Matthew Legere is a Master’s student at ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Hamilton High School for AZPreps365.com

​​CARY, N.C. — Hamilton’s run at a USA Baseball National High School Invitational Championship came to a screeching halt on Thursday afternoon after Huntington Beach’s Trent Grindlinger delivered an extra-inning, walk-off single in the eighth inning of a 2-1 victory over the Huskies.

Prior to the walk-off blow, Nicholas Dumesnil and Ralphy Velazquez led off the eighth inning with back-to-back singles before Brian Trujillo was intentionally walked to load the bases. Grindlinger stepped to the box having gone hitless in his first three trips to the plate, but delivered the semifinal-clinching single on a first-pitch fastball that was hammered straight back up the middle. 

On the mound, left-handed pitcher Ben Jacobs got the start and was near-perfect through the first six innings for the Oilers. The UCLA commit showed great command of his fastball – which sat around 89-91 MPH – and balanced it well with a low-80’s curveball-changeup combo to keep the Hamilton offense off balance. Heading into his final inning and third trip around the lineup, Jacobs had struck out five Husky batters all by way of the backwards “K”. 

Jacobs’ only blemish came in the seventh inning as Hamilton was able to draw back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. He was pulled after six-plus innings, allowing just one hit and walking four. 

Despite no longer being in the game, Jacobs was charged with the game-tying run as Prince DeBoskie – who had two of the Huskies three hits on the day – laced an opposite field single down the right field line that sent Josh Tiedemann flying head-first into home and evened the score at one run apiece.

DeBoskie's RBI hit was followed by an opposite field jam-shot from Cooper Brass to load the bases. Huntington Beach relief pitcher Adyn Lucero escaped the jam with an inning-ending double play that sent the contest into extras. Lucero picked up the win after pitching the final two shutout innings.

“They have a ton of arms,” Chris Collazo of Baseball America said. “They have a ton of veteran arms – seniors who have been through the ringer – that know what they’re doing. If you have those senior arms that you can rely on as you move through this tournament, that’s certainly an asset and I think that’s something that Huntington Beach definitely has.” 

Through two games played, the typical hard-hitting Huskies have been held to a tournament-worst .149 team batting average with just seven hits, four runs scored, and 13 strikeouts in 47 at-bats – a world of a difference for a team that had been averaging 8.4 runs per game prior to its arrival in Cary, N.C.

Pitching continued to be a major bright spot for Hamilton, as Kole Klecker gave the Huskies all that he had and then some. The TCU commit pitched seven-plus innings, allowing two runs on nine hits and two walks. 

Klecker’s only other run surrendered came in the second inning after a leadoff single by Marco Martinez was brought home on a perfectly executed series of “small ball” at-bats that included a sacrifice bunt by Dean Carpentier, an infield single by Cade Hart, and a sacrifice fly by Aidan Espinoza. 

Huntington Beach advances to face St. John’s Country Day School in Friday’s Final Four of the USA Baseball National High School Invitational. The last time the Oilers played in the semifinal round was back in 2016, when they then went on to win the title. Hamilton moves into the consolation bracket.