Huntington Beach baseball coach Benji Medure says this year’s team could be the school’s best in his 25 seasons running the program.

“Could be,” Medure said, and added for emphasis … “Could be.”

The “could be” is because there are plenty of goals ahead.

The Boras Classic tournament is one. The Oilers got off to a good start in the Boras Classic South tournament Tuesday with a 4-1 win over Aquinas of San Bernardino in a first-round game at Mater Dei High.

Also on the goals board are winning another Sunset League championship, winning the National High School Invitational championship again in North Carolina and winning a CIF Southern Section championship.

“I think we’re the best team in the country,” said Huntington Beach senior center fielder Trevor Goldenetz. “I think we can do everything we want to do.”

The batting order and the pitching staff are loaded with top players. Senior pitcher Tyler Bellerose committed to Oregon State, as did senior third baseman Ethan Porter and senior outfielder John Petrie.

Another senior pitcher, Otto Espinoza, committed to Cal. Senior center fielder Trevor Goldenetz committed to Long Beach State and senior catcher Trent Grindlinger committed to Mississippi State. Some juniors have made college decisions, including shortstop CJ Weinstein, who committed to LSU.

“It’s just so deep,” Medure said “It’s not just a really good top 5 (group of players). It’s a top 13. It’s the guys who can come off the bench and be dangerous. Somebody goes down and somebody comes in and he’s equally good.

“Pitching depth is probably as deep as we’ve ever been.”

Espinoza agreed that the talent is there, as is the necessary team chemistry.

“You can have all the skill in the world,” Espinoza said. “It’s always about friendship. We’ve got each others’ backs, on and off the field.”

Goldenetz feels the same.

“As long as we keep going and stay as a team,” he said, “we can win a CIF championship, win this tournament, win in North Carolina. I think we can do it all.”

NOTES

The Prep Baseball Report California rankings have Huntington Beach at No. 2, behind Corona – a possible opponent for Huntington Beach in the Boras Classic South tournament, if both advance to the championship game that will be played Friday at 6 p.m. at JSerra High.

Other Orange County teams in the PBR state rankings: No. 3 Orange Lutheran; No. 5 Santa Margarita; No. 14 Mater Dei; and No. 21 Los Alamitos. …

The MaxPreps.com national rankings have Huntington Beach at No. 3 (Corona is No. 1), Santa Margarita at No. 5 and Mater Dei at No. 7. …

The first CIF-SS rankings created by the Massey Ratings System will be out April 1. The system will be used at the end of the regular season to place teams in the playoff divisions and seed them in those divisions. …

Aliso Niguel senior shortstop/pitcher Cooper Flemming last week hit three doubles, a home run, drove in three runs and pitched a complete game as the Wolverines went 3-0 in the Anaheim Lions Tournament. He had 10 strikeouts without a walk in a 3-1 win over San Clemente. Fleming is 3-0 this season with a 0.47 ERA. …

Segerstrom’s Adrian Landeros pitched a perfect game Tuesday in the Jaguars’ 6-0 win over Buena Park. …

Villa Park sophomore Logan Hoppie struck out five in 2.2 innings of relief pitching last week to earn the save in the Spartans’ 2-1 win over Santa Margarita. …

The Ryan Lemmon Spring Tournament begins Saturday. The schedule is here.

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