CARY, N.C. | The Regis Jesuit baseball team rolled into the semifinals of the prestigious USA National High School Invitational before The First Academy (Fla.) beat them 6-2 Thursday afternoon at the National Training Complex.
Coach Matt Darr’s Raiders moved into the semifinals of the with an 8-4 win over Mountain Pointe (Ariz.) behind junior Brent Schwarz, but couldn’t generate enough offense in their semifinal loss. Three errors behind starting pitcher Reagan Todd and reliever Tim Jones led to five unearned runs for The First Academy, which earned a berth in the tournament championship game at 10 a.m. MT Saturday.
Senior Brooks Urich singled in Aidan Cameron and Jack Brett in the bottom of the seventh inning, but senior Max George flew out to left field with two runners in scoring position to end the game. Urich finished with two hits and two RBI and George had a game-high three hits for Regis Jesuit, which dropped to 3-2 overall on the season.
In the quarterfinal victory, junior Matt Schmidt pounded out three hits and sophomore Quin Cotton drove in three runs, which was plenty of Schwarz, who scattered six hits in five innings.
In Wednesday’s first round, Regis Jesuit downed nationally-ranked Parkview (Ga.) 6-1 behind a complete game effort for senior pitcher Zach Heath.
Heath — a University of Northern Colorado signee — scattered five hits over seven innings, allowing 1 earned run with two strikeouts and just one walk.
At the plate, George went 3-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs, as did Brett, who had a double among his two hits.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel.
2014 USA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL INVITE SCORES
SEMIFINALS: The First Academy (Fla.) 6, REGIS JESUIT 2
Score by innings (r-h-e):
First Acad. 300 012 0 — 6 9 0
Regis Jesuit 000 000 2 — 2 8 3
REGIS JESUIT (ab-r-h-rbi)
Quin Cotton 3-0-0-0, Brooks Urich 4-0-2-2, Max George 4-0-3-0, Reagan Todd 3-0-1-0, Matt Schmidt 3-0-0-0, Justin Thaxton 2-0-1-0, Aidan Cameron 0-1-0-0, Jack Brett 2-1-0-0, Zach Woodruff 2-0-0-0, Ryan Vottiero 1-0-0-0, Anthony Donovan 2-0-1-0, Bo Weiss 1-0-0-0. Totals 27-2-8-2. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Reagan Todd (L, 4 2/3-7-4-1-5-5), Tim Jones (1 1/3-2-2-0-1-0), Conner Sinks (1-0-0-0-0-1)
QUARTERFINALS: REGIS JESUIT 8, Mountain Pointe (Ariz.) 4
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Regis Jesuit 001 241 0 — 8 11 0
Mtn. Pointe 110 011 0 — 4 8 0
REGIS JESUIT (ab-r-h-rbi)
Quin Cotton 5-0-3-3, Brooks Urich 3-0-1-1, Max George 4-0-1-1, Reagan Todd 2-1-0-0, Matt Schmidt 4-3-3-0, Justin Thaxton 2-1-0-0, Jack Brett 3-1-1-1, Zach Woodruff 4-1-1-1, Anthony Donovan 2-1-1-1. Totals 29-8-11-8. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Brent Schwarz (W, 5-6-3-3-1-4), Zach Woodruff (2-2-1-1-0-0)
2B — Regis Jesuit: Jack Brett, Quin Cotton, Max George
First round (March 25)
REGIS JESUIT 6, Parkview (Ga.) 1
Mountain Pointe (Ariz.) 4, Bishop Verot (Fla.) 0
Huntsville (Ala.) 5, T.C. Roberson (N.C.) 0
Clovis (Calif.) 7, ThunderRidge 2
Dyer County (Tenn.) 16, Aliso Niguel (Calif.) 1
The First Academy (Fla.) 2, Milton (Ga.) 0
Gainesville (Ga.) 6, Venice (Fla.) 3
FIRST ROUND: REGIS JESUIT 6, PARKVIEW (GA.) 1
Score by innings (r-h-e):
Parkview 100 000 0 — 1 5 2
Regis Jesuit 001 131 x — 6 8 1
REGIS JESUIT (ab-r-h-rbi)
Quin Cotton 2-1-1-0, Aidan Cameron 3-0-0-0, Anthony Donovan pr 0-1-0-0, Max George 3-0-3-2, Reagan Todd 4-1-0-0, Matt Schmidt 4-1-1-0, Justin Thaxton 2-1-0-0, Zach Woodruff 1-0-0-0, Jack Brett 3-0-2-2, Brooks Urich 3-1-1-0, R Vottiero 0-0-0-0. Totals 25-6-8-4. Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): Zach Heath (W, 7-5-1-1-1-2)