By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

The second day of the USA Baseball National High School Invitational was extremely packed with 15 games being played in about 12 hours. With the threat of rain coming Thursday, the schedule was moved up so teams could get as many games in as possible and that only the championship tilt would remain on the winning side of the bracket. The First Academy, FL, punched a ticket early, winning two games before the mid-afternoon. Clovis HS, CA, will have a shot at keeping the NHSI trophy in California (Mater Dei HS won the first two installments) by beating Gainesville HS, GA, and Coral Springs Christian Academy.

With 15 games being played, there was a lot going on. Today’s notebook is a bit abbreviated, as I didn’t post notes from the box scores from games I didn’t see. Each game below links to the box score and I added notes where applicable.

ThunderRidge HS (CO) 9, TC Roberson HS (NC) 7
ThunderRidge SS Brody Westmoreland’s (San Diego State) timing seems to be off the plate, as he is just 2-for-11 with five strikeouts in three games and he hasn’t squared up a ball in the at-bats I’ve seen. However, the he has some bat speed and the swing looks good otherwise. He has deliberate actions in the field, fielding the ball out front and shows solid arm strength from the left side. He has a very projectable frame at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, with a high waist and long, slender limbs. As he fills out and gains strength, he’ll likely have to move to a corner position. Roberson 1B/OF Braxton Davidson (North Carolina) is very patient at the plate, sometimes seeming passive, but he showed a couple good swings today and squared up a couple balls for base hits.