USA Baseball announces National High School Invitational teams

By Kevin Askeland Jan 16, 2014, 12:00pm

Venice, Milton, T.C. Roberson among returning teams to third annual NHSI Tournament.

Dylan Cease and his Milton Eagle teammates return to play in this year's National High School Invitational.
Dylan Cease and his Milton Eagle teammates return to play in this year's National High School Invitational.
File photo by Alyson Boyer-Rode
The National High School Invitational will have a new champion this year when 16 teams compete at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C.

USA Baseball has announced the 16 teams that will appear in the 2014 National High School Invitation, which has come to be considered as the premier baseball tournament in the country. Complete first round matchups have yet to be released for the event which runs from March 26-29.

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), which won the first two NHSI tournaments, will not be returning to defend its title this year, but the tournament does include two teams that finished in the final Xcellent 25 National Rankings in 2013.
Joey Sanchez, Orange Lutheran
Joey Sanchez, Orange Lutheran
File photo by Heston Quan

Venice (Fla.) and Milton (Ga.) both played in the NHSI last year and won state titles in 2013. Venice ended the year ranked No. 4 while Milton landed at No. 22. Both figure to be ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation when MaxPreps announces its preseason rankings in early February.

Venice is one of four Florida teams in the tournament. Others include Coral Springs Christian, Bishop Verot (Fort Myers) and The First Academy (Orlando). All three teams are newcomers to the tournament.

Meanwhile Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.), Roberson (Asheville, N.C.) and Orange Lutheran (Calif.) all return to the NHSI. Parkview played in the inaugural tournament in 2012 while Roberson, the tournament host, and Orange Lutheran played in last year's event.



Parkview and Milton are joined by a third Georgia team as Gainesville makes its first appearance in the tournament. Two other California teams, Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo) and Clovis join Orange Lutheran.

Colorado places two teams in this year's event, including defending state champion ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch) and Regis Jesuit (Aurora).

Other teams that will make their initial appearance in the tournament include Dyer County (Newbern, Tenn.), Huntsville (Ala.) and Mountain Pointe (Phoenix).

USA Baseball will be announcing first-round matchups throughout the month on its website, usabaseball.com.