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LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - For the third consecutive year, the 2024 CIF-Southern Section high school baseball season will again kick off with the premier spring high school baseball tournament in Southern California, the Prep Baseball California Spring Invitational.  The 16 team field will compete in a bracketed, winner-take-all format that will once again feature many of California's top prep baseball teams. This tournament holds massive implications for our Power 25 State Rankings and annually gives pro scouts and early glimpse into how some of the area's top draft prospects perform out the gate.  

We start/continue with the Huntington Beach Oilers, a CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION Division I school out of Huntington Beach, Ca competing in the Sunset League. Led by 24th year head coach Benji Medure, the Oilers went 21-9 last year including going 9-2 in the Sunset League to claim the title culminating in a Quarterfinal run in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs.

Huntington Beach enters the 2024 season with an impressive depth of returning impact players including; ‘24 Nathan Acevas RHP (UCSB), ‘24 Colin McNiven INF (Claremont-McKenna), ‘25 Ethan Porter OF/RHP (Oregon State), ‘25 Linkin Garcia SS/RHP (Vanderbilt), ‘25 John Petrie OF (Oregon State), ‘25 Trent Grindlinger C (Miss. State), ‘25 Jayton Greer C (USD), ‘25 Otto Espinoza RHP (Ohio State), and ‘25 Trevor Goldenetz OF (TCU). Medure said, "with the amount of offensive and pitching talent we have on this roster we have a chance to be pretty good, but we will need to play good catch and strong defense to reach our potential as a team.”

Newcomers to the varsity team at Huntington Beach will face stiff competition in their path to make an impact by filling vacancies or platooning with the returners, but be sure to keep an eye on the following names for the Oilers:  ‘24 Matt Hansen INF (transfer from a Colorado HS & BYU commit), ‘25 RHP Tyler Bellerose, and ‘25 RHP Jake Frohn.

Being an underclassmen on a talent-laden roster can mean being a year away in some instances from your opportunity and the Oilers feature a few names who are looking to break into the lineup and rotation this year lead by ‘27 LHP/OF Tanner Brown (TCU), ‘27 LHP/OF Jared Grindlinger (TCU)  and ‘26 INF CJ Weinstein.

The veteran skipper Medure noted “we will be able to score runs in bunches with our offense and will run out some very talented arms that will allow us to pitch at a very high level.”

We will get to see a full range of players and the first test of Huntington Beach’s depth at the Preseason Invitational as the Oiler’s look to solidify and define their lineup and rotation for the 2024 season. 

College Commitments:

‘24 RHP Nathan Aceves (UCSB) - 6’3 195 lbs. 

‘24 INF Matt Hansen (BYU) - 6' 190 lbs.

‘24 RHP Colin McNiven (Claremont McKenna) - 5’10 155 lbs.

‘25 OF/RHP Ethan Porter (Oregon State) - 6’2 205 lbs. 

‘25 INF/RHP Linkin García (Vanderbilt) - 6’3 195 lbs. 

‘25 OF John Petrie (Oregon State) 6’3 205 lbs. 

‘25 C Trent Grindlinger (Miss State) - 6’3 215 lbs. 

‘25 C Jayton Greer (USD) - 5’10 185 lbs.

‘25 RHP Otto Espinoza (Ohio State) - 6’2 180 lbs.

‘25 OF Trevor Goldenetz (TCU) - 6’ 165 lbs. 

‘27 LHP/OF Jared Grindlinger (TCU) - 6’ 160 lbs. 

‘27 LHP/OF Tanner Brown (TCU) - 5’10 155 lbs. 

Top Uncommitted ‘25s:

’25 RHP Tyler Bellerose - 5’11 170 lbs. 

‘25 RHP Jake Frohn - 6’2 185 lbs. 

Top Uncommitted ‘26s:

’26 INF CJ Weinstein - 6’ 165 lbs. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

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