The Grindlinger Brothers Blast The Oilers To A Sweep Of SeaKings
Trent launches his fifth homer of the season, while younger brother Jared makes his first trip around the bases in 2025
The Huntington Beach Oilers (12-1) complete their second sweep of a Sunset League rival with a 2-0 victory against the Corona Del Mar SeaKings (7-10), Friday afternoon from Corona Del Mar High School. With the win, the Oilers stay atop of the Sunset League standings with a polished 8-0 mark and are currently riding a five-game winning streak.
Offense was few and far between as the scoring kicked off two batters into the game as Trent Grindlinger launched his fifth dinger of the year, the opposite way over the right field fence. This is the second time in 2025 that the future Mississippi State Bulldog has home runs in back-to-back games. As the score stayed 1-0 all the way into the seventh inning, off the bench, Jared Grindlinger squared up an outside changeup and provided the Oilers pitching staff with some insurance. The sophomore, who has been a super utility player this year bouncing back and forth between pitching and hitting, connected on his first high school home run as he only pitched during his freshman campaign.
On the bump, Tyler Bellerose attacked SeaKings batters with a heavy dose of his signature breaking ball that buckled five different batters through the first two innings. The senior right-hander would collect a season-high, seven strikeouts in four innings, capping the day off by slithering out of a bases loaded one-out jam with consecutive punch outs of JJ Haley and Jackson McDonald. The lefty Tanner Brown, appearing in his third game, matched Bellerose by tossing three shutout frames, yielding only one hit and sitting down the final eight batters of the contest.
Diving into the numbers, today's 2-0 win is the first time the Oilers pitching staff posted a shutout since April 20, 2024 when they defeated Oaks Christian, 5-0. Last season, Huntington Beach made pitching coach Adam Springston proud with a grand total of six shutouts. Also, the all orange uniforms continue to be a good luck charm as the Oilers improve to 3-0.
Oilers Scoring Plays:
Top 1: Trent Grindlinger Homers to RF (1-0 HB)
Top 7: Jared Grindlinger Homers to RF (2-0 HB)
Stars of the Game:
Trent Grindlinger: Solo HR
Jared Grindlinger: Solo HR
Tyler Bellerose: 4 IP, 0 ER, 7 K (W)
Tanner Brown: 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 K (SV)
Following the series sweep, the Oilers will head on a plane Monday morning to prepare for the 2025 NHSI Tournament in Cary, NC. The 16-team format will begin for the Oilers in round one on Wednesday, April 9 as they go head-to-head against Poly Prep (Brooklyn, NY). Huntington Beach are two-time champions of this prestigious tournament with the most recent trophy coming back in 2023. You can listen to the game on hbhsathletics.mixlr.com with the "Voice of the Oilers" Dominick Lorenz, beginning at 7:45 AM (PT) with the pregame show followed by first pitch at 8:00 AM (PT)!
LISTEN TO HUNTINGTON BEACH VS. CORONA DEL MAR SEAKINGS HIGHLIGHTS HERE (CLICK IMAGE BELOW):
