Video: Early Contender -- No. 4 Orange LutheranWatch the season preview of the Lancers, who won the NHSI this weekend.
Jasiah Dixon's sacrifice fly to center field scored the winning run and gave
Orange Lutheran (Calif.) a 3-2 victory over
Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) in the championship game of the National High School Invitational on Saturday in Cary, N.C.
Dixon's fly ball scored
Caleb Ricketts, who reached base on a hit batsman to open the bottom of the sixth inning. A walk and sacrifice bunt put Ricketts at third base and set up the game-winning RBI.
The win gave Orange Lutheran a 12-1 record on the season. The Lancers' win also marked the fifth time in the history of the NHSI that a Southern California team had won the event.
It also marked the fourth time that a pair of SoCal team have met in the finals. Mater Dei (Santa Ana) defeated Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) in the finals in 2012 and 2013, and Huntington Beach beat Chaminade (West Hills) in last year's title matchup. The other Southern California winner was San Clemente in 2015.
Sawyer Chesley led the Orange Lutheran offensive effort with a 2-for-2 performance that included two doubles.
Zach Busalacchi went five scoreless innings in relief of starter
Nick Janowicz and got the win. He gave up six hits with one strikeout.
Due to state association rules governing the dates and times that teams can compete, as well as the desire of participating coaches to not play teams within their own state in consolation play, there was no true third-place, fifth-place or consolation championship games. Instead, teams were paired up based on criteria.
Orange Lutheran celebrates its championship at the National High School Invitational.
Photo by Alyson Boyer Rode
Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 4
Cullman (Ala.) 0
The Mavericks scored all of their runs in the third inning and three pitchers limited Cullman to just four hits.
Yordani Carmona got the win, going five innings and striking out six while giving up three hits.
Alex Toral led the offense with a 2-for-3 effort that included an RBI.
Luis Tuero went 2-for-4 while
Adan Fernandez had a double.
Huntington Beach (Calif.) 4
Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.) 3
The defending tournament champions finished with a 2-2 record after beating Canterbury.
Hagen Danner got the win, going five innings and striking out six while allowing two runs on five hits. He also had a double and an RBI on offense.
Trevor Windisch also had a double.
Cooper Swanson,
Donovan Duvall and
Tyler Shuck each had two hits for Canterbury, with Swanson stroking a double.
American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) 6
Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) 5
The Patriots scored two runs in the bottom of the 11th inning after the Huskies scored a single run in the top of the frame to get the win.
Triston Casas went 2-for-2 while
Cory Acton,
Justin Connell and
Alfonso Guillen all had a double each to lead American Heritage.
Drew Swift tripled for Hamilton while
Hayden Baker,
Cody Hedalen and
JD McLaughlin all hit doubles in the loss.
Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) 2
South Hills (West Covina, Calif.) 1
After falling to Orange Lutheran in the semifinals, South Hills lost again, this time to Trinity Christian Academy.
Austin Thomas of the Conquerors limited South Hills to one run on three hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Austin Martin led the Trinity Christian Academy offense by going 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.
Arlington (Tenn.) 2
Hough (Cornelius, N.C.) 1
Arlington scored in the bottom of the seventh to edge Hough.
Noah Miller singled to drive in
Justin Ogle with the winning run.
Ryan Taylor got the win, going seven innings and allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts.
Merritt Island (Fla.) 7
Brother Rice (Chicago) 2
Connor Allen went 2-for-4 and
Mason Denaburg and
Ricardo Diaz each drove in a pair of runs for Merritt Island.
Collin Taulbee went seven innings and gave up two runs on five hits with three strikeouts for the win.
