Conger's success in majors helping change baseball culture at Huntington Beach

Published Jun. 4, 2015 7:11 p.m. ET

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The Los Angeles Angels selected a local product with the 25th pick of the 2006 MLB Draft -- Hank Conger out of Huntington Beach High School. 

A little over four years later, Conger made his major league debut with his hometown as a September call-up. 

He soon became somewhat of a mainstay on the Angels' 25-man roster before being traded to the Houston Astros last offseason. 

Not only was Conger's presence on the Angels' big league roster a turning point in his career, it also changed the plight of his alma mater, Huntington Beach head coach Benji Medure believes. 

Today, the Oilers have eight Division I commits on the roster and have the opportunity to win the first CIF Southern Section championship in program history Saturday night when they take on Hart in the Division I final. The game can be seen live from San Manuel Stadium right here on FOXSportsWest.com at 8 p.m. 

The eight Division I commits represent the type of players who weren't coming in mass prior to Conger's callup with the Angels. 

"When Hank made it to the big leagues in 2011 and mainstayed with the Angels, is when we really started to get notoriety. Then people started to show up, and it was really a big deal to come to Huntington Beach High School," Medure said. "We're starting to get really, special athletes to come into the program and good baseball players."

Saturday will mark the Oilers' second appearance in a CIF final. In 2009, they were defeated 8-1 by Crespi in the Division II title game. 

Just to get to the final that year, however, Huntington Beach needed an improbable run, starting in the Wild Card round. Huntington Beach was the third place team coming out of the Sea View League with an 8-7 record, 19-12 overall. 

On Saturday, the Oilers will be far from Cinderellas when they take the field. As opposed to 2009 when they began in the wild card, the Oilers, as the No. 2 seed, began the 2015 playoffs with a first round bye.

Just getting there isn't good enough this time.

"It's special," Medure said. "We're so excited to be able to go there and do it and represent Orange County and our city and we're really pumped to be there. We're not just going there to be there. We're going to try to win a CIF championship."

Win or lose, Medure can expect to hear from Conger, who continues to be a major supporter of the program. 

"Every game (he) sends a text," Medure said of his former player. "He's one of those special guys that stays in touch with everybody." 

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