High School Baseball: Pratto tosses two-hitter, blasts two-run homer in Huntington Beach’s 3-0 win at Servite

ANAHEIM — The day before Huntington Beach High played at Servite on Tuesday, coach Benji Medure talked to his one player who was familiar with the Friars’ baseball field.

That player was Nick Pratto.

Before Pratto transferred to Huntington Beach before his junior year, he played at Mater Dei. The Monarchs compete with Servite three times a year in the Trinity League.

Out of those six games, there was one at Servite from three years ago that Pratto hasn’t forgotten about.

“He said the farthest ball that he hit as a freshman, [it] went halfway up the wall here,” Medure said. “But he said he was mad because he didn’t hit it out.”

Pratto got another chance to knock one out of Servite.

In his third plate appearance in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs, Pratto hit the ball so hard that it cleared the high fence in right field and landed in an empty pool.

Pratto’s two-run home run in the fourth inning gave the Oilers, as well as himself, some cushion.

The support was more than enough for the senior left-hander. Pratto tossed a two-hitter, striking out 10 and walking two in the top-seeded Oilers’ 3-0 win at Servite.

Unlike last year in the second round, Pratto’s shutout assured the Oilers (28-4) wouldn’t have a hiccup in the same round again. The top-ranked team in the state by CalHiSports.com advanced to the quarterfinals to play host to El Dorado (20-8-1) at 3:15 p.m. Friday.

“He was pretty good,” Medure said of Pratto, who threw 105 pitches, 72 for strikes. “If you think about his experience on the mound with Team USA and the big games that we’ve had, these are the kind of games that don’t really faze him. You know you’re going to get a tough performance out of him.”

Pratto overpowered Servite (19-13), striking out nine swinging. He had a no-hitter with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but Andrew Cromwell broke it up.

Cromwell’s hard-hit grounder toward the middle went off shortstop Trevor Windisch and into right field for a double. Pratto stranded the runner at second, needing six pitches to mow down Dawson Gilbert for the second time, and then he induced a one-pitch groundout to end the inning.

Pratto came out for the seventh, quickly giving up his second hit. The left-handed hitting Tanner Smith went the other way with the first offering, doubling into left-center field.

Pratto made sure the runner stayed at second again. He induced a groundout to shortstop, recorded a strikeout and then got a fly-ball out to center field.

The last batter Pratto got out was Medure’s second cousin, Greg Carlos.

“It sucks that he had to be the last out,” Medure said with a smile.

Pratto threw his third complete game of the year, improving to 4-0. The next pitcher Medure plans to throw is Hagen Danner, who is 11-0 with a 0.96 earned-run average.

The one-two punch of Danner and Pratto has devastated the opposition in the postseason, as they have combined to allow one run and five hits while striking out 15 and walking four in 12 innings.

Servite’s top two pitchers — Christian Ciuffetelli and Michael Frias — tried to keep the Friars in it.

Ciuffetelli only went four innings, giving up three runs — the first coming when Ben McConnell doubled in a run in the second inning. Ciuffetelli also walked five and gave up four hits, the biggest coming off the left-handed bat of Pratto.

“When he hit it out today, he was pumped,” Medure said of Pratto, who went one for three with a walk. “He showed a little more emotion than he normally does as he was rounding the bases, because he remembered the last time he [hit] it [deep here], he didn’t leave the yard. He carried us today.”

CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs

Huntington Beach 3, Servite 0

Huntington Beach 010 200 0 – 3 4 0

Servite 000 000 0 – 0 2 0

Pratto and Danner; Ciuffetelli, Frias (5) and Guillemette. W – Pratto. L – Ciuffetelli. 2B – McConnell (HB), Cromwell (S), Smith (S). HR – Pratto (HB).

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Twitter: @ByDCP