Orange County Prep Baseball : Haack Pitches Huntington Beach to 3rd-Place Berth : Defending 4-A Champion Fountain Valley Eliminated

Outside of the velocity on his fastball, a good gauge of Jeff Haack’s intensity is the number of times the Huntington Beach High School pitcher slaps his glove on his right leg.

Haack must have had a nice bruise on his thigh Saturday after throwing an eight-hitter to lead the Oilers to a 2-0 victory over Fountain Valley, the defending Southern Section 4-A champion.

Forget the ice pack for his arm. Better wrap one around his leg.

“It gets me pumped up,” Haack said of his Tug McGraw-like mannerisms around the mound. “And I’ll do anything I can to get up in key situations.”

Saturday’s game was about as key as they come. The stakes were clear: The winner would clinch third place in the Sunset League and a Southern Section 4-A playoff spot. The loser would finish its season.

Haack responded with what Huntington Beach Coach Mike Dodd called one of his best performances of the season. The senior left-hander struck out only four but didn’t walk a batter and didn’t allow a runner past second base.

Fountain Valley right-hander Rob Flinn was also up to the task. He came through with a four-hitter.

Flinn made just one mistake, though, and it cost him the game.

After walking Jim Dedrick in the first inning, Flinn got a curveball slightly up to Oiler first baseman Greg Chizek.

Chizek hit the ball off the inside part of his bat, but he got enough into his swing to clear the left-field fence, which is about 300 feet from the plate. It’s doubtful the ball traveled more than 330 feet, but it was still good for two runs and a large-enough cushion for Haack.

“I thought it was a pop fly, but the ball just carried,” Baron Coach Tom DeKraai said. “We jammed him, but it was a curveball and he had time to get his bat around.”

Fountain Valley did hit Haack fairly well. The Barons had two doubles and six singles, but the Oiler defense and Haack’s timely pitching prevented Fountain Valley from scoring.

Huntington Beach shortstop Rick Eusey had seven assists and twice fielded grounders behind second base to throw runners out.

Detrick, the second baseman, began a double play in the second inning and charged in to field a slow, fifth-inning grounder and make an off-balance throw to get Scott DuCouer at first.

Haack, who broke the school record for wins with his 10th of the season, picked Terry Reichert off first in the fourth inning, and it probably saved him a run. The next batter, Cal Davis, doubled to left-center, but Haack retired Mark Magran for the final out.

“My hitters were aggressive, and they put the ball in play,” DeKraai said. “I felt if we could put it in play, the Huntington Beach defense wouldn’t hold up, but they played well today. They have a good little club, and they deserve everything they got.”

Outside of the two who scored on Chizek’s homer, only one other runner reached second base for the Oilers (8-7, 13-11). Flinn, after hitting Eusey with a pitch in the second, retired 11 of the last 13 batters.

Reichert had two hits and twice threw out runners attempting to steal for the Barons (6-8-1, 13-10-1). Fountain Valley also played errorless defense and turned a double play.