Huntington Beach baseball surges past Villa Park into SoCal Regional final
Jack Smith pitched out of the bullpen for much of the season for the Huntington Beach High baseball team.
With fellow seniors Ben Jacobs and Matthew Lopez starting the majority of the games, Smith thrived in his role.
And with the Oilers needing a victory Thursday to keep their season alive, Smith dominated as a starting pitcher against one of the best-hitting teams in the state.
Smith pitched into the seventh inning and struck out 12 as Huntington Beach earned a 9-2 victory over Villa Park in a CIF Southern California Regional Division I playoff semifinal game at Huntington Beach High.
No. 6-seeded Huntington Beach (24-9) plays at top-seeded JSerra (25-10) in the regional title game on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“We just go out there and do everything we can to win,” said Smith, bound for Cal State Northridge, who allowed one earned run on six hits. “Leave it all on the field. Since today was my last game, I left everything on the field.”
Smith also got plenty of run support against Villa Park (28-6). The visiting Spartans scored their only run in the top of the first when Britton Beeson cranked a one-out home run to left field, but the Oilers responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning against Villa Park starting pitcher AJ Krodel.
Krodel had pitched a complete game when Villa Park beat Huntington Beach 7-2 earlier this season in a Boras Classic quarterfinal game, on its way to the title of the prestigious tournament.
“He dominated us the first time we played them in the Boras,” Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure said. “I think our guys wanted to prove something to him. He left a couple of balls up and we took advantage of it. Really, we just found some holes in the first inning. It was nice to give us a little cushion there.”
With one out in the bottom of the first, Ralph Velazquez laced a double to right, and Brian Trujillo followed with a full-count walk. Velazquez scored on Trent Grindlinger’s infield single, when the throw to first got away.
Dean Carpentier followed with a run-scoring single to left, before Antonio Ventimiglia’s single loaded the bases. Nick Dumesnil and Tony Martinez followed with singles that combined to score three more runs, and Dumesnil beat the throw home to score on Cade Hart’s sacrifice bunt.
In all, eight straight players reached base, the Oilers had a 6-1 lead, and Krodel’s day was done.
“I feel like we did really good today because we just stayed simple,” said Martinez, a sophomore who finished the game three for three with three RBIs. “We passed the baton and played as a team today. And, pitching, Jack did a phenomenal job and kept throwing strikes. I know he gave up the home run in the first, and that was fine. He kept battling back and pounding the zone.”
Huntington Beach added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The first run came on a solo home run to left by leadoff hitter Aidan Espinoza.
Velazquez had two doubles for the winners. He scored twice, as did Carpentier.
Meanwhile, Smith kept grinding, effectively using his sinker. He wanted the complete game but was lifted for closer Adyn Lucero after Villa Park’s Justin Tims and Gavin Rossi reached on an infield single and an error, respectively, to start the top of the seventh. The Spartans were able to score one run, but that was it.
“Jack has the competitive fire, and you saw it today,” Medure said. “He was able to mix, work in and out, and he did a really good job tying them down. I think the wind held some balls in, but he made pitches that he had to in some really tough spots.”
Huntington Beach will play JSerra, the CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion, for the second time this season on Saturday. The Oilers beat the Lions 4-1 in a nonleague game on March 1.
Medure said he was hit with emotion after the final pitch Thursday.
“We talked about playing with each other,” he said. “For everybody to contribute and for everybody to pull from the same end of the rope, at the end of the year when we were down and lost in the [CIF Southern Section Division 1] semis? I’m pretty freaking proud of those kids.”
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