Fourth Pod of NHSI Matchups Revealed

USA Baseball on Wednesday revealed the fourth and final matchup pod of this year’s National High School Invitational, to be played at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., from March 23-26. You can see a video of the matchups here, featuring Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper.

Flanagan High (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) will take on Chaminade College Prep (Canoga Park, Calif.). This is a matchup that will be closely followed by scouts because of Chaminade’s top player—Blake Rutherford—who could be a top 10 pick. Chaminade also has Nick Kahle, a solid-receiving catcher committed to Washington.

Flanagan has a deep team, headlined by junior shortstop Mark Vientos, who brings power and up-the-middle defense to the table. Surrounding Vientos is a talented pitching staff that includes lefthanded Florida Atlantic commit Dylan O’Connell and righthanded Alabama State commit Nick MacDonald. Flanagan also has FAU commit Eric Rivera. Flanagan is currently the No. 21 team in the country.

Walton High (Marietta, Ga.) will play Bingham High (South Jordan, Utah). Walton is the top-ranked team in this week’s High School Top 25. The Raiders are lead by shortstop Carter Kieboom, who brings excellent hittability and a fiery competitive edge to the game, and they have righthander Zac Kristofak on the mound. Kristofak, a Georgia commit, is stout in stature but shows intimidating stuff for the high school level, with an upper-80s fastball and lethal breaking ball.

While Bingham is not the favorite to win this matchup, it does have a well-rounded squad and a promising southpaw in Arizona State commit Sean Keating. Keating pitches in the mid-to-upper 80s.