Baseball: Florida's The First Academy wins National High School Invitational title

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

The First Academy from Orlando, Florida won the 2014 National High School Invitational in Cary, North Carolina.

MaxPreps Top 10 Preseason High School Baseball Poll

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

It's not hard to figure-out why MaxPreps has placed Florida's Archbishop McCarthy at the top of the stack for the 2014 high school baseball season.  The prep sports website has named the Mavericks the #1 team in the nation in its Xcellent Top 25 Preseason Rankings, of which it revealed its Top 10 teams, one-by-one over the last ten days.

Texas high school pitcher K's 22 in a game

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

It took Ferris High School (Texas) pitcher Evan Pontley 97 pitches to strike-out 22 batters earlier this week, while throwing a complete game no-hitter in a game against Mabank.  Not bad, considering there's usually only 21 outs in a seven inning game.

Pontley, according to the Dallas Morning News, was able to get the extra "K" after a dropped third strike.  In fact, after the first inning, the Dallas Morning News reports that Pontley and Ferris trailed 2-0 Mabank High after dropped third strikes and throwing errors.  Ferris eventually fought back, winning 13-3.

Pontley is now third on the all-time list for strikeouts in a game.  Brett Jennings of Lingleville High School in Texas holds the record with 24.  Five pitchers have struck-out 23 in a game, according to the National Federation of High School Associations' record book.  Pontley joins a list ten other pitchers with 22 K's in a game.

Hard to believe, but Jennings set the national record in 1986 in a 6-3 loss.

Teams announced for 2014 National High School Invitation baseball tournament

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

With so much cold weather keeping a lot of the country in the deep freeze, it's never too early to think baseball to warm-up.

USA Baseball has announced the sixteen teams that will take part in the 3rd annual National HIgh School Invitation that will be played in Carey, North Carolina March 26th through the 29th.

Two-time defending champ Mater Dei from Santa Ana, California will not be back to defend it's title at this tournament that is considered the best in America. This year's field will feature teams from Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Here are the team that are entered:

Aliso Niguel (California)
Bishop Verot (Florida)
Clovis (California)
Coral Springs Christian (Florida)
Dyer County (Tennessee)
Gainesville (Georgia)
Huntsville (Alabama)
Milton (Georgia)
Mountain Pointe (Arizona)
Orange Lutheran (California)
Parkview (Georgia)
Regis Jesuit (Colorado)
Roberson (North Carolina)
The First Academy (Florida)
ThunderRidge (Colorado)
Venice (Florida)