CARY, N.C. – Eight Basic Academy (Henderson, Nev.) batters tallied hits and Ty Southisene’s effort in relief led the Wolves to a 6-3 victory over The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) in the opening round of the USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.

Mason Neville (2-for-3) and Jesus Peraza (2-for-3) led the Basic Academy offense on the day, both finishing with multiple hits on the day. Peraza and Cooper Sheff also contributed two RBIs apiece for the Wolves, who move on to face the three-time defending champions, Orange Lutheran High School (Orange, Calif.), on Friday. Ben Barrett went 4-for-4 on the day for The First Academy and Riley Parker finished 2-for-4 with an RBI in a losing effort for the Royals.

Both starting pitchers took their knocks on the day filled with hits from 13 different hitters. Basic Academy starter Aaron Rubio tallied the victory with a 5.2 inning outing, striking out one batter and giving up three runs on six hits. Ty Southisene came on in the sixth inning and gave up three hits and struck out one batter in 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Isaac Sewell suffered the loss for The First Academy, giving up 10 hits and six earned runs in six innings of work.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Riley Parker kicked-off the scoring for The First Academy with an RBI-single up the middle, scoring Trent Kelly from second base, to take the early 1-0 lead over Basic Academy in the top of the first inning.
• Ty and Tate Southisene led off the Basic Academy half of the first inning with singles before Chase Ditmar laced a ball down the left-field line to tie the game a 1-1.
• Tate Southisene came around to score on a fielder's choice to second base, putting Basic Academy ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the first.
• Cooper Sheff laced a double into the left-centerfield gap to score Tate Southisene and Mason Neville in the bottom of the third inning for Basic Academy, and Jesus Peraza followed with an RBI-single to right field to extend its lead to 5-1.
• Jesus Peraza came up clutch again for Basic Academy, tagging The First Academy starter Isaac Sewell with another RBI-single for a 6-1 lead through five.
• The First Academy’s Nathan Seeber picked up a one-out walk and advanced to third base on a wild pitch before Dewon Brazelton’s sacrifice fly to centerfield brought the Royals within four runs, 6-2, in the top of the sixth inning.
• Matthew Perez was hit by a pitch and Jaden Huygens came through with a single up the middle to force Basic Academy to its bullpen in the top of the sixth inning. With Ty Southisene on the dish, Greg Pettay laced the first pitch he saw to center to score Perez from third to bring The First Academy within three, 6-3.

NOTABLE INFORMATION

• Basic Academy starter Aaron Rubio (1-0) earned the victory on the mound. He pitched 5.2 innings, gave up six hits and three runs, and struck out one Royals batter.
• Ty Southisene came on in relief for Basic Acadmy and struck out one batter in a scoreless 1.1 innings.
• Isaac Sewell suffered the loss for The First Academy after giving up six runs on 10 hits. He struck out one batter on the day.
• Thirteen different batters registered hits between the two teams on the day: eight for Basic Academy and five for The First Academy.
• Ben Barrett went 4-for-4 to lead The First Academy offense on the day and Riley Parker went 2-for-4 with an RBI. They were the only two Royals batters with multiple hits in the game.
• Mason Neville and Jesus Peraza both went 2-for-3 at the dish for Basic Academy in the win. Peraza tallied two RBIs along with Cooper Sheff, who finished 1-for-3 with the only extra-base hit in the game.

ON DECK

• Basic Academy advances to the quarterfinals of the 2022 National High School Invitational on Friday. The Wolves will face the three-time defending champions, Orange Lutheran High School (Orange, Calif.).
• The First Academy falls into the consolation bracket with the loss. Their next opponent will be announced this evening.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Stay tuned with all the action at the 2022 National High School Invitational by follow @USABEvents on Twitter and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Fans and media can use #NHSI22 in their posts.