Cullman High Part Of Third Pod Of 2017 National High School Invitational

USA Baseball announced on Tuesday the third matchup of teams for this year’s National High School Invitational. The NHSI will take place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., from March 29-April 1.

Cullman (Ala.) High will take on Dana Hills High (Dana Point, Calif.) and the Canterbury School (Fort Myers, Fla.) will face Hamilton High (Chandler, Ariz.).

Cullman will bring some of the most star power of any team in the tournament. Senior lefthander Jacob Heatherly was the No. 6 prospect in our preseason rankings. He’s joined by outfielder Owen Lovell, who batted .389 and hit 14 home runs as a junior in 2016. Dana Hills’ top prospect is Hans Crouse, a flamethrowing righthander with an electric fastball-breaking ball combo.

Canterbury is Florida’s reigning 3A state champion, fresh of a 31-1 campaign in 2016. The Cougars have plenty of talent in their senior class, headlined by projectable righthander Sam Keating, quick-twitch shortstop Cooper Swanson and two-way player Tyler Shuck. Canterbury will face an immediate challenge in Hamilton, a well-rounded squad that’s lead by senior Stanford commit Nick Brueser. Brueser is one of the nation’s top high school hitters, and he’s surrounded by a team that includes many returning starters from last year’s state championship team.