Notre Dame rallies past Huntington Beach in Boras Classic
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO >>
Huntington Beach had a five-run lead and was four outs away from winning another prestigious baseball tournament.
Then everything that could go wrong for the Oilers did go wrong.
Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks scored eight runs in the sixth inning to beat Huntington Beach 8-6 in the Boras Classic South championship game Friday night at JSerra High School.
By winning the Boras Classic South, the Knights (20-2) advance to the Boras Classic state championship game to play Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa, the Boras Classic North winner, on April 29 at Santa Clara University.
Huntington Beach had a 15-game winning streak going into Friday's game. That streak included winning the championship of the National High School Invitational in North Carolina two weeks ago.
Notre Dame scored the eight runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Knights got six hits in the inning, including a two-run single by Colin Brown and RBI singles by Kai Gonzaga and Dean West.
Two Huntington Beach infield errors and a wild pitch that sent in a run contributed to the Knights' rally.
“We're never out of it,” said Notre Dame senior second baseman Adam Shlesinger, who had a single and scored a run in the sixth. “Because 1 through 9 (in the batting order), we can all get it done. We have confidence in each other and just pass the baton.”
The Oilers took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. A double by Brian Trujillo drove in two runs.
They extended the lead to 5-0 with two runs in the fourth when Trujillo and Dean Carptenier had backto-back run-scoring singles.
Huntington Beach had the bases loaded after Carpentier's two-out hit, but could not score more runs.
Huntington Beach also had the bases loaded in the fifth inning with no outs but did not score, to the disappointment of Oilers coach Benji Medure.
“When we had the bases loaded (in the fifth) and didn't score, I didn't like that at all,” he said. “I thought that was the turning point in the game.”
The Oilers tried build a rally the seventh inning. Ralphy Velazquez led off the inning with a double to deep center field, and Aidan Espinoza sent him to third base with a single. Velazquez scored on a groundout.
But that was all they would get in the inning.
Notre Dame is ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and Huntington Beach (17-7) is No. 5.
Huntington Beach reached the Boras Classic South championship game with a 6-0 win over La Mirada in the first round, a 6-2 win over Mater Dei in the second round and a 4-1 win over Aquinas in the semifinals.
Notre Dame advanced to Friday's game with a 7-1 win over San Dimas in the first round, a 3-0 win over JSerra in the second round and a 1-0 win over Orange Lutheran in the semifinals.