Huntington Beach baseball captures National High School Invitational title

The Huntington Beach High baseball team won the prestigious National High School Invitational tournament on Saturday. The Oilers defeated Orange County foe JSerra 8-1 in the championship game, held at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

Huntington Beach won the NHSI for the second time in program history; the 2016 team also won the title. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Tyler Bellerose, who pitched into the seventh inning of the title game and also pitched three scoreless innings in relief earlier in the tournament, earned tournament MVP honors. Bellerose is committed to Pepperdine University.

Senior USC signee Dean Carpentier and senior Arizona State signee Ralphy Velazquez also earned all-tournament team honors for Huntington Beach (12-6), which has now won 10 straight games.

The Oilers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the title game on Tony Martinez’s RBI single, before JSerra tied it up in the seventh. The score stayed 1-1 until the ninth, when Huntington Beach erupted for seven runs.

After sophomore Linkin Garcia drove in a run, senior Aidan Espinoza tripled with the bases loaded to give the Oilers a 5-1 lead. Senior Bradley Navarro added a two-run triple of his own.

Huntington Beach became the third team to win multiple NHSI titles, joining Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran. Three of the four semifinalists also were from Orange County; Huntington Beach beat Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas 3-2 in one semifinal, while JSerra beat Santa Margarita 4-1 in the other semifinal.

The Huntington Beach baseball coaching staff, including head coach Benji Medure, center, poses with the championship trophy.

(Courtesy of Melissa Vandenbosch)

Following the win, Huntington Beach jumped up to No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 rankings released Monday. The Oilers were unranked last week.

Huntington Beach has a home-and-home with Corona del Mar this week in Surf League action, playing at the Sea Kings’ field on Tuesday and at home on Thursday. Next week the Oilers play in another prestigious tournament, the Boras Baseball Classic, hosted by Mater Dei and JSerra.

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