2018 NHSI Team Preview: Green Hope

USA Baseball’s annual high school tournament, the National High School Invitational, is one of the premier high school tournaments in the country and one of the biggest events on the draft schedule as well, bringing together 16 of the top teams in the country. This year’s tournament will have some of the most impressive talent in the event’s seven-year history and will take place in Cary at USA Baseball’s National Training Complex from March 28-31. Baseball America will preview teams as we lead up to the event.

Overview

The host school for the 2018 NHSI, Green Hope (Cary, N.C.) High isn’t without interesting draft talent of its own, with interesting prospects in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 classes. The headliner here is athletic center fielder Jordyn Adams, who is committed to North Carolina for baseball and football and is a four-star wide receiver according to 247Sports and the No. 8 receiver in the 2018 class. Adams is a serious draft prospect as well, and was responsible for the game-winning hit in last summer’s Under Armour All-America Game. He’s an easy plus runner and should cover a ton of ground for the Falcons during the tournament defensively.

Green Hope returns six starters from their 2017 team and should be strong offensively and defensively, with a number of intriguing players including 2018 catcher P.J. Heintz, who is playing in his first year at Green Hope after moving from Pennsylvania. Heintz is currently uncommitted but has a strong arm and has the talent to land with a Division I school. Third baseman Connor Knapp (North Carolina A&T) and right fielder Joseph Nunn (Wake Forest) have a lot of experience with the Falcons varsity program and should be reliable contributors on both sides.

2019 shortstop Kohl Abrams is a small, slick-fielding shortstop who’s committed to UNC-Wilmington who should help out on the mound as well, while 2020 lefthander Liam Norris is projected as the team’s No. 1 arm and committed to North Carolina. Norris is a big, projectable southpaw who has already touched the low 90s and should only continue to improve on the mound. The rest of the Falcons’ pitching staff will be new and relatively untested at the varsity level.

Head Coach: Michael Miragliuolo

2017 Record: 16-8

Projected Lineup