JV? Bellerose claims NHSI MVP with varsity effort

CARY, N.C. -- Tyler Bellerose was supposed to be on Huntington Beach’s junior varsity team this year. But he forced his way onto the varsity roster by pitching very well over the winter. That allowed him to be at the National High School Invitational and play the improbable hero Saturday.

The right-handed sophomore pitched into the seventh inning of the NHSI championship game against JSerra Catholic HS (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), a tension-filled contest that went extra innings before Huntington Beach (Calif.) broke it open in the ninth to win it’s second NHSI title, 8-1. Bellerose, who tossed three hitless innings in relief at the start of the tournament, was named the event’s Most Valuable Player, leaving the National Training Complex with nine total innings, five hits, just one earned run, three walks and eight strikeouts.

“It’s unbelievable, and really, we didn’t even know what Belly could do until about December,” said Huntington Beach head coach Benji Medure, who also coached the team when it won the 2016 NHSI. “We have an intrasquad world series, where we split the teams in half and he absolutely dominated in that world series. Things started to snowball, Pepperdine picked him up. He’s become a weapon out of our bullpen.

“We always thought, Game 4, if we make it to the championship game, we’re going to give it to Belly, but I didn’t think he could do what he did today -- [holding] that offense to what he did was pretty impressive.”

Bellerose filled up the strike zone for six shutout innings and went out to start the seventh with a 1-0 lead the Oilers had held since the third inning thanks to third baseman Tony Martinez’s RBI single. When he gave up a leadoff double to Trent Caraway (who made the all-tournament team after going 7-for-16 with two doubles and a triple), Medure went to the bullpen and JSerra tied it up on a sacrifice fly.

“I was locked in, ready to go, ready to give our team the biggest chance possible to win,” Bellerose said. “I just wanted to pound the zone and not walk many people.

“It’s a dream to finish it off, but with the boys we have here and the bullpen, I felt so safe with them going out and finishing it off for me.”

It took a little longer, but Huntington Beach did eventually finish it off. They had an opportunity in the eighth with the bases loaded and one out but couldn’t capitalize. A Linkin Garcia single in the ninth gave them a 2-1 lead before Aidan Espinoza, who had previously gone 0-for-14 throughout the tournament, tripled with the bases loaded to allow the Oilers to exhale.

“It was really frustrating in the eighth when we had the bases loaded and we popped up and grounded out and thought that was our best opportunity to score,” Medure said. “I’m proud of Espy. We were going to sac [bunt] him at one point, we thought about safety squeezing just to try to get a run because he’s been struggling. For him to get the big hit at the end was huge for his psyche, and for us, that broke it wide open.”

Huntington Beach becomes the third team to boast multiple NHSI titles, following fellow California schools Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran. None of it would have been possible without Bellerose’s ability to keep JSerra from figuring him out.

Using a mid-70s curve and fastball that was up to 89 mph -- and that still touched 87 on a strikeout to end the sixth -- he allowed four hits and struck out six while walking none. He was able to pitch into the seventh because of his efficiency, throwing just 72 pitches, 52 for strikes. Getting on a mound at the start of the event, in relief, definitely helped him be mentally prepared for getting the ball Saturday.

“It helped so much,” Bellerose said about the relief outing. “First game, I was a little nervous. Coming into this game, I had no nerves. I was just ready to win.

“Probably my curve [worked best], then the fastball right after it. It just worked really well all game. That’s what I do all the time, go curveball-fastball. It throws people off."

“He has this tunnel he just stays in; he masks it really well,” Medure said of Bellerose. “It looks the same out of the hand no matter what. It’s an absolute hammer. When you look at spin rate, it doesn’t seem that impressive, but when you face it, and you see it, it’s really hard to pick up. He kept them off-balance all game.”

With a title in hand, Huntington Beach is ready to head back to California for the rest of what tends to be a very demanding season. It’s safe to assume Bellerose has worked his way into an even more important role, and he’s prepared for anything that comes the Oilers’ way.

“We’re ready to take on the Boras Classic, we’re ready to win the CIF [California Interscholastic Federation], we’re ready for everything,” Bellerose said.

And what about coming back to USA Baseball to defend its NHSI title?

“Yep, we’re ready for that, too,” he said.