Huntington Beach knocks Yucaipa out of CIF Playoffs

Huntington Beach put Yucaipa in a deep hole by scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning highlighted by Beau Amaral's two-run home run. A throwing error allowed two more runs to score along with the Oilers roughing up Yucaipa starter Frank Martin for five hits and a bases loaded walk that produced another Oilers' run.

The Oilers added three more runs in the third on a run-scoring passed ball and two infield errors to extend their lead to 8-0. Meanwhile, Huntington Beach starter Blake Cestr, who pitched the entire seven innings, was holding Yucaipa in check.

"We felt that Blake matched up the best for us against them with his slider and change up," said Oilers' coach Benji Medure. "I was a little surprised by the number of their errors. They are a great team. A team with a .409 batting average. They are really that good, but we put the ball in play and if you put it in play good things can happen."

Yucaipa finally got on the board in the fourth on Chad Erickson's (2-for-3) lead off triple and Martin's infield out that scored Erickson. But the Oilers answered back in their half of the inning on Kory Kovacs' fly ball to right field that scored pinch runner Alec Stone to push the Oilers advantage to 9-1.

Cestr started for only the second time this season and was used primarily as a relief pitcher. The 6-foot-4 righthander won his second game to bring his record to 2-3, with one save in 10 appearances. Cestr is best appreciated for his .439 batting average and 24 RBI's. But on this day it was his pitching not his bat that shined.

"This definitely is the biggest win for me in my career," Cestr said. "They have guys that can really swing the bats. I just tried to keep the ball away with my slider and curve ball. Beau's (Amaral) home run (third of the season) in the first inning was the biggest boost to my confidence. It was smooth from there."

"We've faced better pitchers, but he did a nice job of keeping us off balance and the balls we did hit hard were at people," Stout said. "I think it was us getting down early. We haven't been in that situation in a long time. It wasn't insurmountable and I thought that if we could answer in the first three or four innings we would be in good shape.

"We've always put runs on the board in every inning and when we didn't answer early we were in a little trouble."

Yucaipa did threaten in the seventh by loading the bases, but managed to score only one run before Cestr got Wyatt Padgett to line out to third baseman Sean Guite to end the game. Cestr allowed five hits and struck out two, while walking two and hitting a batter.

"It's hard when you go 27-2 and they lost something like (12) games," said Thunderbirds third baseman, Matt Davidson. "We've made errors in games before but we've still scored 10 runs (10.8 runs per game average), but we weren't hitting like we usually do. Everybody usually has two or three hits in a game. He (Cestr) did good, but it wasn't anything we haven't seen before."

The loss closes a season in which the Thunderbirds set new school records with 27 wins along with setting a mark for the most runs scored (324) in a single season. But the coveted CIF championship - aborted by an Oilers team that outplayed the Thunderbirds on this particular day - will have to go unrealized.

And the hurt was clearly evident after the game as eyes glistened with tears during sorrowful embraces.

"There are no excuses, we just didn't get it done and they outplayed us," Stout said. "We are extremely disappointed in how we finished. I expected us to be in Anaheim Stadium (for the CIF Championship game). We have that kind of team and that kind of year."