Matthew Lopez’s gem helps Huntington Beach baseball top rival Edison
The Surf League baseball campaign is not a marathon.
At just nine games, it’s more like a sprint, and defending champion Huntington Beach is again quick out of the blocks.
Oilers senior right-handed pitcher Matthew Lopez pitched into the seventh inning Friday in a 3-1 victory at Edison, as Huntington Beach improved to 2-0 in league.
The Oilers (6-4) are going for their sixth straight league title, not counting the 2020 league season that was wiped out due to the coronavirus pandemic. They have now won 13 straight league games overall, but longtime coach Benji Medure sees his team winning games a different way in 2022.
“For the last couple of years, it’s kind of been the aerial show, trying to hit the ball out of the park,” Medure said. “This team’s a little bit different. We’ve got to grind a little bit, we’re going to have to steal bases, and that’s what helped us win the game today.”
Lopez, who improved to 2-1 this season, also certainly aided the visitors’ chances. He had a two-hit shutout going before Edison’s Brandon Winokur smacked his team-best fourth home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning.
A one-out pinch-hit single brought the tying run to the plate and ended Lopez’s day, but senior closer Adyn Lucero got back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
“Our terms [for finishing the game] were no base runners in the last inning, and obviously I gave up a home run and a single,” Lopez said. “But I wasn’t worried about it. I trust our closers.”
Lopez struck out six and walked two in his 6 1/3 innings of work, handing Edison (7-7) a loss in its league opener.
“They’re an aggressive fastball-hitting team, so we knew he had to establish his slider,” Medure said. “There’s been days where he hasn’t had it, and he’s had to battle with his changeup and his fastball. The fact that he had his slider working today really made it tough on them.”
Lopez also scored Huntington Beach’s first run of the game in the second inning, when he singled to right and was brought home on a two-out single by Cade Hart. The Oilers doubled their lead in the fourth, when Lopez reached on an infield error that plated Nick Dumesnil.
Huntington Beach loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, and Lopez’s sacrifice fly to center scored Aiden Espinoza for the Oilers’ third run.
“The biggest run was the sac fly from Lopez,” Medure said. “He did it in all facets today.”
Brian Trujillo and Dean Carpentier also had hits for the winners.
Edison got a solid outing from senior starting pitcher Tucker Fountain, who lasted six innings, striking out three and walking one. Zack Marker pitched a scoreless seventh for the hosts, who also got singles from Winokur and Josh Nowlin.
Chargers coach Nick Cappuccilli, in his first year guiding his alma mater, said the team has been playing well. Edison had won six of its last eight games headed into league play.
“We’re putting things together nicely,” Cappuccilli said. “Huntington is a good team, and I liked our chances today. We were right there with them, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Huntington Beach has some key tournaments coming up in April, with the National High School Invitational Tournament in North Carolina beginning April 6. The closer-to-home Boras Classic starts on April 19.
Still, winning another league title remains a top priority. The Oilers continue Surf League play with a home game against Los Alamitos on Saturday at 11 a.m., a game that Medure said will be started by UCLA-bound left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs.
“There’s definitely a lot of important games outside of league too, but obviously league comes first,” Lopez said. “I think we’re coming back with the title again.”
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