By Nathan Rode
National Supervisor

CARY, NC—Much of the focus on the National High School Invitational falls on the top prospects, whether it’s for the current draft or future ones. But when you bring talented teams together, crazy things are bound to happen and the second day of the NHSI finished with a wild bang. In a back-and-forth affair, Walton HS, GA, and Chaminade College Prep, CA, were battling for a spot in the semifinals. With a top draft prospect on each side—OF Blake Rutherford for Chaminade and SS Carter Kieboom for Walton—a host of scouts stuck around to get as many at-bats as they could. In the end, OF Blake Solis (Chaminade College Prep, CA) garnered the most attention.

Walton was up 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. A pinch hitter reached on a single, bring the No. 9 hitter to the plate in Solis. Rutherford was on deck and all eyes were waiting to see if the inning could be extended for him. Instead, Solis turned on an inside pitch and cleared the wall in the left-field corner for a walk-off home run.