The final day of consolation action at the 2024 National High School Invitational is in the books. Read up on the final slate of games for the event below.

FARRAGUT 5, HUNTINGTON BEACH 3

Farragut (3-1) scored five runs in the third inning and held off a late push to pick up a 5-3 win over Huntington Beach (2-2) in consolation action at the 2024 National High School Invitational presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.

With the game knotted in a scoreless tie in the top of the third, the Admirals broke out for five runs to take control of the contest. The bottom two hitters in the Farragut lineup–Gavin Brewer and Cole Draper–drew walks to open the frame. Leadoff hitter Lucas Buckner then hit a hard ground ball into right field for an RBI double to open the scoring and put Farragut in front 1-0.

An RBI groundout by Landis Davila extended the Admirals’ advantage to two before Jake Merrick smashed an RBI triple to straight away center field to make it 3-0, Farragut. Merrick’s three-bagger left his bat at 98 miles-per-hour. A walk kept the inning alive, making way for the Admirals to grab two more runs on two Huntington Beach errors to make it a five-run lead they would not relinquish.

The Oilers threatened to immediately respond in the bottom half of the third. The first two batters of the inning were retired before a single sandwiched between two walks loaded the bases. But as he was able to do throughout his entire start, Farragut starter Ryan Wallace kept the Oilers off the scoreboard with an inning-ending groundout.

Huntington Beach was able to scratch across three runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI doubles by Ethan Porter and Cole Clark, trimming its deficit to 5-3. But Farragut reliever Stratton Scott limited the damage and then pitched a scoreless seventh to lock down the two-run victory for the Admirals.

Three different Farragut players notched two hits in the victory. Merrick hit two triples, Buckner doubled as part of a two-hit day, and Davila collected a pair of singles. The Oilers were paced by Clark’s two-hit day, which included his two-run double to get Huntington Beach within two runs in the sixth.

Wallace started on the mound for Farragut and turned in 4.1 shutout innings, scattering four hits to earn the win. Caden Clem suffered the loss for Huntington Beach after allowing four runs.

JOHN’S COLLEGE 5, ST. JOHNS COUNTRY DAY 1

Despite St. Johns Country Day (1-3) jumping out to an early lead, St. John’s College (2-2) managed to finish out its showing at the 2024 National High School Invitational presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance with a 5-1 victory in consolation play.

St. John’s College’s pitching duo of Hayden Kalisz and Marcus Martin combined to scatter just four hits and not allow an earned run to score in the contest. Kalisz tossed the first six innings and punched out seven batters to earn the win, while Martin pitched the final inning to help secure the victory.

St. John’s College’s Colin Gibbs (2-for-3) and St. Johns Country Day’s Kody Deneault (2-for-3) both turned in multi-hit games, while Caleb Hawton-Henley was the only player in the contest to drive in multiple runs with two.

The Spartans got on the board early when Kolt Meyers drove in Daneault on a sacrifice fly after he reached on a one-out single, but the Cadets tied things up in the second on a two-base error with runners at first and second.

St. John’s College took the lead in the fifth with a four-run burst. Gibbs sent in the go-ahead run on a bunt single and two-base error after Hawton-Henley reached on a two-out walk, and then Francuzenko added insurance the next at-bat on an outfield single to send Gibbs home from third. Hawton-Henley came through again later in the frame, sending Francuzenko and Armah, who drew a walk, home on a single to center field.

In the seventh, St. Johns Country Day managed to put runners at first and second with two outs following a walk and outfield single, but a groundout to the pitcher ended the threat.

KEY WEST 9, CHPARRAL 5

In a back-and-forth game which featured four lead changes, Key West (2-2) concluded play at the 2024 National High School Invitational presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance with a 9-5 win over Chaparral (0-4).

The Conchs struck first in the opening inning thanks to a line drive single by Anthony Lariz, sending home Steel Mientkiewcz after back-to-back singles put him on second.

Chapparal surged back in the fifth inning with three runs to take its first lead of the game. Back-to back-walks started the inning, and a sac bunt error scored the first two runs of the frame. Then, a sacrifice fly to right field finished off the Firebirds’ scoring for the two-run edge.

Key West’s Kevin Ong knotted the score at 3-3 in the fifth when his double to left field scored a pair of runs, and then scored the go-ahead run when he crossed home plate on Roman Garcia’s base hit to right field. An RBI groundout by Caden Pichardo made it 5-3 to give the Conchs their lead back.

Chaparral managed to capitalize on defensive miscues by Key West and tie things up at 5-5 in the sixth when Gavin Mesa and Ford Puplava pulled off the double steal from first and second and then scored on an error and wild pitch, respectively.

A four-run burst in the sixth ultimately gave Key West the 9-5 win. Walks by Sam Holland and Noah Burnham and an outfield single by Davila loaded the bases, and a wild pitch and single by Ong pulled the Conchs ahead 7-5. Mientkiewcz’s RBI single and Garcia’s sac fly immediately followed to add two more runs to the board and eventually allow the Conchs to finish on a high note.

Three different Key West players finished with two hits apiece, combining for six of the team’s eight in the game. On the mound, Christian Koppal threw the first 4.2 innings of the contest and did not surrender an earned run, and Kasey Kasper closed out the game by giving up one earned run in 2.1 innings to pick up the win.

TRINITY CHRISITAN 6, CASTEEL 4

Trinity Christian (2-2) held off a late rally by Casteel (2-2) 6-4 to close out consolation play at the 2024 National High School Invitational presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.

The Conquerors scored all of their runs in the first four innings of the game. They plated two in the first on a Bradyen Harris sacrifice fly and Jordan Martinez RBI single to left field to get things started.

Casteel tied the game in the second at 2-2 when Baylor Denny drove in a pair of runs on a single to left field, scoring Tyler Hatch and Ryan Harwood after they started the inning with a single and double, respectively.

Trinity Christian regained its lead in the second thanks to Brady Harris’s RBI single that scored Tyler Ellis after he reached on a dropped third strike wild pitch. The Conquerors tacked on two more runs in the third to make it 5-2 when Martinez roped an RBI triple to right field and Braden McKee drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field. They capped off their scoring with one more run in the fourth when Aiden Arnett scored from second on an error after he reached on a one-out walk and moved to second on Brady Harris’s base hit to center field.

Casteel looked to rally in the seventh as it scored two runs to cut its deficit to two, loading the bases up on two outs and scoring two on Hatch’s line drive single to left fielder, but closer Braden Hansen ended the threat with a swinging strikeout.

Hansen tossed the final two innings to collect the save, while Aaron Watson threw five complete innings and fanned six batters en route to the win. At the plate, Brady Harris and Martinez each went 2-for-3 and combined for three of Trinity Christian’s five RBIs, while Hatch led Casteel with a 2-for-4 performance and two RBIs.

HAGERTY 7, BISHOP GORMAN 1

The Hagerty Huskies (2-2) used a five-run sixth inning to propel itself to a 7-1 win over the Bishop Gorman Gaels (2-2) on the fourth and final day of the 2024 National High School Invitational. After heading into the final frames leading just 2-1, the Huskies strung together four straight two-out hits to pull away from the Gaels.

Hagerty starting pitcher Max Murray (1-0) held Bishop Gorman at bay long enough for his offense to finally find its rhythm in the sixth. Before that, he worked six innings while giving up just one earned run, two hits and one walk by forcing soft contact and easy outs for his defense.

Down by a run, Austin Jacobs started the frame with a leadoff single, but the Gaels were still able to nearly shut down the Huskies after earning two outs. From there, the Huskies caught fire, starting with a line drive single from Ryan Foscolo into right field that scored Jacobs.

Carlos Morales laced his own line drive single in the next at-bat that ran the score up to 4-1. Brandon Levy finished off Hagerty’s trio of outfield hits with a single to right field that plated Foscolo and moved Morales to second. To finish the rally off, Hunter Smith blooped a fly ball into shallow right field that scored Morales and Levy and put the score at 7-1. Looking to protect their six-run lead late, the Huskies relied on pitcher Alex Pantoja, who finished off the win in the bottom of the seventh.

Early on, the Huskies scored two runs in the top of the first while Bishop Gorman scored its only run of the day in the second, courtesy of an RBI-single from Chase Wilk. From there, both starting pitchers forced multiple scoreless innings where Murray did the bulk of his work to earn a win on the day.

Bishop Gorman starting pitcher Kekoa Young threw an impressive five innings with four strikeouts and just one earned run, but James Whitaker (0-1) took a loss for the day with his one inning and five earned runs. For Hagerty, four batters recorded an RBI while seven recorded a hit.

HARVARD-WESTLAKE 12, WESLEYAN CHRISTIAN 9

In a game that featured 21 combined runs and 19 combined hits, Harvard-Westlake (3-1) outlasted Wesleyan Christian (1-3) in consolation play at the 2024 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.

Both teams exchanged five-run innings in Saturday’s contest. Harvard-Westlake struck first for a run in the bottom of the first on a James Tronstein home run before its five-run outburst came in the third. Jack Laffitte was hit by a pitch with the bases full to bring home the first run of the big frame, followed by a two-run single by Duncan Marsten. Will Suslow capped the inning with a two-run double to center field, plating Laffitte and Marsten to give the Wolverines a 6-0 lead.

But Wesleyan immediately responded with five runs of its own in the top of the fourth. Two consecutive RBI singles by Domaine Vann and Grayson McDonald scored the first two runs for the Trojans, and the third came home on an RBI double by Myles Crocker to make it 6-3. Wesleyan got within one run later in the inning when two runs came home on a Harvard-Westlake error, making it a 6-5 score.

It did not remain a one-run game for long, however, as the Wolverines bounced back for three more runs in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly, an error, and another RBI double by Marsten. Wesleyan Christian responded yet again, plating three runs in the bottom of that inning to get back within one. Hudson Lance doubled to bring in a run, Vann blooped an RBI single, and Crocker skied a sacrifice fly as the score became 9-8 through 4.5 innings.

The scoring did not stop in the bottom of the inning. Singles by Tronstein and Cade Goldstein grew the Wolverines’ lead back to three runs, and the Trojans answered back again on a Lance RBI double to trim its deficit back to two. But the Wolverines added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth before handing the ball to Goldstein in the top of the seventh, who got the final three outs to record the save.

Tronstein led both teams with a game-high four hits for Harvard-Westlake, scoring four runs and driving in two more. Goldstein­–who was 2-for-2 with two walks–and Marsten, who had three RBIs, were key cogs in the Wolverines’ offense. Suslow also drove in two runs for the victors.

Lance, McDonald, and Vann all picked up a pair of hits for Wesleyan Christian. Sawyer Black drew two walks and scored a team-high four runs in the contest, while Crocker, Lance, and Vann each drove in two runs.

James Venick pitched an inning of relief and allowed one run on one hit to earn the win for Harvard-Westlake, who got 3.1 innings from starter Justin Kirchner. Wolverines’ pitchers combined to strike out 11 hitters in the win. For Wesleyan Christian, McDonald suffered the loss after allowing nine runs in 3.1 innings of work.

CASTEEL 11, APEX FRIENDSHIP 0

The Casteel Colts (3-2) pulled off a dominant, shutout win over the Apex Friendship Patriots (2-2) on the final day of the 2024 National High School Invitational. The Colts put the five-inning run rule into effect by scoring all 11 of their runs in the first three innings of the contest to leave the Patriots in the dust.

While their offense rolled, the Colts used four pitchers to keep the five-inning shutout alive. While the crew of pitchers only threw four combined strikeouts, they repeatedly forced soft contact and sat down Apex’s lineup inning after inning. Starting pitcher Caden Marriott, who earned the win, gave up the Patriots’ only two hits of the day.

With the bases loaded in the top of the first, Casteel got the party started by scoring on a balk, then a sacrifice fly from Bobby Pierce. Another sac-fly, this time from Baylor Denny, made it 3-0, while a single courtesy of Tyler Russell plated one more in the first.

While Marriott continued his two innings of work in the early frames, the Colts tacked on another run in the second, one inning before its six-run third.

That third inning’s scoring started with a double from Kade Thompson that scored Russell. Another double, this one courtesy of Cayden Hokanson, scored two and bumped the lead up to a daunting 8-0.

With the five-inning run rule in their sights, Casteel added to the lead with an RBI-single to left field from Ryan Harwood that scored Hokansen. A walk in the next at-bat loaded the bases and another free pass rode the lead to 10-0. The Colts’ final run of the game came from a balk that scored Harwood.

By the end of the bout, Casteel saw five pitchers and nearly its entire lineup got in on the offensive action. Nine batters recorded hits while seven tallied RBI’s at the end of the game’s five innings.