JSerra baseball rallies to beat Huntington Beach for Newport Elks Tournament title
IRVINE — Two of the hottest high school baseball teams in Southern California met Friday night at Orange County Great Park.
A great game is what developed between Huntington Beach and JSerra, as the Oilers and Lions played for the Newport Elks Tournament Frank Lerner Division title.
A split second separated the game from going to extra innings. Instead, a close call against the Oilers ended it suddenly.
JSerra pinch-runner Anthony Aleman scored on a close play at home plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh as the Lions rallied for a 3-2 victory.
It’s the first loss of the season for Huntington Beach (5-1), ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll.
No. 4 JSerra improved to 7-0.
Colin Blanchard led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, and he was sacrificed over by Owen Fuller. After the Oilers intentionally walked JSerra leadoff hitter Cody Schrier, Jake Taylor reached when his ball took a bad hop and got past Huntington Beach shortstop Brady Malpass.
JSerra’s Gabe D’Arcy flied out to shallow right field, near the foul line. Aleman tagged up and came charging home. Jag Burden’s throw from right was online, but the home-plate umpire ruled that Aleman just got under the tag of Oilers catcher Ryan Navarro.
JSerra rallied from a two-run deficit. The designated home team tied the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Caden Aoki, who was a sophomore standout at Edison last year, adds depth at pitcher for the Oilers in 2020. Huntington Beach has won three straight league titles.
D’Arcy led off the inning with a double, and Luke Jewett followed with a bunt single. Huntington Beach nearly got out of the jam, but Colby Canales stroked a two-out single to right field, scoring Jewett.
The Oilers had struck first in the top of the second inning. With one out, Blake Penso legged out an infield single to shortstop. He came home when Ralph Velazquez hit a two-out single to center.
Huntington Beach doubled its lead in the top of the fourth. With one out, Noah Madole was hit by a pitch, and he stole second.
Penso was up next. He crushed a 2-and-2 pitch but pulled it foul down the left-field line. On the next pitch, Penso roped a run-scoring double that rolled to the wall in left-center field.
Jewett led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk, and moved to second on a pickoff error by Huntington Beach starting pitcher Shane Stafford. Jared Glenn then walked for the Lions, and the runners moved to second and third when Stafford balked.
Stafford was able to get out of the jam cheaply enough. Canales popped out to shallow left field, as Oilers shortstop Michael Coburn came out to make a diving grab. Jewett scored on a wild pitch, but Stafford struck out Max Imhoff and Blanchard to escape further trouble.
Stafford allowed one run and one hit in four innings, before he was relieved by Nick Skorheim, Nate Skorheim and finally Coburn in the seventh inning.
Senior right-handed pitcher Cameron Cooke got the win in relief for JSerra.
The Oilers and Lions don’t have to wait long to play again. Huntington Beach plays at JSerra in a nonleague doubleheader Tuesday, beginning at 3 p.m.
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