CARY, N.C. - The 2025 National High School Invitational championship game will be an all-Florida matchup, as Trinity Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) earned a 3-2 walk-off win over two-time champion Huntington Beach (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Venice (Venice, Fla.) shut out defending champion Corona (Corona, Calif.) 5-0 in the semifinals. This will be both teams' first-ever trip to the finals.
Trinity Christian 3, Huntington Beach 2
Trailing 2-1 and down to its last strike, a two-run error propelled the Conquerors to the championship game. It was a tightly contested matchup, with both starting pitchers going at least six innings on the bump. Trinity Christian’s Tyler Ellis fanned eight batters in his six innings of work and surrendered two runs, while Huntington Beach’s Tyler Bellerose tossed 6.2 innings and gave up one earned run.
The Conquerors got on the board in the first inning thanks to Brady Harris’s RBI double that scored Jordan Martinez after he reached on a one-out single to center field. The Oilers responded in the third with a pair of runs to take its first lead of the game. Trent Grindlinger drove in CJ Weintein for the game-tying run on a double to left after he drew a one-out walk, and then Grindlinger scored on Ethan Porter’s RBI double to center field for the go-ahead run.
The next eight half-inning frames were quiet for both teams. In the top of the seventh, Brennan Bachtell, Jr., who was eventually credited with the win, worked around a one-out single to keep the Oilers at bay. In the bottom frame, a one-out single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases on two-outs, and then an errant throw allowed two runs to across and give the Conquerors the win.
Venice 5, Corona 2
Venice (Venice, Fla.) used a four-run fifth inning to pull away and beat defending NHSI champion Corona (Corona, Calif.) in the semifinal round on Friday morning at the National Training Complex. In a game that began as a pitcher’s duel into the mid-innings, Venice finally cracked the scoreboard thanks to two of its key contributors. David Dubrule smoked a double on the first pitch of the top of the fourth and advanced to third one pitch lateer on a productive out by Graham Houston. Jackson Lucas then fell behind in the count 1-2 but fouled off two pitches before singling to right field to plate Dubrule and put the Indians in front. Corona threatened to get the run back in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners on the corners with two outs. But Venice starter Kaden Poplin was able to escape unscathed, coaxing an inning-ending fielder’s choice to keep his team in front.
Venice then used a two-out rally to pull away in the fifth, again with Dubrule in the middle of the scoring. Carter Cox walked and Josh Mauro was hit by a pitch to put two on for Dubrule, who brought both runners home with another double to left field to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. Two more hits on the next three pitches extended the Venice lead; Houston singled to center, and Lucas doubled to left as the Indians lead became 5-0. That lead proved to be insurmountable, as Poplin got the first two outs of the fifth before August Backman entered and yielded just two baserunners over the final 2.1 innings to lock down the win.
The trio of Dubrule, Houston, and Lucas each collected two hits to account for 86% of the Indians’ hits. Corona picked up five hits as a team; Trey Ebel reached base twice, picking up a seventh-inning single after walking earlier in the game. Poplin got the win with his 4.2 shutout frames for the Indians after also notching a victory in the quarterfinals. Ethin Bingaman suffered the loss for Corona after five innings of four-run ball.
Saturday's championship game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET from Coleman Field. CLICK HERE for streaming information, and be sure to follow all the action @USABaseEvents on Instagram and X.
