2018 National High School Invitational Day 1 Round-Up
In the first day of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary, the 16 top prep teams in the country to compete against each other in what has become the premiere event on the high school baseball calendar.
The four quarterfinal match-ups include Sandra Day O'Connor vs. Cavalry Christian, George Jenkins vs. Orange Lutheran, John Curtis vs. American Heritage and Green Hope vs. Mountain Ridge.
Two of Thursday's ten games will be streamed live on MLB.com and Facebook.com/USABaseball. The first of those will be Cavalry Christian vs. Sandra Day O'Connor at 10:30 a.m. ET and the second will feature American Heritage vs. John Curtis at 1:30 p.m. ET. Both games will be played on Coleman Field at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
John Curtis Defeats Hanover 2-0 In Round 1 of 2018 National High School Invitational
CARY, N.C. - John Curtis Christian School (River Ridge, La.) pitchers Ian Landreneau and Dax Ford combined to toss a shutout in the first game of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary. The Patriots defeated Hanover (Mechanicsville, Va.) 2-0 to secure their spot in the second round.
The Patriots opened scoring in the bottom of the third on a hard grounder to centerfield from Will Ripoll scoring Brandon Davis. The final run of the game came courtesy of a Logan Stevens double to right field in the bottom of the sixth.
Landreneau gave up five hits in six scoreless innings with five strikeouts and a walk. Ford recorded the last three outs of the game to earn the save for John Curtis.
Jack Dragum took the loss for Hanover, allowing three hits, one run and one walk with eight strikeouts in four innings of work.
Hanover will face Santiago (Corona, Calif.) in a consolation game on Field 4 at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, March 29.
The Patriots advance to the second round of the NHSI with their win and will take on American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) at 1:30 p.m. on Coleman Field in the quarterfinals. The game will be streamed live on MLB.com.
George Jenkins Advances to Round Two of the 2018 NHSI in Extra-Innings Thriller
CARY, N.C. - Game two of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary was decided in extra innings as George Jenkins High School (Lakeland, Fla.) defeated Mount Carmel High School (Chicago, Ill.) 2-1 to advance to the second round of the tournament.
With the score tied 0-0 going into the seventh, George Jenkins' Jacob Herbert was hit by pitch with the bases loaded to give Eagles a one run lead. But Mount Carmel quickly tied the game after an error by George Jenkins allowed Jake Kapers to score in the bottom half of the inning.
Still knotted at one in the top of the ninth, Brandt Sundean singled in Brandon Howlett for the game-winning run. Mount Carmel's Christian Lucio was able to hit a two-out single in the bottom half, but it was not enough as George Jenkins secured the 2-1 win.
George Jenkins' Nick Hain allowed just one hit without giving up any runs or walks to secure the win.
Mount Carmel's Diego Munoz surrendered one run and three hits over 6.1 innings of work with two strikeouts. Alec Gonzalez was perfect in his 2/3 of an inning.
Mount Carmel will face Florence (Florence, Ala.) at 9:30 a.m. ET Thursday, March 29, in a consolation game on Field 2 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
George Jenkins will face defending champions Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) at 12:30 p.m. ET on Field 2. The winner will punch their ticket to the semifinals.
Cole Winn, Orange Lutheran Masterful in 9-0 First Round Victory over Florence High School
CARY, N.C. - Defending champions, Orange Lutheran High School (Orange, Calif.), picked up where it left off during its 2017 championship run with a dominating 9-0 victory over Florence High School (Florence, Ala.) on Coleman Field in the first round of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary.
The Lancers' starting pitcher, Cole Winn, was masterful, pitching six innings of one-hit baseball and striking out nine batters for the win. Chad Born (2-for-3), Max Rajcic (2-for-4, 2 RBI), Elijah Buries (2-for-4, RBI) and Jackson Cloyd (2-for-3, RBI) all collected multi-hit days, tallying eight of the team's 11 hits.
Cole Henry suffered the loss for the Falcons, giving up three earned runs in five innings. He finished the game with eight strikeouts.
Orange Lutheran advances to the winner's bracket on Thursday, where they will take on George Jenkins High School (Lakeland, Fla.) at 12:30 p.m. ET on Field 2. The winner will advance to the 2018 NHSI semifinals.
Florence will take on Mount Carmel (Chicago, Ill.) in a consolation game at 9:30 a.m. ET on Field 2.
American Heritage Claims the Win in Pitching Duel with Santiago
CARY, N.C. - American Heritage High School (Plantation, Fla.) came out on top of a pitching duel against Santiago High School (Corona, Calif.) with a 1-0 victory to advance to Thursday's quarterfinals in day one of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary.
The Patriots got the win on the heels of a dominant performance from starting pitcher Ryan Cabarcas, who gave up just one hit in six scoreless innings of work. The lone run of the game came in the final inning courtesy of Matt Ruiz.
Cruz Barrios got the start for Santiago and matched Cabarcas pitch for pitch right up until American Heritage's seventh inning run. Over his 6.2 innings, Barrios gave up just one run and two hits, while recording five strikeouts.
With the win, American Heritage advances to the second round of the 2018 NHSI and will play John Curtis on Coleman Field Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET, and Santiago will match up against Hanover at 11:30 a.m. ET on Field 4 in a consolation game.
Cavalry Christian Advances to Second Round with 4-1 Win
CARY, N.C. - Cavalry Christian Academy (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) defeated Hattiesburg High School (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 4-1 to advance to the second round of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary on Wednesday, March 28.
Cavalry Christian scored the first runs of the game in the fourth inning off a Roberto Pena RBI double that scored Luke Warrington and Dante Girardi to put the Eagles up 2-0.
Hattiesburg got on the board in the fifth courtesy of a Cavalry Christian error that scored Jaden Richardson.
The Eagles responded in the bottom of the fifth on a Jacob Howard ground out that scored Mykanthony Valdez. The exclamation point came in the bottom of the sixth - Valdez grounded to send Raynel Delgado across the plate, giving Cavalry Christian the 4-1 lead.
Cavalry Christian's Christian Scott led the Eagles to victory on the mound, allowing just three hits, one run and one walk over seven innings with nine strikeouts.
Dexter Jordan took the loss for Hattiesburg, allowing six hits and four runs over six innings with two strikeouts.
Hattiesburg will face Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) in a consolation game on Field 4 at 2:30 p.m. ET
Cavalry Christian takes on Sandra Day O' Connor High School (Phoenix, Ariz.) on Coleman Field at 10:30 a.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on MLB.com.
Mountain Ridge Takes Down Trinity Prep in Extras
CARY, N.C. - Matthew Liberatore struck out 10 batters in a seven-inning no-decision and Luke Blachut finished 3-for-5 with an RBI for Mountain Ridge High School (Glendale, Ariz.), who needed nine innings to secure a 4-2 victory over Trinity Preparatory School (Winter Park, Fla.) in the first round of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary.
Liberatore and the Mountain Lions' defense got off to a shaky start, trailing 2-0 to the Saints after two innings thanks to a pair of errors. But once their first run of the game crossed the plate thanks to a Blachut RBI-single to left, Liberatore set down 15 of the next 16 hitters to force extra innings.
Tied 2-2 in the ninth, the Mountain Lions offense pulled through, plating two runs thanks to RBIs from Travis Warinner and Jack Dieckman, to take a 4-2 lead.
Zach Rogers picked up the win for Mountain Ridge, striking out three batters in two innings of relief. The loss was credited to Trinity Prep's Jacob Starling.
Mountain Ridge will face Green Hope High School (Cary, N.C.) in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. ET on Coleman Field. The winner will advance to the semifinals of the 2018 NHSI.
Trinity Prep will face Walton High School (Marietta, Ga.) at 3:30 p.m. ET on Field 2 in a consolation game.
Sandra Day O'Connor Blanks Mater Dei to Advance to the Second Round
CARY, N.C. - In its first game of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary, Sandra Day O'Connor High School (Phoenix, Ariz.) took down two-time NHSI champions Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 4-0 on Wednesday.
The Eagles didn't waste any time in their NHSI debut, putting two runs on the board in the top of the first after RBI singles from Nolan Gorman and Zak Elms. To back up the early offense, O'Connor's starting pitcher Cal Lambert allowed just four hits and no runs in a complete game effort. The Eagles then sealed the victory with two more runs in the top of the sixth to advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Three of Mater Dei's four hits in the game came from Emilio Rosas, who went 3-for-3, but the Monarchs, who took home back-to-back NHSI titles in 2012 and 2013, couldn't get anything else going. Hunter Cope suffered the loss after giving up all four runs in his five innings of work.
In day two, Sandra Day O'Connor will play Cavalry Christian on Coleman Field at 10:30 a.m. ET in the quarterfinals and Mater Dei will face off against Hattiesburg in a consolation game at 2:30 p.m. ET on Field 4.
Liam Norris' Stellar Night Leads Hometown Green Hope to First Round Victory
CARY, N.C. - Liam Norris led Green Hope High School's (Cary, N.C.) offense and defense in a 7-1 first round victory over Walton High School (Marietta, Ga.) in the first round of the 2018 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and the Town of Cary.
On the mound, Norris struck out nine batters in six innings, surrendering only two hits and one earned run to earn the victory. He was just as impressive from the plate for the Falcons, finishing the night 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Kohl Abrams helped the Green Hope offense, finishing the night 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Luke Bartniki was tagged with the loss for the Raiders, giving up seven runs (five earned) and striking out six. Cam Bloodworth was the only Walton batter to tally multiple hits on the evening, finishing 2-for-3 with the lone RBI.
Green Hope will take on Mountain Ridge High School (Glendale, Ariz.) in the second round of the 2018 NHSI. The game will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET on Coleman Field at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
Walton will face Trinity Preparatory School (Winter Park, Fla.) at 3:30 p.m. ET on Field 2 the consolation bracket.