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WESTLAKE VILLAGE — The Newport Harbor baseball team was in familiar territory Saturday, up two runs early against Oaks Christian. Less than three weeks ago in a game against the Lions, the Sailors relinquished a two-run lead and wound up losing 3-2 in the CIF Southern Section Division III semifinals.
This time around, the Sailors didn’t let up, building on their early lead to secure a 5-1 victory over the host Lions in the Division III championship game of the CIF Southern California Regional playoffs.
“We know they’re really good, we know they haven’t lost in quite a while,” Newport Harbor coach Josh Lee said. “The big thing we said is don’t make the same mistakes we made last time. Today when we got up 2-0 again, you heard the seniors yelling, ‘Learn from our mistakes, learn from our mistakes,’ which as a coach is what you want.”
Momentum seemed to be in the Sailors’ favor from the first inning, as leadoff hitter Joey Wright got on base with a single and was brought home by Trent Liolios’ triple.
First baseman Jackson Gilles followed with a double to score Liolios, giving Newport Harbor the early cushion.
Liolios went 3 for 4 on the day with a single, double and triple, recorded two RBIs and scored a run. He also pitched three scoreless innings and got out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the opening inning.
“I have to thank my team,” Liolios said. “They’ve carried me throughout times when I’ve been struggling. “I went into this game hoping I would play the best I could and my team picked me up too.”
“He’s been a leader on and off the field,” Lee said of Liolios.”He turned into a dominant No. 1 and in a lot of these games when we needed it most, his big bat, he did it twice today. I’m very proud of him.”
Oaks Christian, the CIF Southern Section Division 3 champions, did its best to keep the game within reach behind a gutsy defensive effort.
The defense behind starting pitcher Joseph Steventon made some highlight plays throughout the day, including an athletic throw from center fielder Royce Clayton Jr. to catcher Leonardo Baez to prevent a run from scoring in the fourth inning.
The Sailors were able to put up three more runs in the fifth and sixth innings however, dashing the Lions’ hopes of making a late comeback.
“There were some fluky things. We played solid on defense, we took care of the baseball, made good plays behind our pitching staff,” Oaks Christian coach Royce Clayton said. “Couple breaks where the ball goes over our head, couple defensive plays. That’s baseball. It happens some days and today it happened. We can’t let this tarnish what we accomplished, winning a CIF championship.”
Lee, who coached at North Torrance before joining Newport Harbor in 2021, wrapped his first season at the helm with a regional title.
He was adamant that his success was thanks to his players and assistant coaches Tate Caraway and Wyatt Hahn.
“They hold us accountable and they want the best for us,” Sailors senior pitcher A.J. Guitron-Moore said about the coaching staff. “That’s what I love about them. They are coaches that you want.”
“Coach Lee has been amazing this year. From the beginning he told us it was going to be a grind,” said Liolios, who will be playing college baseball at Northwestern next year. “He told us in the end it’s all going to be worth it and overall it’s definitely worth it. He’s had a huge impact on all of us, not only how we look at baseball, but the way we look at life.”
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The celebration started right after the final out, with the Newport Harbor players taking turns lifting up the championship plaque and posing for pictures.
And for the seniors on the team, it was just the start of the good times, as they sprinted to the team bus to make sure they get home in time to attend their prom.
“Just going to go to prom, celebrate with the boys,” Guitron-Moore said with a smile. “But first I kind of want to take a nap, I’m tired.”