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    Temecula Valley baseball team routed by Huntington Beach in Division 1 pool-play opener
    • May 13, 2026

    TEMECULA — Short memories, we’ve still got another game to play.

    That was the message Temecula Valley baseball coach Darric Merrell had for his players after the Golden Bears fell 11-0 to Huntington Beach to open CIF Southern Section Division 1 pool play Tuesday afternoon

    The 11 runs allowed were a season high. It was also the first time since February 28 the  pitching staff gave up double-digit runs.

    The Golden Bears (24-5) travel to La Mirada for an elimination game Friday.

    “A couple of errors in the fourth inning just snowballed on us and a team like that is going to cash in on those opportunities, but they (Huntington Beach) really can hit the baseball,” Merrell said. “We still get a second chance on Friday though, and one I’m sure these guys are eager to capitalize on.”

    Taden Krogsgaard started for Temecula Valley and was fortunate to keep Huntington Beach scoreless after three innings. The Oilers stranded five runs on base in those innings.

    However, Huntington Beach (22-6-1) put up five runs in the fourth inning to break things open and give starting pitcher Jared Grindlinger a cushion.

    “Even though we weren’t scoring runs early, we were winning innings by getting his (Krogsgaard’s) pitch count up and making him work against traffic,” Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure said. “It’s like wearing out a boxer before you throw that knockout punch. My biggest worry today was how they’d respond after the road trip down here, and they came out fired up and ready to go.”

    Krogsgaard walked two of the first three batters to start that frame. Grindlinger helped his cause with an RBI double, and Sol Moriyama also added a run-scoring single. The other three runs scored on three Temecula Valley errors, which eventually led Merrell to lift Krogsgaard for Scott Forrest.

    Forrest yielded two runs in his 2 1/3 innings of relief, both coming on a single from Elyjah Mason in the fifth inning that extended Huntington Beach’s lead to 7-0.

    Mason finished 2 for 5 with five RBIs after adding a three-run homer in the seventh inning. Dane Cunningham also added a long ball in the seventh inning to finish the Oilers’ scoring.

    “Getting the first win really puts us in a good frame of mind as we go home and get ready to play on Friday,” Mason said. “We really did a good job of keeping things simple at the plate…working the opposite field and staying through the ball.”

    Grindlinger, a Tennessee commit who is a highly-rated draft prpsect, allowed two hits while striking out six, walking two, and allowing two hits in six innings to earn the win.

    Huntington Beach will host Harvard-Westlake on Friday afternoon, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinal round.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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