Five teams most likely to win the National High School Invitational baseball tournament

Video: Early Contenders No. 1 Archbishop McCarthy
See the season preview for the NHSI tournament favorite Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks.

In order to win the National High School Invitational, a team needs to have pitching depth that can withstand facing four of the top teams in the nation over a four-day event.

That being said, here are five teams with the best chance at winning the 2017 National High School Invitational, set to begin Wednesday in Cary (N.C.).

1. Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

The Mavericks (11-0) are ranked No. 1 in the nation for good reason. They have a lineup that includes two players, Alex Toral and Joe Perez, ranked among the top 100 players in the country. They also have nearly a dozen players who have committed to play college baseball. Most importantly, however, the Mavericks have a deep pitching staff.

Archbishop McCarthy has at least four quality starters in Daniel Federman, Yordani Carmona, Johnny Leone and Jose Martinez. Those four combined for a 21-2 record last year. Federman, who pitched eight innings last year, might be the best of the bunch as he shut down American Heritage in a district game two weeks ago. Coach Rich Bielski can also throw out Perez, who usually plays infield but has been known to hit the mid-90s on his fastball.

2. Huntington Beach (Calif.)

The Oilers (9-0) might have the two best arms in the tournament in Hagen Danner and Nick Pratto. They might also have the two best bats. Danner is off to a fantastic start this season, batting .579 with five home runs. He had two of those home runs against Orange Lutheran (Orange), which was rated No. 3 in the nation at the time. On the mound, Danner has a 3-0 record with 25 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Pratto has only thrown a couple of innings for the Oilers, striking out three and giving up just one hit. He his batting .286, but three of his six hits are home runs, including two in a game against Los Alamitos.

The Oilers won the tournament last year and have several players who pitched in last year's NHSI, including Cory Moore and Nate Madole. Moore got the win in the semifinal game against Allatoona (Acworth, Ga.) while Madole picked up the win in the championship game against Chaminade (West Hills). 3. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.)

The key for the Lancers (8-1) has been their pitching depth. They have four pitchers who have committed to play college baseball and have five pitchers with at least one win this year. Teams are batting just .190 against the Lancers' staff, which has a team ERA of 2.30 in 64 innings pitched.

The offense hasn't quite kept pace with the pitching as only three players are batting over .300, led by All-American outfielder Garrett Mitchell who is batting .414 with 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored.

4. South Hills (West Covina, Calif.)

South Hills (9-1) has more of a three-headed monster on the mound in the form of MaxPreps Underclass All-American Brandon Dieter and seniors Zack Bromstead and Karlos Morales. Between the three of them, they account for all nine of South Hills' wins and have 59 strikeouts compared to 17 walks. As a staff, the Huskies have a 1.01 ERA and opponents are batting only .165.

Offensively, South Hills is batting .320, led by Jacob Amaya at .429. Dieter leads the team in RBIs with 10, while Morales is also among the team leaders in RBIs and runs scored.

5. Cullman (Ala.)

Cullman (18-4) got its season off to a rough start with two losses in two of its first three games, but the Bearcats have been on a tear of late, winning 14 of their past 15 games, including victories over the likes of Sparkman (Harvest), Buford (Ga.), Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.) and James Clemens (Madison). Cullman has a strong pitching staff that includes potential high MLB draft pick Jacob Heatherly (22.1 innings pitched, 44 strikeouts, one no-hitter) and All-State junior Will Morrison (28.2 innings pitched, 31 strikeouts, one no-hitter) as well as Levi Thomas and Michael Myers.

One of the nation's all-time leaders in RBIs leads the Cullman offense. Owen Lovell entered the season with 189 and has 19 on the season. He also has five home runs to give him 45 in his career.

National High School Invitational
Wednesday, March 29 (All times Eastern)
Hough (Cornelius, N.C.) vs. Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.), 9 a.m.
Archbishop McCarthy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) vs. Arlington (Tenn.), 10 a.m.
American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) vs. Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins, Colo.), 11 a.m.
Merritt Island (Fla.) vs. Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.), 12:15 p.m.
Canterbury (Fort Myers, Fla.) vs. Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), 1 p.m.
South Hills (West Covina, Calif.) vs. Brother Rice (Chicago), 2:30 p.m.
Winder-Barrow (Winder, Ga.) vs. Huntington Beach (Calif.), 2:45 p.m.
Cullman (Ala.) vs. Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.), 3:15 p.m.