Two Home Runs Sink Huntington Beach In First Loss This Season

The Huntington Beach Oilers (7-1) suffer their first loss of the season against La Mirada Matadores (9-1) in the second round of the Boras Baseball Classic, Wednesday afternoon from Mater Dei High School. This loss sends the Oilers to the consolation portion of the bracket for the first time after making the semifinals in 2024 and the championship game in 2023. Starting Pitcher Jared Grindlinger, who suffered the loss, navigated around the dynamic Matadores all afternoon, with his only blemish being a two-run home run off the bat of Kevin Jeon. The sophomore starter capped his performance with a pair of strikeouts through three innings. The Oilers turned to their bullpen of Duncan McLeod and Tanner Brown, who combined to toss four innings allowing two runs, three hits and five strikeouts.

It was a quiet day for the Oilers offense who generated just one run, their lowest total in a single game this season. The score came in the bottom of the fifth as Ethan Porter notched his first home run of the season out to left-center field. Cole Clark contributed with a pair of singles, his first multi-hit game this season, snapping a 0-for-11 streak.        

With today's second round loss, the Oilers will move to the consolation portion of the Boras Baseball Classic bracket and face the Carlsbad Lancers, following their 11-4 loss to the Mater Dei Monarchs. This will be the first head-to-head matchup between these two programs in the last 20 years of regular season or playoff action. Tournament play will begin at 3 PM from Mater Dei High School with the pregame show beginning at 2:45 PM on hbhsathletics.mixlr.com.  

Oilers Scoring Plays: 

Bottom 5: Ethan Porter Homers to LCF (3-1 LM)

Stars of the Game: 

Ethan Porter: 1-3, HR, BB

Cole Clark: 2-3, SB

Duncan McLeod: 2 IP, 1 ER, 3 K

Following the Boras Baseball Classic (March 25-28), the Oilers will return to Sunset League action Tuesday, April 1, as they hit the road to kick off a three-game series against the Corona Del Mar SeaKings. You can listen to the game on hbhsathletics.mixlr.com with the "Voice of the Oilers" Dominick Lorenz, beginning at 3:00 PM with the pregame show followed by first pitch at 3:15 PM!