CARY, N.C. – Trent Grindlinger delivered an extra-inning, walk-off single to lift Huntington Beach High School (Huntington Beach, Calif.) to a 2-1 win over Hamilton High School (Chandler, Ariz.) at the 2022 National High School Invitational presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance on Thursday, April 7, in Cary, North Carolina.

After Nicholas Dumesnil and Ralphy Velazquez hit back-to-back singles and Brian Trujillo was walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth, Grindlinger roped a single back up the middle to score Dumesnil and punch the Oilers’ ticket in the tournament semifinal. Huntington Beach will play in the semifinal round for the first time since 2016, when it went on to win the title.

The Oilers got six strong innings on the mound from Ben Jacobs, who allowed just one hit with five strikeouts. Jacobs was relieved by Adyn Lucero, who pitched the final two frames to earn the win. He escaped a jam in the top of the seventh, coaxing an inning-ending double play to keep the game tied.

Dumesnil (2-for-4) and Velazquez (2-for-3) led the Oilers on offense, both tallying multi-hit games while Aidan Espinoza (1-for-3) and Grindlinger both drove in runs in the win. For Hamilton, Prince Deboskie (2-for-3) paced the offense with a pair of hits, including a game-tying single in the seventh.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Both pitchers retired the side in order in the opening frame, with Kole Klecker tossing just six pitches in a perfect bottom of the first.
• After Klecker tossed another 1-2-3 inning in the second, Marco Martinez got the Oilers into the hit column with a leadoff single in the third. Martinez would eventually score on a sac fly by Espinoza to give Huntington Beach a 1-0 lead.
• The Oilers threatened to extend their lead in the fourth against Klecker, but with runners on the corners and two outs, Gavin Turley made a diving grab in right-center field to save two runs and keep Hamilton’s deficit at one.
• After being held scoreless for the first six frames, Hamilton finally cracked the scoreboard in the seventh, when Josh Tiedemann and Ryan Kucherak both walked before Deboskie roped a game-tying base hit to right field.
• Cooper Brass singled to put runners on first and second in the top of the seventh, but Lucero got Liam Wilson to ground into an inning-ending double play to preserve the tie score.
• Lucero held Hamilton scoreless in the top of the eighth before the Oilers rally in the bottom of the inning, which was capped by Grindlinger’s walk-off single up the middle.

NOTABLE INFORMATION

• Klecker pitched the entire game for the Huskies, throwing seven innings in just 74 pitches. The right-hander pitched to contact, scattering nine hits but allowing just two runs.
• Jacobs and Lucero held the Hamilton lineup to just three hits in the win.
• With another hit in today’s game, Brass is now batting .500 (3-for-6) through two games at the NHSI.
• Hamilton has gotten 14.0 innings out of its starting pitchers through the first two games of the tournament, with Klecker and Logan Saloman combining to allow just three runs.
• Huntington Beach is in the NHSI semifinals for the third time in program history.

ON DECK

• Huntington Beach advances to the semifinals of the 2022 NHSI on Friday. The Oilers will face St. Johns Country Day, who beat Don Bosco Prep in the quarterfinal round. The semifinal game will be streamed live on USABaseball.com, @USABaseball on Facebook, and @USABaseballTV on YouTube.
• Hamilton falls into the consolation bracket with the loss. Their next opponent will be announced this evening.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Stay tuned with all of the action at the 2022 National High School Invitational by following @USABEvents on Twitter and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Fans and media can use #NHSI22 in their posts.