The quarterfinal round has come and gone and the semifinals are set at the 2026 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and Netting Professionals. Catch up on all the bracket play action from Cary:
Casteel 3, St. John Bosco 2
Casteel (Queens Creek, Ariz.) outlasted St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in a back-and-forth contest in the NHSI quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals with a 3-2 win. With the game tied at 2-2 in the seventh, the Colts capitalized on multiple defensive miscues by the Braves to take a late lead and eventually secure their first-ever NHSI semifinal appearance. Casteel struck first when Baylor Denny hit an RBI single with runners at the corners in the top of the third, but St. John Bosco tied things up in the fourth thanks to Jack Champlin’s long single to center field with a runner at first. Casteel regained its lead in the fifth when Taylor Dodd reached on an infield single, stole second, and used back-to-back errors to cross home plate. The Braves once again responded in the sixth when Champlin hit a sacrifice fly to left field with runners in scoring position, but the Colts managed to produce the seventh-inning run en route to its victory. Offensively, Dodd, Ryne Barker, and Connor Russell tallied two hits each to combine for six of Casteel’s eight hits, while St. John Bosco’s Moises Razo turned in a 2-for-4 outing to lead his squad. On the mound, Casteel’s Evan Hedlund went 5.1 innings and then gave way to Nolan Leitner, who tossed the final 1.2 scoreless innings to earn the win. Champlin got the start for the Braves and surrendered one earned run in 5.0 innings of work.
Venice 12, Harvard-Westlake 0
The defending champion Venice High School Indians (Venice, Fla.) scored early and often to beat Harvard-Westlake School (Los Angeles, Calif.), 12-0, in the NHSI quarterfinals. The Indians rattled off three consecutive hits immediately to open the game, as an RBI knock by Jonathan Mauro plated the game’s first run. An error prolonged the opening frame and scored another tally before three consecutive RBI hits by Randall Riley, Maddox Volk, and Kohen Poplin made it a 6-0 edge for Venice before Harvard-Westlake took its first trip to the plate. The Indians added another run in the second before exploding for five more in the third, highlighted by a grand slam from Graham Houston to put the game out of reach. Kasen Poplin started on the mound for the Indians and didn’t allow a hit in his 2.2 innings of work before turning it over to Macade Carey, who got the final seven outs on three hits. Venice is now 9-1 all-time at the NHSI after running the table in 2025 and going 3-1 in 2013. The Indians will go for their tenth NHSI win in Friday’s semifinals.
Orange Lutheran 3, Trinity Christian 2
The night games began with a showdown between the two previous NHSI runners-up -- the Conquerors of Trinity Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) and the Lancers of Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.). The Conquerors struck first in the battle when Parker Loew laced a single to left to score one in the top of the first, and Brady Harris followed with an RBI groundout two innings later to take a 2-0 lead. From there, it became a pitcher’s duel, as Trinity Christian starter Tyler Ellis and Orange Lutheran reliever Marcus Greis denied any offense. The Lancers knocked on the door several times, but Ellis continued to get out of jams. The southpaw came up with a huge strikeout in the bottom of the third with the tying run on base and escaped again in the fourth with the tying run at the plate. Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, the Lancers broke through on Jordan Kurz’s RBI single, which cut the lead to 2-1. After Greis stifled the Conquerors once again in the top of the seventh, Ellis returned to the mound in the bottom half looking to shut the door on the Lancers. Instead, he found himself in a bases-loaded, one-out situation with Brady Murrietta at the plate. Murrietta bunted home the tying run in a clutch squeeze play, sending the game into extra innings. Finally, in the bottom of the eighth, with bases loaded for Orange Lutheran once again, Andrew Felizzari hit a walk-off single through the right side to send the Lancers to their sixth consecutive NHSI semifinals.
Baylor School 4, Trinity 3
The Baylor School (Chattanooga, Tenn.) rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to come back and beat Trinity (Louisville, Ky.), 4-3, and secure the final spot in the 2026 NHSI semifinals. Trailing 3-1 and down to their final three outs, the Red Raiders rattled off four consecutive singles to make it 3-2 with the bases loaded and nobody out. After a pitching change, Zack Morrison was hit by a pitch to tie the game, and Emerson Morris drew a walk to bring home Brooks Berry with the winning run as the Baylor School erupted out of the dugout to celebrate its spot in the semifinals. Before the dramatic seventh, Trinity scored three runs in the third to take a lead for the majority of the contest thanks to singles by Nolan Hosking, Brock Canady-Miller, and Cade Partin. A wild pitch gave the Red Raiders their first run of the game in the fifth, setting the table for their three-run rally in the seventh to win the game. Brody Brooks pitched two crucial innings in relief for the Baylor School to earn the win, keeping his team in the contest before the comeback win.
