Mater Dei, Harvard-Westlake set NHSI title rematch in 2013

For the past two years, Cary, N.C., has been a home away from home for Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

In seven games played at the Team USA training center, the Monarchs are 7-0 and have twice advanced to the championship game of the National High School Invitational. Mater Dei made it two in a row by dropping previously undefeated The Woodlands (Texas) on Friday, 11-2.

Mater Dei jumped on the Highlanders for two runs in the first and six in the second. When that same thing happened to The Woodlands on Thursday against Milton, the offense was able to recover and get the win. Not this time, however, as Mater Dei's Charlie Vorsheck went the distance to get the win, giving up eight hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

Meanwhile Highlander sophomore standout Chris Andritsos lasted just two frames, giving up eight runs on 10 hits with one strikeout. The Woodlands had won 20 straight games until Friday's loss.

Mater Dei put the game away in the second inning when it scored six runs without registering an out. Mater Dei had seven hits in the inning, including doubles by Tyler Adkison and Jeremy Martinez.

Josh Stephen and Ryan McMahon each had three hits with McMahon driving in five runs. Martinez, Adkison and Austin Grebeck all had two hits apiece. Adkison and McMahon had triples.

Matthew Franques was 2-for-2 for The Woodlands while Andritsos had a double.

Mater Dei will find a familiar foe in the finals as it will once again face Harvard-Westlake, the same team it faced in last year's championship game, which the Monarchs won 4-3. Harvard-Westlake advanced with a 6-0 win over Venice.

Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) 6, Venice (Fla.) 0
Hans Hansen gave up three hits with five strikeouts to give Harvard-Westlake a 6-0 win over Venice and put the Wolverines back into the championship game at the NHSI.

Brian Ginsberg was one of eight Wolverines to get a hit as he went 2-for-3. Joseph Corrigan and Jack Flaherty each had a double while Ezra Steinberg drove in two runs.

Milton (Ga.) 2, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) 2
After being deadlocked for 11 innings, the game ended in a draw. Neither team scored for the final six innings and both teams ended with eight hits and an error. Erik Petersen was a tough out for Milton as he went 4-for-4 with two RBIs.

Roberson (Asheville, N.C.) 2, Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) 1
Braxton Davidson hit a sacrifice fly to score Tanner Bush for the deciding run in Roberson's victory over Grayson in a consolation bracket game.

The teams were tied at 1 until Davidson's RBI broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth. Roberson had just two hits off Grayson starter Taylor Allum.

Parker Johnson was equal to the task for Roberson as he gave up one run on four hits through 6 2/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked three.

Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 11, Tullahoma (Tenn.) 1
Hamilton built a 6-1 lead and then closed the door with a five-run rally in the fifth to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule. Cody Bellinger, Zach Strand and Justin Wylie each had a double with Bellinger going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored and Strand batting 2-for-3 with an RBI. Skyler Palermo and Tyler Hill also had two hits apiece for Hamilton.

Tyler Erwin got the win, giving up one run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

Lexington (S.C.) 2, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 1
Brady Aiken struck out a tournament-high 14 batters for Cathedral Catholic, but it wasn't enough as resourceful Lexington scored a run in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie and defeat the Dons.

Nick Ciuffo scored the winning run when he raced around the bases from first base following an error on Zack Paquette's sacrifice.

Lexington also scored on an error on the catcher in the first inning which allowed Ryan Brown to come home.

Cathedral Catholic got its only run in the bottom of the first when Gabe Simpson singled to bring home Derek Black.

It was the only base hit of the game for the Dons, however, as Matt Godleski allowed one run on one hit with eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. Elliott Lance pitched the final 1 1/3 innings of hitless ball for Lexington.

Jenks (Okla.) 3, Eustis (Fla.) 2
An error on Matthias Johnson's ground ball in the seventh inning allowed two runs to score and gave Jenks a come-from-behind win over Eustis in the consolation bracket.

Eric Kanady was 3-for-4 with a double for the Jenks offense while Allan Beer went the distance for the win, giving up two runs on five hits with a strikeout.

Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.) 9, Florida Christian (Miami) 2
Daniel Shaw went the distance for CBS, giving up two runs on five hits. Tyler Lawrence was 3-for-3 with a triple to lead the offense.

The schedule for the final day finds Florida Christian facing Tullahoma at 11:30 a.m., Grayson takes on Eustis at 2:30 p.m., Milton plays Roberson at 2:45 p.m., Christian Brothers faces Jenks at 3 p.m., Cathedral Catholic meets Bingham at noon; Venice plays The Woodlands for third place at 11:30 a.m. and Mater Dei takes on Harvard-Westlake at 3:04 p.m.