SoCal teams reach NHSI final

Video: Early Contender - No. 4 Orange Lutheran
Watch the season preview for the Lancers, who will play in Saturday's finals at the NHSI.

A Southern California team has won the National High School Invitational in four of the past five seasons. After Friday's semifinal games, it's guaranteed that a SoCal team will win a fifth.

Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) reached the final with a 5-3 win over South Hills (West Covina, Calif.) on Friday in Cary (N.C.) while Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) came from behind to beat Winder-Barrow (Winder, Ga.) 6-5.

Orange Lutheran scored four runs in the top of the fourth to overcome a 3-1 deficit. Elijah Buries doubled to drive in two runs during the inning, while Max Rajcic tripled to score Buries.

Caleb Ricketts led the offense with a 2-for-3 effort that included an RBI. Brenden Avventino went 5.1 innings to get the win. He gave up no runs on five hits with two strikeouts.



Dana Hills has been the surprise team in the tournament. Unranked entering the event, Dana Hills knocked off Cullman, Canterbury and now Winder-Barrow to reach the final.

Hans Crouse, better known for his pitching exploits, came up with the key hit when he singled to right field and drove in Zach Waters with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Crouse finished 2-for-4 on the day with three RBI.

Dana Hills had tied the score earlier in the inning when Joe DeBaca walked with the bases loaded to drive in a run.

Orange Lutheran and Dana Hills will meet in the championship game, scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Eastern time. In other games from Friday

Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 12
Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.) 5

The Mavericks bounced back from their first loss of the season and scored four runs in the first and third innings and two runs in the second and fourth en route to the big win over Canterbury in a matchup between last year's Florida Class 6A state champion and the 3A state champ.

Joe Perez had a huge game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, a grand slam and seven RBIs. Alex Toral added a double while Luis Tuero went 4-for-4 with three runs scored.



Giovany Lorenzo went 2-for-3 for Canterbury with a double and a home run.

American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) 7
Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) 4

The Patriots won their matchup against instate foe Trinity Christian Academy behind the hitting of Julio Cortez, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Mark Vientos helped out by going 2-for-4 while Alfee Soto added a double.

Chad Ragland had two doubles for the Conquerors.