Oilers Blank Servite For First Win of 2026
Tanner Brown leads the pitching unit to their first shutout of the season, while Sol Moriyama continues to stay hot at the plate
The Huntington Beach Oilers (1-0-1) emerged victorious in the home opener, defeating the Servite Friars (1-1) by the final of 3-0, Saturday morning from Huntington Beach High School. This is the first shutout win for the Oilers since April 30, 2025 when they blanked Corona Del Mar via the same score.
Tanner Brown led the charge beginning the game with a scoreless effort of three and two-thirds innings paired with four strikeouts. The junior left-hander struck out the side in the second while navigating around a runner in scoring position in the third. Reliever Christian Haupt joined the cause by inducing Friars' DH Eli Rubel into a groundout to first ending a two on, two out threat in the fourth.
Huntington's offense came to life in the home half of the fourth as Owen Bone stood at second, following a stolen base, and Sol Moriyama drove in the first run of the game with a single to center field. This would be Moriyama's second hit of the game and back-to-back games with multi-hits and an RBI. The Oilers pounced on the Servite bullpen even further in the fifth as they netted two insurance runs with an RBI Single from Jason Dunham and RBI Double from Jared Grindlinger.
Speaking of the bullpen, lefty Benny Breese and right-hander Jared Marchbank mopped up the final inning-plus of action as they combined to strikeout four of the final eight batters. Marchbank secured his first save of the season in today's win as well.
Oilers Scoring Plays:
Bot 4: Sol Moriyama Singles to CF, Owen Bone Scores (1-0 HB)
Bot 5: Jason Dunham Singles to CF, Charlie Henderson Scores (2-0 HB)
Bot 5: Jared Grindlinger Doubles to CF, Jason Dunham Scores (3-0 HB)
Stars of the Game:
Sol Moriyama: 2-2, RBI, BB
Jason Dunham: 1-3, RBI, R
Jared Grindlinger: 1-3, RBI Double
Tanner Brown: 3.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 K
Christian Haupt, Benny Breese & Jared Marchbank: 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 K
The Oilers will head back out of the road next week for their lone game on Tuesday, February 24 versus the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers at 2:30 PM. You'll be able to listen to all the action on hbhsathletics.mixlr.com with the "Voice of the Oilers" Dominick Lorenz, beginning with the pregame show at 2:15 PM, followed by first pitch at 2:30 PM (projected times).
LISTEN TO HUNTINGTON BEACH VS. SERVITE FRIARS HIGHLIGHTS HERE (CLICK IMAGE BELOW):
