Foster Griffin jumps on the pile during The First Academy's celebration following its championship win at the NHSI.
File photo by Alyson Boyer-Rode
Cary, N.C. - It was evenly matched in the early going between
Clovis (Calif.) and
The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) in the National High School Invitational Championship game on Friday.
But a timely, productive at-bat by
Chadwick Word shifted the direction.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the second baseman doubled with the bases loaded and TFA went up 5-3, which ended up being the final score.
Word came up big earlier in the game for TFA, hitting an RBI double that got the team on the board in the third.
"He was awesome," said TFA head coach Scott Grove, who is in his first year with the school. "He hit well all tournament. And he hit that huge double in the sixth. He did an exceptional job and sparked us."
The team tacked on one more run, but Clovis came right back in the top of the fourth inning to score three.
RJ Hartmann hit a standup triple to lead things off.
Cody Murray singled him home and
Keilen Araki followed with another RBI hit.
Peyton Hopkins was on the mound for the final out and was credited the win for TFA. He shook off any nerves when he loaded the bases in the fourth inning and finished the day with 3 2/3 innings pitched.
Thomas Headley started for the Royals, going three innings and allowing three earned runs on seven hits. He walked just one batter.
"Headley kept competing. When he gave up a couple of hits, he came back and he was throwing off-speed stuff for strikes. And Hopkins has been great all year. He pounded the strike zone today and executed all his pitches," Grove said.
Word's at-bats were impressive, as he seemed to adjust throughout the game as needed. He struck out swinging to end the fifth, but otherwise had a patient approach. He finished the day with two hits, four RBIs and a run scored. Catcher
Cody Oerther's hit in the same inning went hard up the middle, past the second baseman. Earlier, in the third, Oerther doubled in a run to make it 2-0. His day ended with three hits for TFA.
Clovis used four pitchers, with
Zac Whittaker going three innings and giving up four hits. He allowed two runs and a walk.
Masyn Ashworth did a fine job in two innings of relief, allowing just one run on two hits and struck out four.
Gavin Brar got tagged for the loss. The knuckleballer allowed the two eventual winning runs in the sixth.
Observing such a well-played game by his team, Grove pointed out outfielder
Ryan Melnick as one guy that impressed him in the game after overcoming a difficult year. He didn't start, as he usually does, but Melnick handled that without complaint. He responded by pinch hitting with a single in the sixth.
"I was really glad to see him do that. I was happy for him. It was an important hit that got things going and he got it with two outs. For whatever reason he's struggled this year after having a great junior year, and he stayed positive today," Grove said.
All in all, Grove said the team rose to the occasion all year, particularly when it counted.
"The [Invitational] is a great tournament and known in the whole country, so it's been a great experience to see them get here. They overcame adversity and ended up winning the whole thing. This was a great bunch of kids," he said.
The tournament was shortened to three days in anticipation of bad weather. Rain shortened the initial NHSI in 2012 to just three days with seven games being cancelled. Following are the remainder of Friday's contests:
Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.) 11, Huntsville (Ala.) 0
Jonah Owenby went six innings and gave up no runs on three hits with two strikeouts to help Bishop Verot gain the win.
Jeff Passantino continued to have a strong tournament as he went 2-for-2 with a double and three runs scored.
Christian Hammond also continued his hot hitting with a 2-for-4 effort that included two runs scored, two RBIs and a double. The win lifted Bishop Verot's record to 3-1 in the tournament. Huntsville fell to 1-2.
Aaron Germani, ThunderRidge
File photo by Ray Chen
Venice outhit ThunderRidge 6-5 but was unable to get any runs off
Jake Eissler. Eissler went six innings and struck out three to get the win.
Josh Brown was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the winners while
Brody Westmoreland and
Aaron Germani each had an RBI.
Dalton Guthrie was 3-for-3 for Venice. ThunderRidge raised its record to 2-2 while Venice fell to 1-3.
Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) 10, Roberson (Asheville, N.C.) 9
Mountain Pointe scored a run in the 10th inning to edge Roberson. Although Roberson belted 14 hits, including doubles by
Braxton Davidson and
Connor Lind, it committed four errors on defense. Davidson was 2-for-4 while Lind,
Ryan Goode and Chris Barnwell all had two hits and
Josh McNair was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. For Mountain Pointe,
Cole Tucker was 3-for-5 with a double, a triple and three RBIs while
Ernie De La Trinidad was 3-for-6 with four runs scored, a triple and three RBIs.
Bryce Redaja also added a double while
Sam Park had two RBIs. Roberson dropped to 0-4 in the tournament while Mountain Pointe evened its record at 2-2.
Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) 6, Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.) 3
Anthony Sommer and
Domenic Colacchio each had two hits and an RBI to help Aliso Niguel score six runs over the first two innings and defeat Parkview.
Jason Awtrey had a pair of RBIs while
Jim Wagner had two hits and an RBI for Parkview. Aliso Niguel finished 2-2 while Parkview also went 2-2.
Huntsville 6, Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) 4
Huntsville scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to come from behind and defeat Regis Jesuit.
Tyson Lee got the win, going seven innings and giving up four runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts.
Logan Story led the offense with a pair of triples and an RBI.
Graham Ashcraft and Cameron Aaron also hit doubles.
Max George had a double and went 2-for-4 for Regis Jesuit, which finished 2-2 in the tournament.
Parkview 7, Dyer County (Newbern, Tenn.) 4
Brandon Hill, Jim Wagner and
Isiah Gilliam all had two hits apiece for Parkview, with Gilliam rapping the best hit with a double.
Tyler Brown had a triple and finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored for Dyer County, which finished the tournament 2-2.
Orange Lutheran (Calif.) 4, Gainesville (Ga.) 2
Orange Lutheran got its only win of the tournament despite getting only three hits. The Lancers made the most of four Gainesville errors.
Ryan Watts and
Colin Brecheen each had an RBI for the winners.
Luke Maddox was 3-for-3 for Gainesville while
Griffith Sims was 2-for-4. Both teams finished 1-3 in the tournament.
Coral Springs Christian (Fla.) 6, Milton (Ga.) 4
Benito Santiago was 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs while
Eric Hepple had a double and an RBI to lift Coral Springs Christian to its third win of the tournament (3-1).
Jack Thompson had a double and
Dalton Ewing finished 2-for-4 for Milton, which went 2-2.
Kevin Askeland contributed to this report.
