Huntington Beach slugs way into semifinals

Huntington Beach's Ben McConnell is hugged by Logan Pouelsen after hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th inning against El Dorado in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
Huntington Beach runs out of the dugout to congratulate closing pitcher Logan Pouelsen after he struck out the final batter to beat El Dorado 5-1 in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
El Dorado starting pitcher Nick Sprengel gave up four runs in the fourth inning to Huntington Beach in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
El Dorado third baseman Adrian Romo holds his glove up for the umpire to see after Huntington Beach base runner Logan Pouelsen slides in safe under the throw, setting up a four run fourth inning for the Oilers in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
El Dorado's shortstop Derek Reilly tries to put the tag on Huntington Beach's J. J. Muratore without the ball as he steals base in the bottom of the sixth inning of the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
El Dorado's Joe Russo shows his displeasure at being called out on strikes to end the game against Huntington Beach in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
Huntington Beach starting pitcher Noah Davis threw five innings and held El Dorado to one run in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
El Dorado baserunner Joe Russo steals second base easily as Huntington Beach second baseman Kyle Coburn reacts to a hot throw in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
Huntington Beach pitcher Noah Davis runs down a bunt in the top of the first inning against El Dorado in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff Friday afternoon.
Huntington Beach's Hagen Danner swings at a high fast ball to strick out in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 1 baseball playoff against El Dorado Friday afternoon.

By Steve Fryer | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register

May 29, 2015 at 8:51 p.m.

Huntington Beach had no hits through the first three innings.

The Oilers knew their time was going to come.

They scored four runs on five hits in the fourth inning Friday to beat El Dorado, 5-1, in a CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinals playoff game at Huntington Beach.

The Oilers (24-8) will play Norco (24-5) in a semifinal Tuesday at Blair Field in Long Beach. Huntington Beach last played in the semifinals in 2009 when it was a Division 2 team.

Generally, the Division 1 semifinals are played as a doubleheader at Blair, with one game at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. But with Hart of Newhall playing Saugus in the other semifinal, it is possible that Hart-Saugus would be played at a venue geographically closer to their area. If so, Huntington Beach-Norco will be a 7 p.m. game.

El Dorado finished 21-9. The Golden Hawks were Crestview League champions. They were much improved over last season when they were 15-13, qualified for the playoffs as an at-large team and lost in the Division 1 wild-card round.

Landon Silver hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Hagen Danner had an RBI single in the inning. Pinch-hitter Ben McConnell, a sophomore, added a solo home run in the sixth.

The Golden Hawks had taken a 1-0 lead in the fourth when the third wild pitch of the inning sent home Derek Reilly.

Silver’s home run, his seventh of the season, was a high-arc shot to left field off of El Dorado pitcher Nick Sprengel who has been tough on opposing batters. Sprengel, a senior left-hander, went into the game with a 10-1 record and 1.34 ERA.

Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure was confident the Oilers’ deep batting order would produce.

“I always feel like that,” he said. “We always say ‘it’s a pick-up day.’ If the top of the order isn’t doing well, the bottom half of the order will pick us up.”

Silver, batting seventh in the order, pulled that home run although the Oilers’ strategy against Sprengel was to do the opposite.

“We knew (Sprengel) has that high, rising fastball with a little bit of ‘velo’ to it,” said Silver, speaking baseball-ese for “velocity”.

“We tried to go the other way and keep our hands out front.”

Silver said that getting an informative and accurate scouting report on Sprengel from the coaching staff was nothing new.

“Whatever happens,” he said, “we’re always ready for it.”

Noah Davis pitched 51/3 innings for Huntington Beach and got the win to improve to 6-2. Logan Poulesen moved from third base to the mound in the sixth and struck out three of the five batters he faced.

“Noah kept us in the game like he always does and like all of our pitchers do,” Silver said.

McConnell’s home run was his first of 2015.

Huntington Beach, No. 2 in this week’s Orange County Register media top 10, was seeded second in Division 1. El Dorado is No. 7 in this week’s top 10.

Also in Division 1:

Hart of Newhall 10, No. 1 JSerra 6: The visiting Lions (26-5-1) were eliminated. They were seeded No. 1 in the division.

JSerra advanced to the Division 1 semifinals last season. Over the past two years, the Lions are 5-2 in the playoffs.

The Nos. 1, 3 and 4 teams did not advance to the semifinals. Third-seeded Agoura lost in the second round. Fourth-seeded Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks was eliminated in the first round.

The Division 1 championship game is June 6 at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino, as are the finals in Divisions 2, 3 and 4.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com