NHSI PAST CHAMPIONS

2012: MATER DEI

Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) earned the inaugural National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance championship in 2012 with a 3-2 walk-off victory over Harvard-Westlake School (Studio City, Calif.). Despite the Wolverines jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, Mater Dei rallied with two solo home runs in the fourth and seventh innings, respectively, to send the game to extra innings. After holding Harvard-Westlake scoreless in the top of the eighth, the Monarchs used a bases-loaded single in the bottom half to secure the first-ever NHSI title in dramatic fashion.

2013: MATER DEI

In a rematch of the 2012 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Harvard-Westlake School (Studio City, Calif.) once again went head-to-head with Mater Dei defending its title with a 4-0 victory. In the second edition of this matchup, the Monarchs got on the board first and never looked back. The team plated its first run in the top of the third before adding two more in the sixth and one in the seventh for the final 4-0 score to secure its second consecutive championship.

2014: THE FIRST ACADEMY

After Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, Calif.) repeated as National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance champions in the first two editions of the event, The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) became just the second team to claim the trophy with a 5-3 defeat of Clovis High School (Clovis, Calif.). After a slow start on offense for both squads, The First Academy broke onto the scoreboard first in the contest with back-to-back RBI doubles for a 2-0 advantage in the third. Clovis responded in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead before The First Academy was able to rally two innings later with three runs of its own to make it 5-3. The Royals held Clovis off in the seventh to secure its victory and claim the 2014 NHSI title.

2015: SAN CLEMENTE

San Clemente High School (San Clemente, Calif.) used a strong run in 2015 to claim the National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance championship. The squad outscored opponents 17-9 in its first three games of the event to secure its spot in the title game where it took on College Park (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) for the trophy. In the final, San Clemente opened the scoring in the second and plated runs in every inning that followed to remain in control throughout the contest. College Park broke through in the fourth and the fifth but couldn’t overcome the deficit as San Clemente cruised to an 8-3 victory and the title. The game marked the largest margin of victory in the history of the event’s championship game to that point.

2016: HUNTINGTON BEACH

After falling in the semifinals of the 2015 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance to eventual champion San Clemente High School (San Clemente, Calif.), Huntington Beach High School (Huntington Beach, Calif.) came roaring back one year later to claim the 2016 title. The team outscored its opponents 30-15 en route to the championship, including defeating Chaminade Prep (Los Angeles, Calif.) 7-2 in the final. Chaminade broke onto the scoreboard first though, taking an early 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI single. But Huntington Beach wasted no time responding as the offense came alive in the bottom of the second for four runs before adding one in the fifth and two more in the sixth for a strong 7-1 advantage. Chaminade got one run back in the seventh but couldn’t get anything else as Huntington Beach finished off the 7-2 victory and secured its NHSI championship.

2017: ORANGE LUTHERAN

Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) started its dominant run at the National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance with its first championship in 2017. After victories over Merritt Island High School (Merritt Island, Fla.), Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.), and South Hills High School (West Covina, Calif.), the Lancers faced off against Dana Hills High School (Dana Point, Calif.) for the NHSI title. The two teams traded runs in the second and third innings for a 2-2 tie that would hold until the sixth inning when Orange Lutheran finally broke through with a sacrifice fly that made it 3-2 in its favor. Dana Hills tried to put together rally in the seventh with two hits that fell short as the Lancers got a double play to end the game and secure their first NHSI championship.

2018: ORANGE LUTHERAN

The 2018 edition of the National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance featured just the second repeat champion and a historic run to the final. After outscoring opponents 16-4 in its first three games of the event, Green Hope High School (Cary, N.C.) secured its spot in the 2018 NHSI championship game and became the first school from North Carolina to advance into the finals at the NHSI. The team’s opponent was Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) which was looking to defend its 2017 NHSI title and become just the second team in event history to repeat as champions. Both offenses were quiet through the first three innings before the Lancers finally broke the game wide open with six runs throughout the fourth and fifth innings for a 6-0 lead. The Falcons responded in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit in half but it wouldn’t be enough as Orange Lutheran added three more insurance runs to claim a 9-3 victory and its second consecutive NHSI title.

2019: ORANGE LUTHERAN

In its seven-year history, the National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance had seen just two teams defend their titles in the event. But never had there been a threepeat – until 2019. Coming into the most recent edition of the tournament, Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) had won nine straight NHSI games and hadn’t dropped a contest since 2014, and the Lancers picked right back up in 2019 where they had left off. They cruised into the championship game outscoring opponents 22-3 to take on Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.). But HarvardWestlake had also defeated its three opponents by wide margins to reach the final, outscoring them 16-1 with two shutouts, and the Wolverines were looking for redemption after falling in both the 2012 and 2013 NHSI championship games. The Lancers proved to be too strong though and they wasted no time in their title defense, plating a pair of runs in the first inning to open the scoring and never looking back. They would add three more runs before Harvard-Westlake got on the board with two runs of its own in the fifth to cut the deficit to three but a final insurance run for the Lancers in the sixth sealed the 6-2 victory and Orange Lutheran’s third NHSI title.

2022: STONEMAN DOUGLAS

At the 2022 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance, Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.) became the first team outside of the state of California to win the title. The Eagles had a dominant showing in Cary, going undefeated with a 4-0 record and allowing its opponents to score just four runs to its 43 in the tournament. Stoneman Douglas opened play with a 15-0 victory over D.H. Conley (Greenville, N.C.), followed by an 11-1 defeat over Yucaipa (Yucaipa, Calif.) in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Eagles were matched up with three-time defending champion Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) and handed the Lancers their first loss in the event since 2014. The 11-0 five-inning run-rule result snapped a 15-game win streak for Orange Lutheran at the event. Stoneman Douglas met St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park, Fla.) in the championship game, which proved to be tightly contested back-and-forth matchup. Despite the Eagles plating three runs in the first to take an early lead, the Spartans knotted the game at 3-3 in the top of the third inning. Stoneman Douglas retook its lead at 4-3 in the bottom of the third and plated an insurance run in the fifth en route to its first-ever NHSI title in program history.