Top-rated Archbishop McCarthy falls at NHSI

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Brandon Dieter was the driving force behind South Hills' run toward a California Southern Section Division 2 championship in 2016 and Thursday he helped the Huskies pull off their biggest win of the 2017 season.

Dieter went all seven innings against No. 1-ranked Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and limited the Mavericks to one run on four hits with six strikeouts and one walk in a 5-1 victory in the second round of the National High School Invitational in Cary (N.C.).

The loss was the first of the season for Archbishop McCarthy, which was 12-0 entering the contest. South Hills (West Covina, Calif.), ranked No. 10 in the latest MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National High School Baseball Rankings, moves into the semifinals while Archbishop McCarthy will play in the consolation bracket.

Dieter also helped himself out on offense by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Jacob Dominguez also had two hits, while Jacob Amaya had a double and Karlos Morales had a triple. Joe Perez had the only extra base hit for the Mavericks with a double.
In other second round matchups

Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 3
Arlington (Tenn.) 0

Seth Sas went six innings and shut out Arlington on six hits with four strikeouts to give Hamilton its first win at the NHSI. Brayden Merritt and Britt Graham each went 2-for-3 to lead the Hamilton offense.

Hough (Cornelius, N.C.) 7
Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins, Colo.) 2

Hough picked up its first win in consolation play with a 7-2 win over Rocky Mountain. JD Brock went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple. Skylar Moore and Carter Williams also had doubles for Hough with Williams also getting two hits.

Spencer Gendreau went 3-for-3 with a double for Rocky Mountain.

Huntington Beach (Calif.) 8
Merritt Island (Fla.) 3

The Oilers rebounded from their first loss of the season to beat Merritt Island. Cohl Staffa was 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Hagen Danner had a double for the Huntington Beach offense. Mason Denaburg and Brady McConnell both doubled for Merritt Island.

Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) 5
Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1

The Lancers advanced to the quarterfinals with a 5-1 win over Trinity Christian Academy. Orange Lutheran banged out 10 hits, including two each by Tristan Hanoian, Garrett Mitchell and Zach Busalacchi. Hanoian, Busalacchi and Sawyer Chesley all had a double apiece as well. Jason Farese went six innings on the mound and gave up one run on six hits with one strikeout.

Cullman (Ala.) 7
Brother Rice (Chicago) 3

Cullman overcame a loss to Dana Hills in the first round to knock off Brother Rice 7-3 in consolation play. Owen Lovell went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI while Levi Thomas was 2-for-3 and Weston Norton was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Thomas went 5.1 innings and struck out five for the win.

Winder-Barrow (Winder, Ga.) 7
American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) 0

Winder-Barrow advanced to the semifinals with a shutout of the Patriots. Beau Hanna went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI while Daniel Buice was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Darrell Woodall went six innings for the win, striking out three and allowing three hits.

Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) 6
Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.) 3

Dana Hills overcame a 3-1 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to knock off Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.) to advance to the semifinals. Joe DeBaca went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Cameron Crugnale was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Thomas Van Hoomissen added a double.

Third Round

Merritt Island (Fla.) 8
Arlington (Tenn.) 0

Brady McConnell went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple and two RBI to lift Merritt Island to its first win of the tournament. Mason Denaburg went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. He also pitched six innings for the win, striking out 11.

Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 7
Hough (Cornelius, N.C.) 0

The Huskies won their second of the day with a 7-0 win over Hough. Three pitchers combined for the win with Dom Hamel going three innings and giving up one hit to earn the win. Drew Swift had a triple and two RBI while Cody Hedalen had a double for Hamilton.

Cullman (Ala.) 6
Huntington Beach (Calif.) 2

Cullman handed Huntington Beach its second loss in two days by scoring three runs each in the third and fourth innings. Will Morrison got the win, giving up two runs on four hits with two strikeouts in seven innings. Owen Lovell went 2-for-2 with a double while Grayson Taylor was 2-for-3 with a double.

Brother Rice (Chicago) 12
Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins, Colo.) 1

Brother Rice broke out for 12 runs with a five-run rally in the second inning and a six-run effort in the fifth to beat Rocky Mountain. Six players had at least two hits, led by Brett Bagus who went 2-for-3 with two triple and five RBI.