By Yasir Khaleq, Staff Writer
Fountain Valley Varsity baseball fought hard but ultimately came up short against Huntington Beach by a score of 5-1, who are ranked the 26th high school baseball team in the nation.
The first two innings were scoreless, as both defenses started the game well. The Barons were shutting down the Oilers defensively and Nathan Wilson (’18) pitched well, getting two strikeouts and giving up two runs through four innings. This was also true for the Oilers, who let only two Barons on base and successfully executed a double play to close out the second inning.
The scoring started at the top of the third inning. One Huntington player stole home, although it was debatable whether the umpire made the correct decision or not. Later in the inning another Oiler would be batted in to add a second run for Huntington. Fountain Valley responded quickly, however, as Trevor Staffieri’s (’17) powerful right field base hit allowed Trent Sievers (’17) to score the Barons’ only run of the game.
Nathan Wilson (’18) pitches swiftly in a game against Huntington Beach.
The fourth inning was scoreless. Justin Yang (’17) would take over as pitcher, which was the turning point in the game. In the fifth inning, with two runners on base, Nick Pratto (’17) of Huntington Beach smashed a 3-run home run off of Yang’s pitch over the center field fence to give the Oilers five runs. This effectively ended the game.
Overall, the Barons played a fine game but just couldn’t match the power of one of the best teams in the nation.
“We faced the best pitcher in our league. He’s not gonna give up very many runs. We made some mistakes, but we competed and we played hard. That’s all I can ask for out of our kids” said Varsity Head Coach Deric Yanagisawa.
However, there are still things that this Barons team can fix and Yanagisawa looks to touch on those things.
“Defensively we need to make improvements, and everything else. We can always continue to get better. We can’t be satisfied with just playing an OK game. Those things are gonna happen, when you have a bunch of young kids, and very little varsity experience, and you play teams like Huntington Beach that were preseason #1 in the nation. You have to play a good game to beat them” said Yanagisawa.
The experience of a game against one of the best pitchers and one of the best teams in the nation will surely be valuable for these players down the road.
“Hopefully the competitiveness and understanding that you have to play a clean baseball game to beat top level teams like Huntington, and if you don’t, you’re not gonna come out of here with very many wins (will be taken from this game)” said Yanagisawa.
