John Curtis baseball squad advances to semifinals of National High School Invitational

CURTIS-AMERICAN HERITAGE BOX SCORE

Good pitching will always win and sustain a team, even when they are not scoring.

When you face top-flight competition from other part of the country, you are going to see good pitching.

While John Curtis Christian has seen good pitching in the National High School Invitational at Cary, NC, the Patriots have shown the opponents even better pitching.

After posting a 2-0 shutout win over Hanover (VA) on Wednesday (see box score), the Patriots backed it up with a 2-1 victory over American Heritage (FL) Thursday.

On Wednesday, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College signee Ian Landreneau pitched six shutout innings.

LSU signee Will Ripoll was brilliant Thursday, going six and a third innings, allowing one run on there hits. He overcame five walks and struck out three, using 97 pitches. UL-Lafayette signee Dax Ford finished up, allowing one hit to pick up the save.

Ripoll added a double at the plate while Jay Curtis drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Ford added a hit while the other hits were by LSU signee Cade Beloso, Tennessee football signee Brandon Davis and Corey Vidrine.

With the win, the Patriots advanced to the semifinals on Friday.