Huntington Beach players, from left,Trent Grindlinger (28), John Petrie (47), and Phillip Kang (32) celebrate after Petrie scored the winning run to defeat Santa Margarita in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Huntington Beach High School in Huntington Beach on Friday, May 10, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
HUNTINGTON BEACH – The Huntington Beach baseball team was one strike away from the end of its season Friday.
The Oilers trailed Santa Margarita by one run in the bottom of the eighth inning. There were two outs and an 0-2 count on Trevor Goldenetz.
Goldenetz slashed a line drive to drive in Jeff Burden and John Petrie and give Huntington Beach a 3-2 victory over the Eagles in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals at Huntington Beach High.
The Oilers (23-8) will play at Corona (29-3) in the semifinals Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.
Huntington Beach has played Corona twice this season, a 4-2 loss in February and a 6-5 loss in the National High School Invitational in North Carolina last month.
Santa Margarita concludes the season at 21-9-1.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Mason Mautino started the inning with a double. Brady Schumaker was intentionally walked, Ben Finnegan singled to load the bases and Logan de Groot walked to send home Mautino.
A double play – Oilers shortstop Travis Curry to second baseman CJ Weinstein to first baseman Jayton Greer – ended the inning.
Huntington Beach pinch-hitter Phillip Kang hit an opposite-field double off of the fence in left field. Jeff Burden, pinch-running for Kang, advanced to third base on John Petrie’s single to right. Petrie moved to second base on a wild pitch, setting up Goldenetz’s at-bat and two-run winning hit.
Goldenetz’s plan with that 0-2 count?
Postgame with Huntington Beach junior Trevor Goldenetz who, with two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning, on an 0-2 pitch, got a 2-run hit in a 3-2 win over Santa Margarita … pic.twitter.com/vSFGThzLil
— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) May 11, 2024
“Anything,” he said. “Put something in play. Beat it out. Anything.”
The game featured two of Orange County’s better starting pitchers, Santa Margarita senior right-hander Cade Townsend and Huntington Beach senior right-hander Nathan Aceves. Both were outstanding Friday.
Aceves, who signed with UC Santa Barbara, did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. He went 6⅔ innings, gave up no earned runs and two hits with one walk. He hit one batter and had nine strikeouts.
Townsend, who signed with Mississippi and is widely projected to be an MLB early-round draft choice this summer, pitched six innings. He allowed five hits – a large number, for him – and three walks with nine strikeouts.
Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure lamented that his team could not get a timely hit against Townsend but liked how his team performed against him.
“The guy’s throwing 95, 96 miles an hour with a hammer of a slider,” Medure said. “I thought we did a good job of battling him all day long.”
Junior first baseman Jayton Greer gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead with a home run in the fourth inning.
Santa Margarita tied it in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Blake Ankrum singled. Carter Enoch followed with a line-drive base hit to right-center. In an effort to get Ankrum at third base, a throw from the outfield skipped into the Huntington Beach dugout, which allowed Ankrum to score and make it 1-1.
The Oilers had a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh when they had the bases loaded and one out. That opportunity ended on a sharp double play by the Eagles, as third baseman Andre Owens picked off a hard-hit ground ball, threw quickly to catcher Enoch who gunned it to first baseman Ankrum to end the inning.
By reaching the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game Huntington Beach has qualified for the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs that follow the CIF-SS finals and start May 28.
But first, the Oilers play Corona, the No. 1 team in the Prep Baseball California state rankings. Huntington Beach is ranked No. 10.
“We know all about them,” Medure said. “They know all about us. It’s going to be a battle.”
The Eagles finished second in the Trinity League. They were a CIF-SS Division 1 finalist last season and won the CIF Southern California Regional Division I championship last season.
Huntington Beach is 1-1 in CIF-SS baseball finals. The Oilers won the Division 1 championship in 2015, their most-recent final.
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