Newport Harbor baseball blasts past Point Loma to advance to regional final
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The Newport Harbor High baseball team had to regroup after a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs.
Several teams opted out of the CIF Southern California Regional Playoffs. But for the Sailors, it was an opportunity for a group of good friends to come back to the diamond and represent their high school at least three more times.
The Sailors brought in 2025 graduate Lucas Perez, who was a freshman catcher on the 2022 regional championship team, to come speak to the current players.
“He came and talked to them about the experience, telling them that it’s worth it,” Sailors coach Josh Lee said. “These regionals are worth it. You have an opportunity to play baseball together, play as a team. I thought they listened to it.”
Newport Harbor now finds itself a win away from another regional crown.
The No. 2-seeded Sailors came back to beat No. 3 Point Loma, 11-6, in a Division II regional semifinal on Wednesday afternoon at Newport Harbor High. Newport will host No. 4 Bakersfield Christian in the regional championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Grant Horsley, a junior, finished four for four with a double and four runs batted in on Wednesday for Newport Harbor (24-10). Horsley also pitched 4 ⅓ innings of shutout baseball in relief of junior starting pitcher Keaton Anderson, who has been excellent all season for the Sailors.
“He gets no love compared to a lot of guys in this league,” Lee said of Horsley. “There’s a lot of D1 teams that need to wake the hell up and figure it out, because man, he’s really good. He’s special on the mound, but he’s even more special at [shortstop], and we know exactly what he can do at the plate. The kid is an all-around player.”
Point Loma (20-12-1) scored three runs in the top of the first, including home runs by Hunter Reddeg and starting pitcher Ace Selchow, who went deep twice in the contest. But Newport Harbor responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame.
Ryan Williams walked, Gavin Guy was hit by a pitch and Henry Mann walked. Horsley brought in two runs with a ground-rule double to left, and Brooks Francis followed with an infield single that brought home another run. Oren Damush lined a two-out single to left for the fourth run.
The Sailors had at least one hit in every inning, with Lee calling it their best offensive performance of the season.
“We kind of tend to score in spurts throughout the year, so this one was pretty cool, to see them do it on a consistent basis,” he said.
Point Loma took a 6-5 lead in the top of the third on a solo homer to left field by Selchow, but Horsley came in and was lights out for the duration. He allowed just three hits.
The Sailors scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, with sophomore leadoff hitter Keoni Wun providing a big two-run single with one out that gave the hosts a 7-6 lead. Williams then walked, and an out later, Mann also walked to load the bases.
Horsley followed with a squeeze bunt on a 3-and-1 pitch, scoring another run.
“My coach told me that if it got to 3-1, look for the third baseman to be back,” Horsley said. “He was back, so I laid it down.”
The Sailors added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, as Guy laced a bases-clearing single to center field.
The Sailors will have Guy, their senior ace, eligible to pitch up to three innings in the regional final on Saturday. Guy threw seven shutout innings Tuesday, as the Sailors beat San Diego Madison 2-0 to open the regional playoffs.
Horsley said the chance to win the program’s second regional title in five seasons is not lost on the players.
“It’s big for our team,” he said. “Obviously, dropping that game to Ganesha last week in the semifinals was pretty tough on us. Then we found out we’ve got another opportunity to play ball. We want it real bad, and now we get a home game for the regional championship. We could not be more stoked.”
