Undefeated No More; Griffins Knock Off Oilers In Series Finale

The Huntington Beach Oilers (18-5-1) have their five-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Los Alamitos Griffins (8-17) by the final of 7-4, Friday afternoon from Los Alamitos High School. This is the first loss of the year within Sunset League play as well as the first loss to the Griffins since April 25, 2024 when they defeated the Oilers at HBHS Stadium 5-1. The race towards the Sunset League title still favors the Oilers as they have a two-game lead over Newport Harbor.

For the second time in as many games, the Oilers fell behind in the first inning as the Griffins tabbed starter Tanner Brown with an RBI single off the bat of Gerardo Garfiaz, which shot past the shifted infield into left. Unlike Wednesday, the Oilers did not have a comeback right away as only two batters reached base through the first four innings (Jared Grindlinger single in the first and Ely Mason advancing on a dropped fly ball in the fourth). Los Alamitos starting pitcher Logan Anderson kept the Oilers out of an offensive rhythm until shortstop Jason Dunham deposited an opposite field single with two outs in the fifth, scoring pinch-runner Charlie Henderson, to even up the score at 1-1. 

Brown, who was still on the mound into the fifth, attempted to navigate his way around an early threat before manager Benji Medure called for the hook with runners on second and first with only one out. Contentious behavior simmered through the entire game, especially when Brown made the walk back to the Oilers dugout with chirping ensuing between he and the entire Griffins bench. Southpaw Duncan McLeod was first out of the bullpen, however this was a relief appearance he would like to forget. Unable to record an out, the junior succumbed to two hits and two walks, with the biggest of the plays being a bases clearing single by Cruz D'Errico down the left field line, extending a Griffins lead to 5-1. They would add one more on a sacrifice fly to up the advantage to 6-1 after five innings of play. For the future Wake Forest Demon Deacon in Brown (who made the announcement on his commitment yesterday morning), he would finish the day with the no decision accumulating four and one-third innings and surrendering three runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts.      

The Oilers offense would come alive late, featuring a solo run in the sixth (Owen Bone groundout to score Mason) and two in the seventh as Dunham provided plenty of pop with a two-run blast. The home run by the future Cal State Long Beach Dirtbag is his first career Varsity home run and sixth multi-hit game of the season. Even with three runs in the latter two innings, it was not enough to combat the crooked fifth frame that the Griffins hung on the Oilers.

With this loss, the Oilers fall to 14-1 in Sunset League play with their magic number to clinch holding at 2 as Newport Harbor defeated Fountain Valley 6-0. This was also the first time this year Huntington Beach drops a game while wearing their all orange uniforms (5-1-1) and are still winless when trailing after six innings (0-3).  

Oilers Scoring Plays: 

Top 5: Jason Dunham Singles to RF, Charlie Henderson Scores (1-1 TIE)

Top 6: Owen Bone Grounds Out, Ely Mason Scores (6-2 LA)

Top 7: Jason Dunham Home Run to LF, Eddie Lucero Scores (7-4 LA)

Stars of the Game: 

Jason Dunham: 2-3, HR, 3 RBI

Tommy August: Extends Hitting Streak to 6 Games

Tanner Brown: 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6 K 

The Oilers will now turn the page and put their full focus into the final Sunset League series of the year against the Newport Harbor Sailors that begins on Tuesday, April 28. With a two-game lead, all Huntington Beach needs to do is win at least one of the three games in order to clinch their 9th consecutive league title. You'll be able to listen to all the action on hbhsathletics.mixlr.com with the "Voice of the Oilers" Dominick Lorenz, with the pregame show at 3:00 PM, followed by first pitch at 3:15 PM (projected times).