Video: Huntington Beach preseason photo shootSouthern California team took home NHSI championship.Maybe
Huntington Beach (Calif.) just needed a change of scenery.
After going 3-4 in their first seven games back home in Southern California, the Oilers traveled over 3,000 miles across the country to win four straight games, including a 7-2 win over
Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.), to capture first place at the National High School Invitational in Cary, N.C.
Hosted by USA Baseball, the NHSI annually features 16 of the top teams in the nation. Huntington Beach began the season ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps, but the four losses dropped the Oilers all the way out of the Xcellent 25 heading into the tournament earlier in the week.
Huntington Beach turned things around in Cary with an improved offense that scored 31 runs in four games. Meanwhile the pitching remained on point, giving up just three runs in the semifinal and championship game combined.
Hagen Danner was a standout at the plate during Huntington Beach's championship run at the NHSI.
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
Against Chaminade,
Nate Madole went 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on seven hits with three strikeouts for the win. Meanwhile
Hagen Danner, the top-rated pitcher in the nation for the class of 2017, showed that he is an offensive threat as well. He went 3-for-4 in the final with a double and two runs scored.
For the tournament, Danner was 7-for-13 with four RBIs, five runs scored, a double and a home run.
Chad Minato and
Landon Silver both had two hits in the win, with Minato driving in two runs and Silver plating one.
For Chaminade,
Nick Kahle culminated a strong tournament showing with a 2-for-4 performance.
Blake Rutherford, meanwhile, was 1-for-3 with a double.
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 10, North Broward Prep (Coconut Creek, Fla.) 4
The Monarchs concluded the tournament with 11 base hits in their final game against North Broward Prep.
Grant Burton,
Maxwell Foxcroft and
Blake Hunt all had two hits with a double.
Mater Dei went 2-2 in the tournament while North Broward Prep was 1-3.
Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) 7, The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 2
Bingham finished the tournament with a 2-2 record after beating The First Academy, which finished 1-3.
Sean Keating had a big game for the Miners as he went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs.
Walton (Marietta, Ga.) 2, Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) 1
The Raiders scored a run in the bottom of the eighth on a passed ball to claim its third win of the tournament (3-1).
Michael Guldberg scored both of Walton's runs in the win while
Jason Rooks was 2-for-3 with a double.
Eric Rivera had a double for Flanagan's best hit.
Alex Hernandez was 2-for-3. The Falcons finished the tournament 2-2.
Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) 2, Houston (Germantown, Tenn.) 1
The Conquerors rallied for a single run in the fifth and sixth innings to edge Houston for their second win of the tournament.
A.J. Labas went five innings and struck out seven for the win. Trinity Christian finished the tournament 2-2 while Houston was 2-2.
Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins, Colo.) 17, Florence (Ala.) 5
The Lobos posted the highest run total of the tournament after posting a 10-run first inning against Florence.
Jadon Uhrich was 2-for-2 with a double and four RBIs while
Kalen Hammer had a triple and
Spencer Gendreau had a double. Rocky Mountain went 1-3 in the tournament and Florence was 2-2.
Topsail (Hampstead, N.C.) 10, Poly Prep Country Day (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 1
Host Topsail receiving a four-hit pitching effort from
Payton Phelps for its second win of the tournament.
Josh Madole had a double and
Chase Riker had a triple to pace the offense.
Nick Storz had a home run for Poly Prep's only run.
Topsail finished the tournament 2-2 while Poly Prep County Day was 1-3.
Allatoona (Acworth, Ga.) 11, Liberty Christian (Lynchburg, Va.) 3
Allatoona finished a strong NHSI performance with a 13-hit effort against Liberty Christian.
David Smith and
Xavier Cruz each had a double and
Kyle Jacobsen had a triple for Allatoona with Jacobsen driving home three runs.
Allatoona went 3-1 in the tournament and Liberty Christian was 1-3.
