The Woodlands wins twice to advance at 2013 NHSI

Two of the top pitching staffs in the nation took a beating Thursday at the National High School Invitational, but one of them survived to advance to the next round.

The Woodlands sent unscored-upon pitcher Carter Hope to the mound against Milton in the second round of the NHSI and the conventional wisdom was that Hope would add to his lengthy string of scoreless innings. Milton, however, had other ideas.

Striking for five runs in the bottom of the first, Milton built an 8-7 lead, which it held until the fifth when the Highlanders pushed a run across to tie the game and eventually force extra innings.

The squads needed seven extra innings to break the tie with Brandon Manger racing home on Hillian Warren's hit to right field.

Hope, who entered the game with 32 scoreless innings pitched, gave up eight runs, four of them earned, on 10 hits with five strikeouts and four walks in his four innings on the mound. Brandon Miles pitched eight innings and struck out eight while Braxton Markle finished the final two innings and got the win.

Will Jackson took the loss for Milton (Ga.), but he had 10 strikeouts in eight innings pitched.

Luke Sherley was 4-for-7 for the Highlanders while Charlie Warren, Josh Shaw, Manger and Hillian Warren each had two hits. Ryan Gridley was 4-for-7 for Milton while Dalon Farkas had three hits.

The Woodlands (Texas) 2, Jenks (Okla.) 1
The Woodlands advanced to the second round with a 2-1 win over Jenks in the final first-round game of the tournament. Warren had two of The Woodlands' three hits and Ryan Burnett picked up the win with one run allowed on two hits with eight strikeouts.

Thomas Hatch took the loss for Jenks, giving up two runs on three hits with five strikeouts and five walks.

Venice (Fla.) 7, Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 3
Another school with a premier pitching staff, Cathedral Catholic, gave up four runs in the second inning and never recovered.

The Indians have a pretty potent pitching staff of their own as Cooper Hammond and Tyson Albert combined to give up just three runs on two hits.

Michael Martin didn't get out of the second inning for the Dons, as he gave up four earned runs on four hits with one strikeout.

Michael Rivera led the Venice offense, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Rhett Dinka and Josh Grubbs each had a pair of RBI.

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 1, Lexington (S.C.) 0
The Monarchs continued their march back to the championship game.

Mater Dei scored a single run in the bottom of the first when Ryan McMahon doubled home Jeremy Martinez. Aaron Cross then limited Lexington to no runs on six hits while striking out four.

Tyler Adkison and Bryan Call also had a double to lead the Mater Dei offense with Call going 2-for-3.

Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.) 2, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) 0
Just one day after scoring 10 runs in a win over Roberson, Bingham was unable to solve the slants of Conor Cuse, who allowed four hits with eight strikeouts in a complete-game performance for Harvard-Westlake.

Jack Flaherty had a double and finished 2-for-2 with a run scored for the Wolverines. Brian Ginsberg and Casey Rosenfeld each drove in a run.

Roberson (Asheville, N.C.) 7, Florida Christian (Miami) 0
One day after going scoreless in the opening round, Roberson did the same as Katon Harwood threw a one-hit shutout against Florida Christian. Harwood struck out seven without a walk to get the win.

Nate Blaylock led the offensive attack with a 2-for-4 effort that included two runs scored. Dominick Cammarata, Blaylock and Josh McNair each had a double for the winners.

Tullahoma (Tenn.) 4, Eustis (Fla.) 3
Zack Lampkin got a walk-off RBI the hard way in Tullahoma's win, as he was hit with a pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning to score Tanner Hill with the winning run.

Van Williams led Tullahoma's 14-hit attack with three hits while Alex Butaud, Trey Burks, Dalton Davis and Lampkin all had two hits apiece.

Grayson (Loganville, Ga.) 5, Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.) 3
Grayson scored all of its runs in the bottom of the third and held off a late rally to defeat Christian Brothers.

Austin Meadows had a pair of RBIs for Grayson while Taylor Allum was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Oscar Valdes was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Jack Banda went six innings to get the win as he gave up three runs on no hits with seven strikeouts. Korey Anderson pitched the final inning and gave up no runs on one hit.

Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 3, Jenks 0
Cody Bellinger threw a four-hit shutout and struck out 10 batters to lift Hamilton over Jenks. Justin Wylie, Zach Strand and Skyler Palermo each had an RBI to account for Hamilton's scoring.

Schedule
Third round play
Consolation Bracket - Grayson vs. Roberson at 9:30 a.m., consolation semifinal; Hamilton vs. Tullahoma, 10 a.m., consolation semifinal; Eustis vs. Jenks, 3 p.m.,
13th place bracket, out-bracket
Christian Brothers vs. Florida Christian, 1 p.m.
Championship Bracket
Venice vs. Harvard-Westlake, noon, semifinal; The Woodlands vs. Mater Dei, 3:45 p.m.; Lexington vs. Cathedral Catholic, 10:30 a.m.
Fifth-place bracket
Milton vs. Bingham, 3:15 p.m.