MaxPreps 2016 preseason high school baseball Early Contenders: No. 2 Huntington Beach

Video: Huntington Beach (CA) Baseball - Preseason Rankings


Head coach: Benji Medure (221-184-2 career record)

2015 record: 25-8, Southern Section Division I champions

State/Section classification: California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section Division I

Enrollment: 2, 909

Players to Watch

Hagen Danner, RHP, junior, 7-2 pitching record, 65 strikeouts, 1.26 ERA, 61 innings pitched, Sunset League Pitcher of the Year, MaxPreps Sophomore All-American... committed to UCLA

Logan Poulesen, 3B/P, senior, All-Sunset League... committed to UCLA

Chad Minato, SS, senior... committed to Harvard

Dominic Abbadessa, OF, senior, All-Sunset League... committed to Long Beach State

Landon Silver, OF, senior, All-Sunset League, MaxPreps Junior All-American, .352 batting average, 31 RBIs, 7 home runs... committed to UC Santa Barbara

Nick Pratto, OF/LHP, junior, transfer from Mater Dei (injured in 2015)... committed to USC

Mitch Kovary, RHP, senior... committed to San Francisco State

JJ Muratore, OF, senior... committed to Marymount California University


Key Dates

Feb. 27 - vs. Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.)

Feb. 29 - vs. Orange Lutheran (Calif.)

March 15 - at JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) (DH)

March 22-26 - at National High School Invitational in North Carolina

March 29-April 2 - at Boras Classic

May 10, 12 - vs. Fountain Valley (Calif.)


Oilers Storylines

* The Oilers had a solid pitching staff heading into the 2016 season, and that was before Nick Pratto transferred to Huntington Beach. Already blessed with MaxPreps Sophomore All-American Hagen Danner on the roster, the Oilers now have Pratto, also a junior, who moved over from Mater Dei. Over the summer, Pratto and Danner were part of the Team USA 18U pitching staff that won the gold medal at the World Cup. Pratto was named the MVP of the event.

* The Southern Section Division I championship the Oilers won last year was the first in school history. Huntington Beach overcame a rocky start that included five losses in its first seven games. The Oilers went 23-3 down the stretch, including a 3-1 win over Hart (Newhall) in the championship game.

* The Oilers have a brutal three-week stretch in late March that will prove to be a true test of their No. 2 ranking. Besides a doubleheader with JSerra Catholic, which is also one of the top-ranked teams in the nation, Huntington Beach will travel to North Carolina to face some of the nation's best teams in the National High School Invitational. The Oilers will then travel home to square off against the best teams in Southern California at the Boras Classic.

* Pratto and Danner, along with current Oilers Justin Cianca, Jackson Furry, Dylan Palmer, Anthony Martinez and Trevor Windisch, were all members of the Ocean View team from Huntington Beach that won the Little League World Series in 2011.

View entire gallery from the preseason photo shoot with No. 2 Huntington Beach