A Second Chance Gift For The Oilers

The Huntington Beach Oilers (22-8-1) who believed their season was officially over after an 11-1 loss to La Mirada in the CIF Division 1 Playoffs on Tuesday, May 19, are now given the chance of a lifetime to put the Oilers jersey on one more time in the 2026 CIF Regional Playoffs. 

The CIF Regional Playoffs bring eight teams together from across the state to compete and see who ranks supreme. Typically, the four semifinalists from the Division 1 playoffs earn automatic bids, however this year was quite a change with three already backing out of contention. Harvard-Westlake, Norco and Notre Dame decided to decline, while last year's winner St. John Bosco will be coming back to defend their title. As the CIF committee went down the list, they collectively agreed upon three final squads to round out four spots represented by the best of the best from the CIF Southern Section. Those remaining three schools include Corona, La Mirada and Huntington Beach. 

Here are the remaining four teams for Regionals… Liberty (Bakersfield), Eastlake (Chula Vista), Patrick Henry (San Diego) and Cathedral Catholic (San Diego). 

Huntington Beach Oilers manager Benji Medure (26th season) gave his thoughts on the unique opportunity to pounce back into action after thinking this season was to the track, wall and gone: 

"Extremely grateful. So grateful to be able to play together again. The goal always is to play more. That is the goal of any player playing baseball. You work hard in high school to play in college. You work hard in college to play professionally. Players are always trying to play just one more time. We were gifted this opportunity to play one more game. I am very very grateful to be with these guys and put on the uniform with them one more time".   

As a single elimination tournament, here is the schedule breakdown. Home teams will be based on who has the higher ranking in the head-to-head matchup along with the location of the games being at the home team's campus. 

Round 1: Tuesday, June 2 - Huntington Beach @ Patrick Henry - 4 PM

Round 2 (Semifinals): Thursday, June 4 - TBD vs. TBD 

Round 3 (Championship): Saturday, June 6 - TBD vs. TBD

For the Oilers, they hit the road as the #7 seed to take on #2 Patrick Henry. Funny enough, these two squads went head-to-head back on April 10 during the final game of the 2026 Boras Baseball Classic. Patrick Henry picked up the close 4-3 win after the Oilers squandered a 2-0 and 3-2 lead late in the contest. 

The winner will face either the #3 Corona or #6 Eastlake on Thursday, June 4. In either scenario, the Oilers will be on the road. You'll be able to listen to all the CIF Regionals action on hbhsathletics.mixlr.com with the "Voice of the Oilers" Dominick Lorenz, with the pregame show at 3:45 PM, followed by first pitch at 4:00 PM (projected times).