USA Baseball Unveils Star-Studded NHSI Lineup for 2027

On Monday afternoon, USA Baseball released the roster for the 14th annual National High School Invitational, one of the premier high school tournaments on the scouting calendar.

Sixteen teams will travel to the National Training Complex in Cary, NC, to compete in a single-elimination tournament that guarantees four games for each team. The tournament will take place from April 7 to 10.

This year’s field is star-studded, and it includes the reigning finalists in Venice and Orange Lutheran. Orange Lutheran claimed their fourth NHSI title last March, and this year’s appearance will mark their ninth trip to Cary, a tournament record. Ten states will be represented in this year’s edition, including four from California. Florida and Arizona will have multiple representatives in the field, while the remaining states will each have just one bid.

Throughout its history, the tournament has featured a wealth of major league talent, including Cody Bellinger and Austin Riley. Seth Hernandez is the last top-10 pick to showcase their stuff at the event, and in 2026, five players heard their names called in the draft, including second-rounder Kaden Waechter (Giants), fourth-rounder Julian Garcia (Brewers), and eleventh-rounder Ryne Barker (Atlanta).

Here’s the full list of participants in this year’s tournament:

• Bishop Gorman High School (Nevada)
• Brother Rice High School (Illinois)
• Casteel High School (Arizona)
• Christopher Columbus High School (Florida)
• Corona Del Sol High School (Arizona)
• D.H. Conley High School (North Carolina)
• Delbarton School (New Jersey)
• Harvard-Westlake School (California)
• James Island Charter High School (South Carolina)
• McEachern High School (Georgia)
• Norco High School (California)
• North Broward Preparatory School (Florida)
• Orange Lutheran High School (California)
• Sierra Canyon School (California)
• Trinity High School (Kentucky)
• Venice High School (Florida)

The tournament will feature five players from our Prep Top 50 Board, including three within the top five. Those players are as follows:

• SS Dylan Seward (Norco, Tennessee commit)
• SS Malachi Butler (McEachern, Georgia Tech commit)
• SS Graham Houston (Venice, Louisiana State commit)
• 3B/1B Brady Cunningham (Brother Rice, Texas A&M commit)
• SS Trip Ostergard (James Island Charter, North Carolina commit)

Other names worth monitoring at the event include RJ Shields, Max Phillips, Conor Rae, Jordan Ayala, Justin Kirchner, Taylor Dodd, and Ira Rootman. Of the players on the board, Houston is the only returner, having played in the past two iterations of the event. He recorded seven hits during Venice’s run to the final last year, including this home run below:

The field features more than just 2027 talent, as high-level players from the 2028 and 2029 classes will also participate. This includes Theo Swafford, Kohen Poplin, Ethan Stewart, Andrés Armenta, CJ Estrella, Dru Wilson, Macgraw Vanwormer, and Evan Thompson.