Eight of the 10 teams that have won the National High School Invitational baseball tournament in Cary, North Carolina, have been California teams.
Huntington Beach won it in 2016 and is in the NHSI again this season. Like the other three California teams in the NHSI that begins Wednesday, Huntington Beach is a targeted team.
“You’re representing more than just your school,” said Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure.”You’re representing your state. And all those teams from other states, they want to knock off the California teams that are out here.”
JSerra and Santa Margarita are also in the NHSI, as is Aquinas of San Bernardino.
Orange County teams have done well in the 16-team tournament that is played at the USA Baseball complex in Cary. Mater Dei won the first two NHSI tournaments, in 2013 and ‘14. San Clemente won it in 2015, Huntington Beach in ‘16, and Orange Lutheran won it three years in a row, 2017-19.
Huntington Beach has been on a roll lately. The Oilers were 2-6 before winning six in a row. Some of those losses were to outstanding teams like South Hills, which is the No. 1 team in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Top 10. Other losses were to Aquinas in extra innings, to Orange County No. 8 Foothill by one run and to CIF-SS Division 1 No. 4 Corona 2-0.
Seniors Aidan Espinoza, Colby Turner and Ralphie Velazquez have propelled the offense. Medure said seniors Brad Gindlinger, Carson Lake and Wyatt Thomas and junior Nate Aceves have led the pitching corps.
“We played some tough teams and played well enough to win some of those games,” Medure said, “but it just didn’t work out. Then we got into a rut where we couldn’t do much right but I think we’ve hit our stride lately.”
NOTES
The National Classic tournament begins April 6. Orange County teams in the 16-team bracket include four teams in the Orange County Top 10: No. 4 Villa Park, No. 6 Cypress, No. 9 El Dorado and No. 10 Servite. …
Trinity League teams do not play…
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