2014 NHSCA Baseball Coach of the Year enjoys watching former player in Major League Baseball All-Star Game

by Jeff Fisher

by Jeff Fisher

Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

Follow @NHSCARadioShow

 

Photo from shoresportszone.com

There will be lots of celebrating in Toms River, New Jersey today as Todd Frazier, fresh off his 2015 All-Star Home Run Derby win, returns to his hometown.  In addition to his family, you can be sure one of the people he’ll see will be his former high school baseball coach Ken Frank, who was the 2014 NHSCA National Baseball Coachof the Year.

Frank, who is the long-time head coach at Toms River South High School, said this about Frazier to the Asbury Park Press — "He's a Major League star, not just a Major Leaguer, which is hard to do.”

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.

Neil Diamond brings a little Fenway to high school game

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour
Follow @NHSCARadioShow

Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California opened a brand new $3 million baseball stadium over the weekend in a very special way - Neil Diamond singing "Sweet Caroline" a la Fenway Park.

Diamond wasn't the only celebrity on-hand.  Baseball's all-time hits leader Pete Rose was there along with fellow former major leaguer Reggie Smith and TV's Larry King, who's son plays on the ND freshman team.

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)

Baseball America taps Harvard-Westlake (CA) as the nation's top high school team

by Jeff Fisher
NHSCA Sports Hour Host
Follow @NHSCASportsHour

Harvard-Westlake after CIF-SS HW.com

Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, CA) has been crowned the "mythical" national champs by Baseball America.  At the end of May, the Wolverines won the CIF-SS Division I championship to finish the year with a 28-4 record.

Here's a look at BA's final Top 25...






Ranking, School, City, State, Record, Previous Ranking

1	Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.	28-4	1
2	Venice (Fla.) HS	28-3	2
3	The Woodlands (Texas) HS	38-4	3
4	Owasso (Okla.) HS	36-0	4
5	Pensacola (Fla.) Catholic HS	30-0	5
6	St. Francis HS, Mountain View, Calif.	30-4	6
7	Lexington (S.C.) HS	28-3	7
8	Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego	30-5	8
9	Tomball (Texas) HS	35-5	9
10	Coronado HS, Las Vegas	36-4	10
11	Desert Mountain HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.	31-4	11
12	Lake Brantley HS, Altamonte Springs, Fla.	27-5	12
13	Oaks Christian HS, Westlake Village, Calif.	29-3	13
14	Archbishop McCarthy HS, Southwest Ranches, Fla.	27-3	14
15	Cypress (Calif.) HS	26-8	15
16	Dulles HS, Sugar Land, Texas	32-8	16
17	Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, Calif.	24-3	17
18	Martin HS, Arlington, Texas	36-8	18
19	Carroll HS, Southlake, Texas	34-6	19
20	Milton (Ga.) HS	29-9	20
21	Pope HS, Marietta, Ga.	28-11	21
22	Thunder Ridge HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.	21-5	22
23	Christian Brothers HS, Memphis	36-8	23
24	Howell HS, St. Charles, Mo.	35-5	24
25	Archbishop Moeller HS, Cincinnati	32-2	25

Cathedral Catholic (CA) moves up to #1 in Baseball America Top 25

by Jeff Fisher
NHSCA Sports Hour Host
Follow @NHSCAradioshow

No surprise that the first in-season Baseball America Top 25 rankings have a lot of shuffling going-on since the preseason poll was released in mid-February.  In fact, only one team held-on to its preseason spot.

There's a new #1 as preseason top dog Parkview (Georgia) lost its first game, which allowed preseason #3 Cathedral Catholic out of San Diego to move-up to the top perch.  Parkview falls to #2.  In all three teams dropped-out of the Top 25, allowing three new teams in.

Below is the latest rankings with preseason rankings all the way to the right.

1	Cathedral Catholic HS, San Diego	2-0	3
2	Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.	2-1	1
3	The Woodlands (Texas) HS	13-0	10
4	American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.	9-1	6
5	Venice (Fla.) HS	7-1	11
6	Carroll HS, Southlake, Texas	13-2	7
7	Spruce Creek HS, Port Orange, Fla.	7-2	4
8	Campolindo HS, Moraga, Calif.	1-2	2
9	Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego	2-0	12
10	Jenks (Okla.) HS	4-0	13
11	Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, Calif.	1-1	8
12	Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.	6-0	16
13	Grayson HS, Loganville, Ga.	4-2	9
14	Dulles HS, Sugar Land, Texas	10-3	5
15	Loganville (Ga.) HS	5-1	14
16	Jesuit HS, Tampa	10-0	23
17	Gainesville (Ga.) HS	5-0	19
18	Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.	0-0	18
19	Hamilton HS, Chandler, Ariz.	6-1	21
20	Klein (Texas) HS	14-0	NR
21	St. Francis HS, Mountain View, Calif.	8-0	NR
22	Tullahoma (Tenn.) HS	0-0	22
23	Barbe HS, Lake Charles, La.	9-3	15
24	Coronado HS, Henderson, Nev.	3-0	25
25	Archbishop McCarthy HS, Southwest Ranches, Fla.	9-0	NR
Dropped out: No. 17 Cypress (Texas) Woods HS; No. 20 Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS; No. 24 North Florida Christian HS, Tallahassee, Fla.

Baseball America's Preseason Top 25 High School Baseball Rankings

by Jeff Fisher
NHSCA Sports Hour Host
Follow @NHSCAradioshow

Baseball America has released it's preseason Top 25 high school baseball rankings. 

Defending national champ Parkview High School in Georgia gets the nod as the top team heading into the 2013 season.

1	Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.	31-6 (1)
2	Campolindo HS, Moraga, Calif.	23-4 (6)
3	Cathedral Catholic HS, San Diego	30-5 (NR)
4	Spruce Creek HS, Port Orange, Fla.	28-4 (8)
5	Dulles HS, Sugar Land, Texas	27-8 (NR)
6	American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.	27-4 (4)
7	Carroll HS, Southlake, Texas	25-13 (NR)
8	Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, Calif.	24-6 (17)
9	Grayson HS, Loganville, Ga.	27-9 (NR)
10	The Woodlands (Texas) HS	24-8 (NR)
11	Venice (Fla.) HS	24-8 (25)
12	Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego	23-10 (NR)
13	Jenks (Okla.) HS	24-18 (NR)
14	Loganville (Ga.) HS	31-9 (23)
15	Barbe HS, Lake Charles, La.	35-6 (14)
16	Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.	24-5 (26)
17	Cypress (Texas) Woods HS	21-9 (NR)
18	Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.	24-3 (27)
19	Gainesville (Ga.) HS	32-2 (49)
20	Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS	23-5 (16)
21	Hamilton HS, Chandler, Ariz.	23-9 (NR)
22	Tullahoma (Tenn.) HS	27-13 (NR)
23	Jesuit HS, Tampa	28-2 (11)
24	North Florida Christian HS, Tallahassee, Fla.	17-10 (NR)
25	Coronado HS, Henderson, Nev.	29-10 (NR)

Tayler Scott of Notre Dame Prep Drafted by Cubs

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

We had the pleasure of speaking to Tayler Scott of Notre Dame Prep in Arizona a couple of weeks ago on the NHSCA Sports Hour, and I've got to say, I'm very happy that this young man has taken his first step toward his dream of being South Africa's first major league baseball player.

Scott, who with the help of his parents left his homeland to pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player, was drafted in the 5th round of Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft by the Chicago Cubs.

Click here to listen to the great story of how his parents up-rooted their life in South Africa to help their teenager pursue his dream.

You can also learn more about Scott's Trans-Atlantic move to Arizona by clicking here for a great story written by Jennifer McCaffrey of ESPNRise.

Broken Arrow Tigers Baseball Coach on Sunday's NHSCA Sports Hour

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

Broken Arrow (Oklahoma) head baseball coach Shannon Dobson will join Trish Hoffman and me on the June 5th NHCSA Sports Hour.

In mid-May Dobson's Tigers (36-2) won their second state baseball championship by beating Owasso 4-0.  Coming into the game, Owasso was ranked #1 in the country by Baseball America and riding a 33-game win streak.  The Rams were also going after their 9th title in 14 years.

Broken Arrow captured the title behind the strong right-arm of Archie Bradley, who is considered a possible first-round pick in next month's Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.  The 6-4 Bradley, who throws in the mid-90's threw a two-hitter with 14 strikeouts.

Click here to read the game summary from May 15th from Tulsa World Sports Reporter Mike Brown.

Here's a look at the latest Baseball America Top 10 through May 24th.

Baseball America Top 10

1. Edison (CA) 24-3
2. Spanish Fork (UT) 24-2
3. Archbishop McCarthy (FL) 27-3
4. Broken Arrow (OK) 37-2
5. Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 22-0
6. JSerra Catholic (CA) 24-4
7. Carroll (TX) 31-6
8. Marist (GA) 29-3
9. Clements (TX) 33-3
10. Buchanan (CA) 28-2

Click here for the entire Top 25.

Keeping-up with previous NHSCA Sports Hour guests/teams....

Carroll (Corpus Christi, Texas) Lee Yeager (February 27th show) - The Tigers are still alive in the Texas high school baseball playoffs.  Carroll, ranked #6 by Baseball America and the defending Texas 5A champs, will play Laredo in the Region IV-5A best of three series starting Thursday.

Gardner-Edgerton (Kansas) Bubba Starling (April 3rd show) - The kid who many believe is the best athlete in Kansas history closed out his high school career with a loss in the Class 5A regionals.  Many expect Starling, who's accepted a football scholarship to Nebraska to be picked in the Top 5 in baseball's amateur draft.


Maxwell (California), Eric Lay (May 1st show) - Won the CIF Northern Section Division V championship with a perfect 30-0 record.  Pitchers Steven Perry and Tyler Wells continued their incredible performance ending the season with a combined 11 no-hitters.  Both pitchers finished the season with perfect 0.00 ERAs.  Maxwell will take a 46-game win streak into next season.

Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Tim Hopley (April 17th show) - The Clippers have pushed their national record win streak to 79 straight.  The three-time defending Division II champs will begin the journey for a four-peat when they open the post-season on June 2nd.


St. Francis (Mountain View, California) Mike Oakland (March 20th show) - The former #1 team in the nation and top-seed in the Central Coast Section playoffs lost in the opening round.  St. Francis' season ended with a loss to 16th seed Carlmont.

Click here for a list of past shows

Alabama High School Baseball Coach on Tomorrow's NHSCA Sports Hour to Talk About Baseball and Life After Last Week's Tornadoes

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

I remember sitting in LaGuardia Airport last Thursday during delay-after-delay for my flight to Charleston, South Carolina.  The delays were caused by severe storms that stretched up-and-down the east coast.

While most times I would have been angry at the 13-hour delay that landed me in Charleston at 1 AM Friday morning, instead of noon on Thursday, this time I was okay with the situation.  The reason...I spent a lot of time in the airport watching CNN coverage of the tornadoes that ripped through Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday.  Whatever words I would write right now, wouldn't do justice to the destruction I watched over-and-over while waiting for my flight.

One of the main focuses of the coverage was in the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which was one of the hardest hit areas.  The clean-up continues as I write this piece, and will for quite some time.

While it pales in comparison, the storms caused a lot of damage to the Alabama high school sports scene, with the Alabama High School Athletic Association delaying post-season action in baseball, golf, soccer, softball and track and field for about five days.

One of the teams affected with Holt High School's baseball team.  The Ironmen had advanced to the second round of the AHSAA Class 4A playoffs against Oak Grove, however, with Holt's schools serving as a emergency shelters for families displayed by the storms, the team was knocked-out of the tournament with 12-2 and 9-4 losses on Monday in the best-of-three series.

Tomorrow, I'll talk with Holt head baseball coach Michael Beck, who'll talk about his team and his community that is trying to get back to what he calls "the new normal".

Click here to read the Oak Grove game story from the Birmingham News.

Click here to listen to the show live tomorrow at 6 PM EST.