2016 NHSI: Oilers’ Offense Explodes To Advance To Semis

CARY, N.C.—The National High School Invitational trophy—large and silver—sits in plain sight not far beyond the entrance to the USA Baseball National Training Complex. Every player sees it when he walks off the team bus and into the complex. It would be impossible not to.

At last year’s NHSI, Huntington Beach (Calif.) High thought about that trophy a little too much, head coach Benji Medure said. The Oilers were wrapped up in trying to win it all and wound up losing in the semifinals.

“I know you pass by it and you’re looking at it and thinking, ‘Dang, that’d be nice,'” Medure said. “You’re making plans on the plane to have it in your hand, and you can’t do that.”

Medure said he thinks it’s a different case for the Oilers this year—older and wiser after last year’s experience. He’ll soon know for sure. With a 12-7 win against Trinity Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) in Thursday’s quarterfinals, Huntington Beach moved one step closer to winning that trophy, advancing to Friday’s semifinals.

Thursday’s matchup was a high-intensity, energy-filled battle, with both dugouts chirping, dancing and—for at least one player—playing a cowbell throughout the contest. The Conquerors drew first blood, scoring two runs, one of which came on a steal of home, against Huntington Beach righthander Mitchell Kovary in the top of the first.

That early lead could have spelled trouble for the Oilers, as they were up against a talented arm in Kentucky commit J.C. Flowers, a righthander who hit 91 mph consistently Thursday with a power breaking ball. However, Huntington Beach wasted no time in responding in the bottom half with two runs of its own. The Oilers then unloaded against Flowers in the second inning, putting up seven runs.

Flowers had difficulty commanding the ball, hitting two batters, walking one, throwing a wild pitch and allowing nine runs on eight hits in 1 1/3 innings of work.

“We knew that they were throwing their big guy,” Medure said, “and Flowers is a great pitcher, and he was throwing hard and our kids are up for the challenge.”

Outfielder Landon Silver, a UC Santa Barbara commit, drove in the nail against Flowers in the second inning, powering an opposite-field drive over the right-field fence for a three-run home run.

“I was just trying to keep it simple, trying to help the team win just trying to put the ball in the air,” Silver said.

Added Medure: “We always get on him about hitting the ball the other way, and he did it in the biggest moment.”

Trinity Christian didn’t go down without a fight, however, as the Conquerors put together a big inning of their own, scoring five in the fourth inning to narrow the score to 10-7. Medure said he was impressed with the Trinity Christian offense, comparing the Conquerors to college hitters. But he was also impressed with the way his team continued to apply pressure and tack on runs—yet another sign of growth for his players.

“That was a crazy one,” Medure said. “And that’s how baseball is, and I think our kids, when you have a mature group of kids, they understand that it’s not over at 10-2. We’re trying to stay in the moment and try to battle and treat it like a 0-0 game, and I’m glad we did. We started adding to the lead, and that’s a sign of a mature group. I’m proud of them.”