Nationally ranked teams go down on first day of National High School Invitational

Mosley (Lynn Haven, Fla.) and JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) kicked off the 2015 National High School Invitational with a pitcher's duel capped off by an exciting finish Wednesday in Cary, N.C.

On the arm of senior pitcher Dillon Brown, Mosley limited JSerra Catholic, ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps, to just one hit through six innings. However, after Chase Strumpf was hit by a pitch and Jake Pries sacrificed pinch runner Jack Owen to second, JSerra had the tying run in scoring position.

Micheal Cullen replaced Brown on the mound after a walk to JSerra's Sam Cohen put the winning run on first base. Cullen needed just four pitches to end the game as he struck out the batter looking and catcher Brendan Fox threw out Owen trying to steal third.

Brown got the win, giving up no runs on one hit in 6.1 innings pitched. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI to provide the game's only run.

The loss is the first of the season for JSerra Catholic (6-1) while Mosley upped its record to 13-0 on the season. The Dolphins entered the game ranked No. 4 in the nation by MaxPreps.

The National High School Invitational is in its four year and features 16 of the top programs in the country. The tournament runs from Wednesday to Saturday. Following are the other first round games played on Wednesday.

College Park (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) 3, Farragut (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1 As he has done all season, Joe DeMers stood out at the plate and on the mound for College Park in a 3-1 victory over Farragut. DeMers went the distance, striking out six batters and walking one while giving up one run on three hits to the defending Tennessee Class 3A state champions. He was 1-for-1 at the plate with one run scored and an RBI.

Patrick Raby of Farragut had a solid day of his own, striking out nine and walking only one in six innings of work. He gave up three runs, two of them earned, on three hits.

College Park is 4-1 on the season while Farragut is 7-2.

Loyalsock Township. (Williamsport, Pa.) 7, Horizon (Scottsdale, Ariz.) 4 In its first action of the season, Loyalsock Township posted three-run rallies in the first and second innings and held on for 7-4 first-round win over Horizon.

Tommy Baggett was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Joey Balawajder was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored to pace the Loyalsock offense.

Evan Williams was 2-for-3 for Horizon and Ben Lewis added a double.

The win was the first of the year for Loyalsock Township (1-0) while Horizon fell to 8-3.

Huntington Beach (Calif.) 12, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 3 The Oilers scored three runs in the first inning and four in the second and third to build a big early lead against St. Thomas Aquinas.

Landon Silver and Logan Pouelsen led the assault for Huntington Beach. Silver went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and an RBI while Poulsen 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs.

Pouelsen also got the win, although he was one of four Oiler pitchers on the day. Pouelsen went the first three innings and struck out three while giving up two runs.

Huntington Beach is 3-5 on the season while St. Thomas Aquinas fell to 12-2.

Whitewater (Fayetteville, Ga.) 7, DeSoto Central (Southaven, Miss.) 4 DeSoto Central scored three times in the first inning, but was unable to make that early lead stand up in a 7-4 loss to Whitewater.

Whitewater rallied for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the lead and overcome a 4-1 deficit. Jabari Richards was 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs while Miles Jones was also 3-for-4 and J.D. Norred added a double.

Austin Riley came up big for DeSoto Central, going 2-for-4 with a double and a home run.

Whitewater is 9-1 on the season while De Soto Central falls to 9-5.

Puyallup (Wash.) 3, Leesville Road (Raleigh, N.C.) 0

The Vikings bounced back from their first loss in two years last week to blank host Leesville Road 3-0 in their NHSI opener.

Christopher Micheles picked up the shutout win, striking out eight and giving up just two hits while walking one. Ryan Peterson led the offense with a 2-for-3 effort while Zach Needham had a double.

Puyallup is 3-1 on the season while Leesville Road is 1-4.

San Clemente (Calif.) 7, Lambert (Suwanee, Ga.) 5

The Tritons rallied from a 5-2 deficit over the final two innings to send its game against Lambert into extra innings. Once there, San Clemente got a double by Lucas Herbert and a triple by Connor Sealey to pull out a 7-5 win over the defending Georgia 6A state champions.

Herbert and Sealey both went 3-for-5 in the contest while Tyler Ankrom was 3-for-4 and Chris Puckett went 2-5.

Seth Beer was 3-for-4 with a double for Lambert while Kyle McCann was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.

Lambert fell to 7-3 with the loss while San Clemente stays undefeated at 9-0.