Milton, Parkview and Gainesville are in Cary, N.C., this weekend for the USA National High School Invitational, the premier national high school tournament in the country.
Parkview pitcher Mac Marshall, a lefthander committed to LSU, pitched a two-hit shutout Thursday in a 2-0 victory over Venice.
Marshall is 5-0 with an 0.00 ERA over 27 innings. He’s struck out 38. Parkview, which lost its opening game 6-1 to Regis Jesuit of Colorado, is 10-3 and ranked No. 2 in Class AAAAAA.
Milton is 2-1 lost to First Academy of Florida, beat Alison Niguel (Calif.) 3-2 and Mountain Point (Ariz.) 2-1. Gainesville beat Venice 6-3 and lost to Clovis (Calif.) 1-0.
The event is played at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. Boxscores of the games can be found USAbaseball.com.
Schmidt lights out for Allatoona
Fourth-ranked Allatoona of AAAAA is 12-0 start behind a couple of .400 hitters -- Drew Swanson (.414) and Pete Derkay (.405) – and a spotless rotation of Cooper Murphy (4.0, 1.06 ERA, 33 IP), Clarke Schmidt (5-0, 0.50 ERA, 28 IP) and Grayson Harbin (3-0, 1.75 ERA, 12 IP). Schmidt has 47 strikeouts, nearly two an inning, and has allowed only 11 hits. He has committed to South Carolina. Schmidt threw a one-hit shutout in a 7-0 victory over seventh-ranked Rome on Thursday. He struck out nine.
Pitching carries No. 2 Greenbrier
Greenbrier, the Class AAAAA runner-up last season, is ranked No. 2 despite a .251 batting average. But the Wolfpack do have some power. Adam Sasser has four home runs during the 9-4 start. He’s hitting .313. Chris Michals has three homers. The rotation is young and outstanding with sophomore Connor Hogan (4-0, 2.05 ERA), junior Nick Sandlin (4-0, 1.46) and junior Josh Smith (0.00 ERA in 11 innings).
Atterburry maintains 0.00 ERA
Jalen Atterburry of fourth-ranked Columbia (AAAA) has not allowed an earned run in 25.2 innings but is 5-1 because of an unearned run in a 1-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Marist this week. He has struck out 36. Columbia is 13-3. The Eagles also lost 9-8 this week to defending AAAA champion Redan.
Defending champs in contention
Redan is 11-4 and ranked No. 8. Daren Osby has emerged as an ace pitcher. The senior is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in 34 innings. Corderias Dorsey, hero of the 2013 championship season, is 3-1 with a 2.26 ERA. He’s also hitting .366. Dorsey is the pitcher who shut out Marist in Game 1 of Redan’s two-game sweep of the finals last year. Redan’s top hitter is James Nelson at .396. He is a nephew of former first-round MLB Draft pick Chris Nelson.
Hope at Alcovy
Alcovy is only 6-9, but starter Dalton Reagin has been one of Region 2-AAAAAA’s top pitchers. Reagin has an 1.80 ERA over his last five appearances with 35 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.
Transfer boosts Jackson County
Senior shortstop Patrick Overstreet is hitting .441 (15-for-34) with five home runs for sixth-ranked Jackson County of AAA. Overstreet is a transfer from Winder-Barrow. Andrew Fogarty is 3-1 with an 0.91 ERA. Jackson County is 10-3 after a 3-1 victory over fourth-ranked Oconee County this week. Fogarty got the win.
No. 1 Buford wins with dramatic comeback
No. 1-ranked Buford stayed unbeaten this week with a 9-8 victory in eight innings against North Hall. Buford had won its first 10 games by margins of at least five runs, including a 9-2 victory over North Hall on Monday, but trailed 8-3 in the seventh Thursday against the same team. Griffin Jolliff hit a two-run homer for the tie. Buford got a run in the eighth to win it. Good report of that game by Bill Murphy of the Gainesville Times.
