Baseball: It’s a SoCal showdown in North Carolina

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For the second consecutive year, Santa Ana Mater Dei and Studio City Harvard-Westlake will play in the championship game of the National High School Invitational in Cary, N.C.

Mater Dei (9-1) won its semifinal game on Friday, defeating The Woodlands from Texas, 11-2. The Monarchs collected 18 hits. Ryan McMahon had three hits and five RBIs. Tyler Adkison had a double and triple. Josh Stephen went three for three.

Charlie Vorsheck threw a complete game, striking out six and walking none.

It sets up a 9 a.m. (Pacific Coast time) championship game on Saturday against Harvard-Westlake, which won its semifinal, 6-0. Both teams have each used three pitchers, so it will be up to the No. 4 starting pitcher on the roster, along with the relievers, to get through the fourth game in four days. The game will be streamed live at USABaseball.com.

Mater Dei won last year’s game in eight innings, 3-2.

Harvard-Westlake’s Jack Flaherty can’t wait for rematch. Here’s the link to a story about Flaherty.

-- Eric Sondheimer