The Sea Kings Varsity faced off against the Huntington Beach Oilers for the second day in a row and came out on the losing end of a 4-3 decision. The game was one of the most unconventional baseball games you’ll see, as the Sea Kings actually out-hit the Oilers 9-2.
The Oilers benefited greatly from one of their only two hits being a two-run homer. Otherwise, things were fairly even between the teams. Both teams committed costly fielding errors that resulted in unearned runs. And both pitching staffs issued a similar number of walks, hit by pitches and wild pitches. But it was the timing of those events that ultimately did in the Sea Kings.
Huntington Beach jumped out in front 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning when a walk, a hit by pitch and an error loaded the bases in front of a sacrifice fly.
The Sea Kings came back in the top of the third inning to tie the score 1-1. Brady Gadol (‘25) lead off the frame with a double and advanced to third base on a bunt single by Ganon Overfelt (‘25). Gadol ultimately scored on a groundout.
The Oilers struck back in the bottom half of the inning to reestablish a lead. A one-out walk was followed by a two-out home run, and the score was 3-1, Oilers.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Oilers added what would turn out to be the decisive run. A walk and two wild pitches put an Oilers’ baserunner on third base, and he scored on a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Sea Kings displayed their grit in the seventh inning when they opened the frame with back-to-back singles by Gadol and Overfelt. Gadol came around to score when the Oilers’ right fielder misplayed the ball on Overfelt’s hit, which also allowed Overfelt to advance all the way to third base. One batter later, Overfelt scored on a groundout and the Sea Kings were down only one run, but were also down to their last out. A game-ending strikeout sealed the victory for the Oilers.
The top of the batting order delivered excellent production for the Sea Kings throughout the day. Leadoff man Gadol was four for four with a double and two runs scored. Number two man Overfelt was two for four with a run scored. And Princeton-commit Vincent Menard (‘25) was also two for four batting in the three hole.
Stevie Jones (‘26) demonstrated the art of productive hitting when he collected two RBI without getting a hit. Jones’ third inning squeeze bunt and seventh inning groundout both resulted in Sea Kings’ runs.
Will Chavez (‘26) started on the bump for the Sea Kings and took the loss despite pitching five and two -thirds innings, and allowing only two hits and three earned runs.
Senior Marc Solomon (‘25) was hit by pitches, not once, but twice, and extended his on-base streak to four games as a result. Gadol and Menard also saw their on-base streaks reach four games.
The Sea Kings Varsity hosts Huntington Beach on Friday, March 4 for the final game of their season series.