Hart baseball just keeps showing it can win tight games when it matters most.
The Indians (23-5) will return to the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals after beating the hosting Newport Harbor Sailors (15-14), 1-0 on Tuesday.
Junior Hayden Rhodes delivered the game’s only run in the top of the sixth off an RBI single that scored catcher Ryan De La Maza. The Hart duo are both hitting over .600 in the postseason.
“(Rhodes) is another guy who’s been good all year,” Hart coach Jim Ozella said in a phone interview. “I can’t really say anything negative about him all year, and he’s just a sophomore, come on.”
Ozella’s final campaign will continue again thanks to more unforeseen, but effective, pitching decisions.
Hart closer Ian Edwards notched numerous saves this season but started his first game of the year on Tuesday for the Indians.
Edwards held the Sailor bats at ease for five innings, where he allowed just four hits with no walks while striking out five batters.
“(Edwards’) been ready all year,” Ozella said. “We’re thrown him in numerous bad situations and he’s just rolled with every punch. He’ll be ready to go on Friday.”
Hart senior Troy Cooper, the team’s typical Friday starter, entered in relief for the second straight game. Cooper took on the two-on, no-out challenge in the sixth and yet again got the better of his CIF playoff opponents.
Cooper struck out Newport’s three- and four-hole hitters before forcing a ground ball to escape the inning. The senior threw for basically a complete game in relief last week in the 14-inning bout with Simi Valley and earned similar, but quicker, results on Tuesday.
“Cooper came in and probably pitched as well as he’s pitched all year and that’s hard to say,” Ozella said.
Cooper finished off the fifth and sixth with no hits or walks, earning the starter the save, and the closer a win.
Hart will remain on the road for the quarterfinals and heads to Riverside to face the Arlington Lions (26-4). The River Valley champion Lions advanced into the quarterfinals with wins over Woodridge and Palos Verdes.
“We gotta get off the bus and be able to play,” Ozella said. “They’re obviously very good. We played here four years ago, during the COVID year, in the state tournament. They beat us down there, it’s a tough place to play. They’ve got solid pitching. In our bracket, I think four teams are off the charts, and I’m including us in that group.”
Arlington hosts Hart on Friday at 3:15 p.m.
