Huntington Beach gets ninth NHSI victory with 4-3 win over Canterbury

CARY, N.C.—Huntington Beach (Calif.) didn’t do exactly what it wanted this week in the National High School Invitational, but ended on a high note Saturday with a 4-3 win over Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.) High, improving to 9-3 overall during the last three years in the tournament.

“Nine and three in the national tournament over three years—nothing to be ashamed of at all,” coach Benji Medure said. “This tournament really put us on the map as a program and we really feel privileged to be here. And hopefully in years to come we can get back here and try to win it again.”

The Oilers topped West Chaminade, 7-2, in the 2016 NHSI championship game, but had to settle for a consolation victory behind a strong pitching performance Saturday by Hagen Danner.

Danner hit a pair of batters in his first inning before finding the feel for his curveball in the second inning. He went on to throw five innings, striking out six batters and walking one while getting regular swings and misses on his 11-5, 76-77 mph curve.

“I wasn’t snapping it off very good in the first inning,” Danner said, “but the second until the fifth, I felt like I was snapping it off really well. They were chasing for it. I felt like they were kind of cheating my fastball a little bit.”

Danner finished three separate strikeouts on curves that spiked down and through the bottom of the zone, forcing catcher Nick Lopez to make throws to first (which he did each time). Danner sat 91-92 mph with his fastball in the early innings and touched 91 in his fifth and final inning.

Canterbury starter Cooper Swanson was equally effective in competing with Danner, throwing four no-hit innings before Huntington Beach rallied in the fifth. Swanson got Nick Pratto to swing through several changeups and painted the outside corner with a fastball to strike out Danner in the third, but pinch-hitter Dylan Ramirez singled off of Swanson in the bottom of the fifth to break up the no-hitter.

“Dylan stepped in ready to hit,” Medure said. “And that’s what he does, little sophomore kid who isn’t afraid of anything. And that did spark it.”

Pratto, Danner and DH Joshua Hahn followed with singles, and Huntington Beach put up a decisive four-run fifth inning, claiming a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“I was proud that we got everybody involved and that was our goal,” Medure said. “There’s some seniors on this team . . . they’re going to walk away from this experience and know that they played on the stadium field, and we talked about it as a coaching staff last night, to kind of get some guys that don’t get many opportunities an opportunity.

“And we got everybody into the game. So it was pretty special for us to do that and also get the win.”