Winning Wednesday; Jared Grindlinger Hits And Pitches His Way To A Successful Birthday Celebration
Two lopsided innings and a near no-hitter set the tone as the Oilers stay in winning cruise control
The Huntington Beach Oilers (17-2) pick up back-to-back wins against Sunset League rival Los Alamitos Griffins (15-6-2) by the final of 8-1, Wednesday afternoon from Los Alamitos High School. This win keeps the Oilers in the midst of a three-game winning streak and improves their record to 14-0 when scoring first in a game.
Jared Grindlinger, who came to the ballpark feeling like a brand new kid as he celebrates his 16th birthday, diced up the Griffins lineup with ease through four innings. The sophomore recorded three 1-2-3 frames, with his only blemish being a one-out walk in the first inning to Cade Barnett. Other than the walk, the southpaw collected four strikeouts and left the game unhittable.
Being in a giving and celebrating mood, the Oilers offense got to work in the third as the bottom of the order set the table for clutch at-bats to come, With two runners in scoring position, Trevor Goldenentz capitalized on a fielding error (via a ground ball) at second to drive in Jason Dunham. Two pitches later, mother nature's sunshine aided CJ Weinstein with a single to right field, scoring Matt Haidl.
In the fifth, the flood gates opened for Huntington Beach as they sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring on six runs and six hits. Goldenetz plated a pair of runs with an infield single, Weinstein tripled, Trent Grindlinger produced run support for his younger brother with a single to left and the birthday boy drove in a run for himself as well. A six-run fifth inning on this day became the highest scoring fifth inning and second-highest overall inning for the Oilers this season.
The bullpen would factor into the equation as Duncan McLeod (5th), Ashton Arroyo (6th) and Jared Marchbank (7th) combined to go three innings, yielding just one hit and one unearned-run with five strikeouts.
With today's win, the Oilers now have won their last four games at Los Alamitos high school (dating back to 2023), combining to score 36 runs which averages out to nine runs per/game. Huntington Beach also improves their record within Sunset League play to 10-0.
Oilers Scoring Plays:
Top 3: Trevor Goldenetz Reaches on Error, Jason Dunham Scores (1-0 HB)
Top 3: CJ Weinstein Singles to RF, Matt Haidl Scores (2-0 HB)
Top 5: Trevor Goldenetz Singles to Second Base, Jason Dunham and Matt Haidl Scores (4-0 HB)
Top 5: CJ Weinstein Triples to RF, Trevor Goldenetz Scores (5-0 HB)
Top 5: Trent Grindlinger Singles to LF, CJ Weinstein Scores (6-0 HB)
Top 5: Jared Grindlinger Singles to RF, Micah Riola Scores (7-0 HB)
Top 5: Jason Dunham Grounds Out to Pitcher, Ethan Porter Scores (8-0 HB)
Stars of the Game:
Jared Grindlinger: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 4 K (W) & 2-3, RBI
CJ Weinstein: 2-4, 2 RBI, R
Trevor Goldenetz: 1-4, 3 RBI, R
Trent Grindlinger: 2-3, RBI
Jason Dunham: 1-3, RBI, 2 R
Matt Haidl: 2-2, 2 R
Duncan McLeod + Ashton Arroyo: 2 IP, 0 ER, 4 K
The Oilers conclude their three-game series Friday afternoon at home against the Los Alamitos Griffins. You can listen to the game on hbhsathletics.mixlr.com with the "Voice of the Oilers" Dominick Lorenz, beginning with the pregame show at 3:00 PM, followed by first pitch at 3:15 PM.
LISTEN TO HUNTINGTON BEACH VS. LOS ALAMITOS GRIFFINS HIGHLIGHTS HERE (CLICK IMAGE BELOW):
