By Alexis Brudnicki and Jim Shonerd

As games finish throughout the day, check this post for final scores, wrap-ups and postgame quotes.

Sarasota (Fla.) High 14, Lee County High (Sanford, N.C.) 2

Sarasota chased Lee County starter Nick Durazo out of the first game of NHSI action on Thursday, and got to the Yellow Jackets bullpen for nine late runs in a 14-2 win for the Sailors.

Durazo went 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on just two hits, walking five and striking out five. The lefthander kept his team in the game for five frames before Sarasota ran away with the game.

"They committed a couple of mistakes that kind of opened the door for us and allowed us to get into their bullpen," Sarasota head coach Clyde Metcalf said. "And their starter did a great job. He makes his pitches well and he kept us off-balance. Once we got into the bullpen we finally got things going. They made a couple crucial mistakes that opened the door for us and we took advantage of them."

The Sailors counterpart, Tyler Leonard, threw a complete game, finishing seven innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits with a walk, a hit batsman and six strikeouts.

Eight different Sarasota players drove runs in, and four of those players notched multiple RBIs, but the most impressive player at the plate for Metcalf was Jason Sierra. The utility player went 1-for-4 with a three-base hit, a walk, a run scored and a run driven in.

"The offensive highlight was probably Jason Sierra's triple," Metcalf said. "He kind of gave us a nice little cushion. We've struggled a little bit on occasion to finish games. It was nice to get four or five runs up."

Derrick Whitaker and Britt McRae bore the brunt of the damage from the Sailors in relief of Durazo. Out of the bullpen the two pitchers combined for 1 1/3 innings, nine runs (six earned), six hits and three walks.

-Alexis Brudnicki

Gulliver Prep (Pinecrest, Fla.) 0, Carroll High (Corpus Christi, Texas) 1

Courtney Hawkins was seemingly the only player the Tigers needed Thursday morning as he threw 5 1/3 innings of shutout baseball and hit a solo home run to take down Gulliver Prep 1-0 in NHSI action.

The righthander struck out nine Raiders batters, walking two and allowing just four hits on the day. Rene Pineda came on in relief of Hawkins and put up all zeros in his 1 1/3 frames of work.

"We didn't do a good job at the plate today and Courtney kind of showed up today," Carroll head coach Lee Yeager said. "It came down to what he did for us really. Our guy came on in relief and held them down a little bit. I think the change in speeds got them off-balance a little bit and gave us a chance."

Ivan Pelaez was equally impressive on the mound for Gulliver Prep, his only mistake being the home run from his counterpart. The lefthander went all six innings, allowing only three hits, walking three and striking out seven Tigers.

"He threw a great game like always," Gulliver Prep head coach Javy Rodriguez said. "One pitch, we left up in the zone and Hawkins hit it out. Besides that, we're still playing 0-0, trying to get a run. I thought we had a lot of opportunities to put runs on and we didn't and we left people on base."

Yeager acknowledged that his team's first-round matchup in the tournament was certainly a tough one, and they may have come away a little lucky with the victory.

"Those guys can play," Yeager said. "Those guys are good. Their hitters are really good. We were just fortunate. They had some opportunities early in the game, they had some runners in scoring position. We just found a way to get out of those jams. You have to tip your hat off to those guys because that could have been easily a 3-1 game. We had our chances too but those guys can play."

-Alexis Brudnicki

Highlands Ranch (Colo.) High 1, Oxford (Ala.) High 7

Jackson Stephens threw seven innings of one-run ball to lead the Oxford Yellow Jackets to a 7-1 victory over Highlands Ranch.

As the top offensive contributor in Wednesday's game for Oxford, Stephens switched places with Tucker Simpson who was on the mound for the Yellow Jackets' first game in the tournament. Simpson went 3-for-3 on Thursday with a double, a run scored and three runs driven in.

Stephens allowed one earned run on five hits, walking two and striking out seven. Oxford head coach Wes Brooks was impressed with not only the way his righthander pitched, but also with the improvements his entire team made at the plate after Wednesday's matchup.

"He was huge today," Brooks said of Stephens. "Throwing all seven innings in a big tournament like this, you want to be able to use him all seven and not have to go to the bullpen because those guys might have to throw tomorrow.

"And then our hitters were more selective at the plate. They didn't swing at the fastball up, whereas yesterday the wind was blowing in and we swung at a lot of fastballs up and popped them up. Early in the game we did here, but we were able to get through some and get some backspin on some and get them into the outfield. Overall, just a great performance."

Brooks also took some time to acknowledge the other half of his battery, the man behind the dish calling the game.

"I can't say enough about Alex Muncher, our catcher," the Yellow Jackets coach said. "We DH for him all the time and all he does is play catcher. He's getting dirty and sweating and he's probably the hardest worker on the team and we're DHing for him and he never gets any credit. But he called a good game as well."

Connor McFadden was on the hill for Highlands Ranch. The righthander went 3 2/3 innings, giving up six runs (three earned) on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Connor Butler finished the game out for the Falcons, throwing 2 1/3 frames, allowing one earned run on one hit, walking two and striking out two.

-Alexis Brudnicki

Russell County High (Seale, Ala.) 8, Washington High (New York) 0

Russell County lefthander Rock Rucker delivered four no-hit innings as his Warriors squad breezed to an 8-0 victory against Washington High in a consolation game at the National High School Invitational.

The Warriors scored runs in each of the first four innings to jump out to a 7-0 lead, which was more than enough for Rucker. The 6-foot-5 lefty struggled to stay in the strike zone at times, walking three and hitting one batter, but he induced plenty of weak contact when he did come in the zone, allowing just one ball to be hit out of the infield along with recording three strikeouts.

Rucker wasn’t at 100-percent of his usual self, his velocity sitting in the mid- to upper 80s, but it didn’t prevent him from pitching his team to a win.

“His bicep was a little tender before the start,” Russell County coach Tony Rasmus said, “but he wanted to go out there anyway. Only 85-87 (mph), I think was what he was throwing.  But he’s just so good and so big and menacing out there that 85-87 is still good enough to get people out. He did a good job.”

Rucker, who had already thrown a no-hitter in his last start, was pulled after four innings with a no-hitter still intact having thrown 68 pitches.

“The bicep was hurting him,” Rasmus said. “He wanted to stay in there, and I said, ‘Hey guy, don’t hurt yourself out there today. You’ve already shown everybody a little bit.’ So we got him out of there.”

Anfernee Grier started the game in right field for Russell County and finished it out by going the last three innings on the mound. Although Washington’s Randy Rodriguez ended the potential combined no-hitter with a leadoff double in the sixth, that was the Trojans’ only hit of the game. Grier, who also went 2-for-3 with two RBIs at the plate, completed the one-hit shutout with four strikeouts of his own and no walks.

“We swung the bats pretty good,” Rasmus said. “The key to us is making plays in the field and throwing strikes. If we do that, we’re competitive.”

-Jim Shonerd

Carroll High (Corpus Christi, Texas) 0, Mater Dei High (Santa Ana, Calif.) 12