High school baseball: Everything you need to know about the star-studded National High School Invitational

The first pitch of the National High School Invitational is Wednesday morning at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary (N.C.). A total of 16 of the top high school baseball teams in the United States will compete in one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country.

MaxPreps presents 10 facts that you need to know about the NHSI.
1. Orange Lutheran hasn't lost an NHSI game since Obama was President
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Team USA has not held the NHSI the past two seasons. Prior to the cancellation, Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) had won three straight NHSI championships with a 12-0 record. The Lancers did not play in the event in 2016 or 2015, but did play in 2014. That year, Orange Lutheran went 1-3 in the tournament with Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.) handing the Lancers their last loss on March 27.

2. Orange Lutheran isn't the only former champions in the tournament
Prior to Orange Lutheran's domination, Huntington Beach (Calif.) won the tournament in 2016 (Orange Lutheran did not attend) and The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) won the event in 2014. Both are in this year's event with Huntington Beach meeting McQuaid Jesuit in its first game and The First Academy taking on Basic (Las Vegas).

3. Don't expect teams from same state to meet in the consolation brackets
One thing about the NHSI bracket is that it's not a true bracket. Leeway is given to tournament organizers to match up consolation bracket teams so that teams in the same state don't play each other. The tournament has 16 teams from California, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Virginia, Colorado and New Jersey. The guidelines allow participants to play teams from a number of different states.



4. Tournament participants include seven MaxPreps Top 25 Teams
Besides No. 2 Buford (Ga.), the event includes No. 12 Orange Lutheran, No. 13 Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.), No. 14 The First Academy, No. 19 St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park, Fla.), No. 22 Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) and No. 24 Yucaipa (Yucaipa, Calif.).

5. The NHSI Pre-All-Tournament Team
LHP — Levi Huesman, Hanover (Mechanicsville, Va.)
RHP — Dylan Lesko, Buford (Ga.)
C — Karson Bowen, Orange Lutheran (Calif.)
1B — Gabe Miranda, Orange Lutheran
MIF — Mikey Romero, Orange Lutheran
MIF — Seth Keller, Hanover
3B — Jacob Reimer, Yucaipa (Calif.)
OF — Gavin Turley, Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.)
OF — Roman Anthony, Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.)
OF — Riley Stanford, Buford
Players chosen based on Perfect Game position rankings.

6. How long will this streak go on?
If you had to guess which pitcher at the NHSI had the longest winning streak, Dylan Lesko of Buford, the nation's top-ranked right-hander, would be a good guess. It would also be incorrect. Lesko lost a game as a freshman, however The First Academy's Isaac Sewell has never tasted defeat. A 2-0 record as a sophomore, 14-0 as a junior (to lead the nation) and 4-0 this year gives Sewell 20 straight wins without a loss.

7. Tough way to start the season
While most teams in the NHSI have played about a dozen games, topped by Buford's 20 games, three teams are just getting started. Hanover (Mechanicsville, Va.) has played just three games — all shutout wins. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) has played two games, both wins. McQuaid Jesuit (Rochester, N.Y.), meanwhile, has postponed two of its preseason games making its matchup with Huntington Beach on Wednesday the Knights' season opener.

8. Will the NHSI help crown a national champion?
With seven teams from the Top 25 rankings playing in this year's tournament, it's certainly possible that the winner of the event could go on to win a national championship. But that hasn't generally been the case. Only once has it happened, and that was in 2019 when Orange Lutheran won the tournament and finished No. 1 in the MaxPreps computer rankings. Argyle (Texas), which didn't play in the NHSI, was the national champion via the MaxPreps Top 25 expert rankings. Other finishes for the NHSI champions include: 2012 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), 26th; 2013 Mater Dei, 5th; 2014 The First Academy, 151st; 2015 San Clemente (Calif.), 29th; 2016 Huntington Beach, 196th; 2017 Orange Lutheran, 167th; 2018 Orange Lutheran, 13th; 2019 Orange Lutheran, 1st.

9. Matchups we'd like to see
Aside from the first round matchups, here are two games we would like to see: Hanover vs. Buford — more specifically Dylan Lesko, the nation's No. 1 right-hander, going up against Levi Huesman, the nation's No. 4 lefty. Stoneman Douglas vs. Hamilton. Would be great to see a home-run hitting contest between Roman Anthony of Douglas and Gavin Turley of Hamilton.



10. The Department of Redundancy Department
There's the chance that Orange Lutheran and Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) — two schools located just 10 miles and 16 minutes apart — will face each other in the championship game ... 38 hours and 2,529 miles from home. The two teams have already met three times this year with Orange Lutheran winning all three.