The 2026 National High School Invitational presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and Netting Professionals championship game is set, and it will feature three-time champion Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) and defending champion Venice (Venice, Fla.). The Lancers earned their second consecutive walk-off win over Casteel (Queen Creek, Ariz.) while the Conquerors secured a 4-1 win over Baylor School (Catttanooga, Tenn.) behind a complete-game effort by Kohen Poplin. Read up on the action below.

Orange Lutheran 2, Casteel 1

Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) won on a walk-off single for the second consecutive day, taking down Casteel (Queen Creek, Ariz.), 2-1, to punch its ticket to the 2026 NHSI title game. The Lancers, who secured a spot in Friday’s semifinal after a walk-off win on Thursday night, scored the game’s first run on an RBI double by Eric Zdunek in the bottom of the first to take an immediate lead. From there, the game settled into a pitcher’s duel between Orange Lutheran’s Cooper Sides and Casteel’s Cayden Hokanson. Sides allowed a pair of singles in the second inning but escaped unscathed and got through the third inning 1-2-3 before the Colts finally broke through in the fourth on Ryne Barker’s RBI infield single to knot the game at one. Hokanson was lights-out for Casteel until running into trouble in the sixth by issuing a pair of one-out walks, but Nolan Leitner entered in relief and halted the threat to keep the game tied at one. With newfound momentum in the top of the seventh, the Colts put runners on the corners with just one out as the go-ahead run stood just 90 feet away. But sound defense on a safety squeeze attempt kept the go-ahead run from scoring, and Lancers’ reliever Paul Mittmann coaxed an inning-ending ground out to get Orange Lutheran out of trouble. The Lancers did not waste any time in the bottom of the seventh; Marcus Greis drew a four-pitch walk and moved to second on a bunt single by Trevor Deack, putting the winning run in scoring position. With the infield expecting a bunt, Zane Avina roped a line drive into left center field and the Lancers poured out of the dugout as Greis touched home to send Orange Lutheran to its fifth NHSI title game. Mittmann earned the win after getting the final two outs of the seventh, but Sides pitched the majority of the contest for Orange Lutheran, lasting five innings and allowing just one unearned run. Hokanson matched Sides throughout the game, going 5.2 innings and yielding just three hits and a run. The Lancers are now 23-3 all-time in seven trips to the NHSI and will look for their fourth tournament trophy on Saturday.

Venice 4, Baylor School 1

Defending tournament champion Venice (Venice, Fla.) is headed back to the 2026 NHSI title game thanks to its 4-1 victory over Baylor School (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in the second semifinal game of the day. The Red Raiders struck first when Kilby Hartley, Henry Allen, and Knox Johnson tallied three consecutive singles , but their lead was short lived when Venice plated a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Carter Cox led off the frame by reaching on a hit-by-pitch, moved to second on a passed ball, and scored on Beau Daniel’s RBI triple to center field to knot the score at 1-1, and then Maddox Volk drove home Daniel on a sacrifice fly to right field. Venice managed to extend its lead to 4-1 in the fifth when Jonathan Mauro laced a two-run single to center field after August Backman and Graham Houston led off the inning with back-to-back outfield singles. Starting pitcher Kohen Poplin managed to retire six straight batters to keep Baylor School off the board and help his team secure its spot in the championship game. Poplin threw a complete game and surrendered just one earned run on three hits while striking out six batters. Offensively, seven different Venice batters tallied at least one hit, as the squad was led by Backman, who had two. Likewise, Mauro led all players with two RBIs. The Conquerors are now 10-1 all-time in three trips to the NHSI and will look to collect his second tournament trophy on Saturday.