Newport Harbor baseball takes series against top-ranked Huntington Beach
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The Newport Harbor High baseball team did more than just add some intrigue into the Sunset League race with its three-game series with Huntington Beach this week.
The Sailors nearly swept one of the top-ranked teams in the state of California.
Newport Harbor punctuated its series win Friday with a 6-3 score in the rubber match at the Oilers’ field.
Senior pitcher Lucas Perez threw his glove toward his dugout in celebration after earning the complete-game victory for the Sailors, who knocked off the top-ranked team in Southern California for the second straight time.
Second-place Newport Harbor (19-6, 11-4 in league) plays three games with Marina next week to wrap up its league schedule. Huntington Beach (19-4, 12-2), which is attempting to win its ninth straight league title, plays against Edison next week before closing out with a home game against Fountain Valley on May 6.
“We were excited to prove people wrong,” said Perez, who improved to 4-1 on the mound Friday and also cranked his third home run of the campaign. “Honestly, winning two out of three was a surprise to everybody, except everybody on our team. We were going into that week expecting to beat them.
“We know what we’re able to achieve. We’re certainly still humble in that way, but we know the brand of baseball we can play. Throughout that first game on Tuesday, we felt in control the entire time. In the seventh inning, as they walked us off, that pitch was the only point that we felt like we weren’t ahead of them and we weren’t better than those guys.”
Huntington Beach had indeed earned a come from behind walk-off win in the series opener, as Jared Grindlinger’s two-run home run capped a 4-2 win. But Newport Harbor came back with a 5-2 win on Tuesday, behind stellar pitching from Tyler Clark and Elijah Haseth.
The Sailors ended the week with a bang. Senior Wyatt Gahm, a team captain along with Perez and junior leadoff hitter Ryan Williams, also launched a solo homer for the winners.
“When we lost on Tuesday, they were pissed because it meant that we couldn’t sweep Huntington,” Sailors coach Josh Lee said with a smile. “You think to yourself how delusional that is as a coach. … You hear something they say, and you’re like, ‘oh, I should probably think about it the way you do.’”
Huntington Beach took an early lead, as Trevor Goldenetz singled in the first inning, stole second and scored on successive throwing errors. The Sailors came back for two runs in both the third and fourth innings off Oilers starting pitcher Tyler Bellerose, taking a 4-1 lead to stun the hosts.
The Oilers’ Jayton Greer launched his fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning, a solo shot, and Goldenetz’ bases-loaded sacrifice fly scored Grindlinger to draw the Oilers closer at 4-3. But Perez got CJ Weinstein to pop out to get out of the jam.
He then retired Huntington Beach in order in each of the last three innings. Eight of the nine outs were recorded via fly balls to the outfield.
Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure’s team has 14 college baseball commits, and he’s called it his most talented. But he expressed disappointment after the game about the team’s batting approach Friday.
“We see a ball go out of the park, and then everybody wants to do it,” Medure said. “Nobody’s willing to humble themselves and just stay simple, do what it takes to win a game. We have all of these committed guys, and they can hit the ball out of the park, but they’re not willing to drive somebody in when they get to second base because they want to hit the ball out of the park. That’s where my disappointment lies in our team, no one really wants to humble themselves and pass the baton, and I’m 100% not happy about that.”
Williams, Adam Martin, Gavin Guy, Perez and Gahm — the Sailors’ first five hitters in the order — each had one run batted in. Williams and Martin were both two for three, with Williams hustling for a one-out double in the sixth inning before Martin singled him in.
Newport Harbor may or may not rally for the league title, but what is clear is that the Sailors are strong on and off the field. The program has been there for senior Parker Chavez, who lost his father before the season began. Then, in season, Lee said that junior varsity player Luke Mitchell lost his father, Steve.
“Both of those deaths were very hard on the program,” Gahm said. “I would say it shocked us, it really did, but I feel like we grew from that as a team. It helped us get a lot closer … this is just a very tight group.”
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