.
But the Oilers (14-7), then ranked third in CIF Southern Section Division 1, weren’t done yet.
Ben McConnell sent a single through the hole between third and second and past diving shortstop Griffin Hennessey. J.J. Muratore then hit a quick grounder back to the mound, the ball hitting off Ohl who couldn’t recover in time. The Oilers now had the tying run at second and winning run at first, with the top of their order waiting. Lead-off hitter Dominic Abbadessa hit a sharp grounder toward the middle of the infield but Hennessey came up with a stop and forced out Muratore at second on a close play that ended the game.
Marina also had a two-run edge heading into the bottom of the fifth where it also dodged a bullet, thanks to two outstanding defensive plays in the outfield that would protect the lead. With one out and two Oilers on base, right-fielder Tyler Abend threw a missile to home to prevent a Huntington run from scoring. His throw reached catcher Tommy Verdugo who tagged Windisch as he headed home from second for a huge second out. Abbadessa came to the plate and sent a shot deep into center field where Will Pingle backtracked and came up with a big catch to end the threat.
“Our defense is phenomenal,” Ohl said. “Everybody played great, and I am where I am because of our defense.”
Huntington Coach Benji Medure agreed.
“They made some big-time plays,” he said. “When Landon [Silver] hit that home run [in the bottom of the seventh] to get us in the game I thought to myself, ‘Why did I send [Trevor] Windisch around to score from second [in the fifth]?’ That was on me, my mistake.”
Both Marina and Huntington had their aces on the mound. The Oilers countered with talented junior Hagen Danner who held the Vikings scoreless until two outs into the fourth. Waked began a Vikings rally that would end with two runs. He singled to right field and then scored when Abend doubled high off the screen in left field. Eric Anderson singled to center field and Abend came in from second to score for a 2-0 lead.
Ohl (4-3) sent the Oilers down in order in the bottom of the seventh, starting the game’s first 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts. Danner put the Vikings down in order in both the fifth and sixth innings.
In addition to striking out eight, Ohl ended up with an eight-hitter without allowing a walk. Danner gave up five hits and struck out nine.
“The kid did a good job,” Medure said of Ohl. “He stayed away from us most of the day and was tough with his pitches. I thought Hagen [Danner] also pitched real well and looked good. He hung up that one change-up where they got that double [Abend in the fourth inning].
“This isn’t the way we wanted things to go in our home opener in our new stadium, but there’s still a lot of baseball to be played. We fought and I’m proud of the way our kids battled back.”
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•Edison pulled into a tie with Huntington for second place in the Sunset League standings by downing visiting Los Alamitos, 4-3. A walk-off single by Kyler Arenado scored Connor Aoki for the win. Aoki had tied the score (3-3) two batters earlier with a single that knocked in Vince Inman.
Arenado finished three for four with a double, run scored and RBI. Senior right-hander Kaz Akamatsu didn’t allow an earned run in four relief innings.
The Chargers went to 4-3 in league and 8-12-1 overall, and dropped the Griffins to 3-4 in league.
Edison beat the Griffins twice last week, beginning with a 10-8 win at Los Alamitos April 13. They took the league series from the Griffins, 2-1.
“We showed a lot of resolve this week to be able to beat Los Alamitos twice in two nail-biters,” Edison Coach Cameron Chinn said. “Guys showed their mettle in pressure situations to put us ahead when we needed it. Let’s hope we can continue to build on this and garner more confidence for the stretch run.”
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•Fountain Valley scored a thrilling, come-from-behind 10-7 Sunset League victory Friday at Newport Harbor. The Barons scored four runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score, and Riley Hanson delivered a three-run home run in the top of the ninth to put the Barons in front for good.
Hanson went two for two, Justin Mazzone four for six, Justin Yang three for five and Michael Murphy had two hits including a home run and two RBIs.
Yang pitched three innings (two hits, three strikeouts) and got the win.
The Barons ran their league record to 3-4 and overall record to 13-8.
They lost two days earlier to the Sailors, 8-5, but won the league series, 2-1.
“I was so proud of our guys because they never quit,” Fountain Valley Coach Deric Yanagisawa said. “We’ve had some tough losses and we hung in there till the very end. We had a team meeting the day before and we talked about leadership, committing to one another and picking each other up. It was very gratifying to see them not quit today and show some character.
“Our bench was extremely helpful and they kept us in this game. I thought their energy was awesome throughout the entire game even when we were down by four runs. They deserve a lot of the credit for this win.”
Sunset League teams played again Wednesday but scores weren’t available at press time. Several league series will conclude at 3:15 p.m. Friday when Marina hosts Edison, Huntington hosts Newport Harbor, and Fountain Valley visits Los Alamitos.
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•Ocean View sits atop the Golden West League standings. The Seahawks remained undefeated and ran their league mark to 7-0 by defeating visiting Santa Ana Friday, 8-5. Senior right-hander Brandon Nicholson struck out six, allowed three his and a walk and didn’t give up a run in five innings.
The Seahawks completed a three-game league sweep of the Saints.
Ocean View hosted North Torrance Saturday and scored a 10-5 win over the Saxons. Braydon Salzman belted a grand slam and junior right-hander Joseph Romero pitched a complete-game victory, as the Seahawks improved to 9-7 overall.
Ocean View took on Westminster Wednesday in league play. The score wasn’t available at press time. The Seahawks and Lions meet for the third time in league play at 3:15 p.m. Friday at Westminster.
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CIF Weekly Rankings (released Monday)
Huntington Beach (No. 10, Division 1).
