Bradley Navarro’s walk-off blast lifts Huntington Beach baseball over CdM
It’s a well-known tradition for the Huntington Beach High baseball team.
An extended version of “Intro/Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, live from Hyde Park, plays as the Oilers prepare for each home game.
The team listened to the tune again Thursday before hosting Corona del Mar in a Surf League game. One thing that Huntington Beach can’t stop doing right now is winning.
Senior Bradley Navarro hit a walk-off two-run home run, propelling Huntington Beach to a 10-8 victory.
It’s the 12th win in a row for the Oilers (14-6, 4-1 in league), who remain in first place, ahead of second-place Los Alamitos (2-2 in league). Huntington Beach is seeking its seventh straight league title.
Huntington is the top-ranked team in Orange County, and moved up to No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll after winning the prestigious National High School Invitational tournament in North Carolina last weekend. The Oilers have clearly put a 2-6 start to the season behind them.
“We were a play away from winning in almost every one of [the losses],” longtime coach Benji Medure said. “You know, baseball was happening. It was just little things — hitting balls right at people, and then they would have a seeing-eye single that scored a run. I just kept telling the boys, ‘This is baseball, it’s going to even out.’ I was hoping it would even out sooner rather than later, and it has. We’ve responded well. There’s some tough kids on this team.”
One of them is Navarro, whose third home run of the season ended Thursday’s game. The switch-hitter is known for his power from the right side, and he connected on a fastball up in the zone.
Medure said Navarro is known as “PG-13” from the left side, more of a contact hitter, but he’s considered “R-rated” from the right side.
“Confidence was through the roof,” Navarro said. “It just felt so pure when I hit the ball.”
Senior Colby Turner had drawn a full-count walk leading off the bottom of the seventh, before Navarro’s blast scored both himself and pinch-runner Jett Burden.
It was a tough loss for Corona del Mar (8-10, 1-3 in league), which had battled back after falling behind early.
Huntington Beach senior Dean Carpentier led off the bottom of the first with a walk, and Linkin Garcia singled. Both were brought home after Ralph Velazquez crushed a fastball over the fence in right-center, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead.
Dennis Fitzpatrick hit a solo home run in the second inning for the Sea Kings, before a wild third inning that saw both teams bat around.
CdM scored six runs in the top of the frame, capped by a grand slam by Nick Salmon that gave CdM a stunning 7-3 lead. The home run was the first of the season for Salmon, who also had three hits and allowed one run in three relief innings as pitcher.
“They’re the top-ranked team in Orange County, and we did enough offensively to win that game,” CdM coach Kevin McCaffrey said. “We could have folded after the first inning, and they bounced back. We haven’t been performing offensively, and for our guys to show that we really can do it against a great team is a really good step for us.”
Huntington Beach scratched out four runs in the bottom of the third, tying the score at 7-7. Senior Brian Trujillo hit a two-run single.
CdM took an 8-7 lead in the top of the sixth, as Brady Gadol’s RBI single plated Salmon. But Huntington Beach responded in the bottom of the sixth. Tony Martinez reached on an infield single leading off the inning, and eventually scored on a passed ball.
Nathan Aceves (3-1) got the win in relief for the Oilers, pitching a scoreless seventh.
Both teams are in tournaments next week. CdM heads to the Palm Desert tournament, opening against Bishop Amat on Monday at 4 p.m.
Huntington Beach, meanwhile, will again take part in the prestigious Boras Classic. The Oilers open against La Mirada on Tuesday at 3 p.m., at Mater Dei High.
It is the teams’ first meeting since La Mirada edged Huntington Beach 2-1 in the first round of the 2019 Boras Classic.
“We’re going to rest this weekend, enjoy Easter and be back at practice on Monday,” Medure said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge of what I think is one of the best tournaments in America.”
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