Baseball: Oilers stay perfect early
The last time Benji Medure’s former high school traveled to play the Huntington Beach baseball team he coaches was four years ago. The trip is one Coach Gary Voelker said he and Riverside Poly always enjoy because it gives the Bears a chance to face one of the top programs and they get to play close to the beach.
For Medure, whenever the Oilers and Bears play, the contest is always a family affair. He coached with Voelker at Poly, both as assistants. He played with Poly’s hitting coach. He coached Poly’s pitching coach.
Medure saw those good friends on Wednesday, as well as his family, which is from Riverside. Medure’s parents made it out, and this time Joe and Martha saw their son beat his alma mater in Huntington Beach.
The Oilers jumped ahead to a three-run lead in the first inning, and they won, 7-1, to remain undefeated early in the season.
UCLA-bound senior Hagen Danner went two for three with three runs batted in, and USC commit Nick Pratto singled, walked and stole two bases for Huntington Beach (3-0), ranked No. 5 in the nation by PerfectGame.org.
The Oilers are so talented that Voelker said you have to play a perfect game to beat them. Three games into the year, Huntington Beach has outscored opponents, 21-1.
Poly became the first team to score on the Oilers, ending their 17-inning scoreless start to the season. Other than the one run starter Dylan Ramirez allowed, the left-handed sophomore picked up the win. He threw four strong innings, giving up five hits, striking out two and walking none.
“We’re not quite there,” said Voelker, whose team was held hitless in the last three innings by reliever Josh Hahn. “I start three sophomores. We felt today that out of the seven runs we gave them four because we weren’t able to control the base pads, and of course in the [sixth] inning, we gave them three [by walking three batters, hitting one, balking once and committing an error].
“The last time I was here we fortunately beat these guys in the second round of the [CIF Southern Section Division 1] playoffs in 2013.”
The second round is also the stage where the Oilers saw their season end last year, in a 4-3 loss at home to Orange Lutheran in eight innings.
The Oilers and Lancers (2-0), ranked No. 1 in the country, will meet again on the same field on Saturday at noon. Medure said Danner, a right-hander, will start on the mound, and he expects Orange Lutheran to throw lefty Jason Farese.
“It’s always a fun game,” Danner said. “I love having fun against [Orange Lutheran].”
The Oilers’ good times began early against Poly (1-2).
Pratto led off the bottom of the first inning with a single. The senior got the green light on a 3-0 count and the left-handed hitter knocked the pitch into right-center field. Pratto stole second base, and four pitches later, starter Nathan Hemmerling appeared to get Pratto out at second base.
Ben McConnell hit a comebacker to Hemmerling, who quickly fired to second base. Pratto avoided the tag by shortstop Clifford Pradd. The Oilers had two runners on with no one out, and those two moved up a base on a wild pitch.
A pitch later, Danner hit a single past first baseman Cole Percival, the son of former Angels closer Troy Percival, driving in Pratto. McConnell motored home on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. The Oilers added a run on Hahn’s groundout.
Danner drove in a second run in the third inning. After McConnell doubled toward the right-field line, Danner easily brought him home. With the infield playing in, Danner hit a line drive past a diving Pradd.
Hemmerling gave up singles to Trevor Windisch and Nick Lopez, loading up the bases. The junior got out of the jam, getting Garrett Runyan to hit a grounder to Pradd, who stepped on the second-base bag and fired to first to complete an inning-ending double play.
The fourth is when Poly ended the shutout. Connor Timko led off with a single and Trevor Mattson followed up with a double down the third-base line. Cole Percival’s groundout produced the Bears’ lone run.
“It was an emotional day for sure, just seeing the green and orange [colors of Poly] out here,” said Medure, a 1992 graduate of Poly, where he coached at the school for eight years, before taking over at Huntington Beach in 2001. “I’m a Bear at heart, but by default, I come down here, and now I’m an Oiler.
“It’s going to be fun in the next couple of years when I get to [coach] against [Poly during nonleague play]. I actually have three nephews that are going to be going [to Poly in the coming years]. We got to keep this thing going for another 10 years, so I can see all my nephews play.”
Nonleague
Huntington Beach 7, Poly 1
Poly 000 100 0 – 1 5 1
Huntington 301 003 x – 7 7 0
Hemmerling, Schanz (6), Parras (6) and Inman; Ramirez, Hahn (5) and Danner, Lopez. W – Ramirez, 1-0. L – Hemmerling, 0-1. 2B – Adame (P), Mattson (P).
Twitter: @ByDCP
