Box Score - Plays - Stats (Santa Margarita & TC Roberson)

CARY, N.C. – Santa Margarita Catholic (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) scored a pair of runs in the third, sixth, and seventh innings and Collin Clarke tossed six shutout innings en route to its 6-0 opening-round win over TC Roberson (Asheville, N.C.) at the 2023 National High School Invitational presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.

With the win, Santa Margarita (1-0) advances to the quarterfinals and will face St. Xavier (1-0) on Friday.

Combined with multi-hit outings from Blake Balsz (2-for-3), Luke Lavin (2-for-4), and Luke Johnson (2-for-3), Clarke (1-0) had an impressive outing on the mound as he tallied 12 strikeouts and issued just one walk in six innings of work for the Eagles.

TC Roberson’s Matt Simpson (0-1) was saddled with the loss as he surrendered two earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched while contributing a hit to his team’s six total in the game. At the plate, Nick Moses led the Rams with a 2-for-3 performance.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• TC Roberson threatened in the second when JT Gordon reached on a one-out single and then moved to third on Simpson’s two-out single to left center, but Clarke managed to freeze Moses to end the inning.
• Balsz opened the scoring for the Eagles in the third inning when he laced a RBI double to left field, scoring Johnson after he reached on a leadoff bunt single and took second on a balk.
• Wilson’s RBI groundout to the shortstop doubled Santa Margarita’s lead in the frame to bring home Tyler Ankrum from third.
• After two scoreless innings, Santa Margarita plated two more runs in the sixth thanks to Drew Rutter’s sacrifice fly to right field with runners in scoring position, followed by a TC Roberson defensive miscue.
• The Eagles managed to tack on its final two runs of the contest in the seventh when Luke Lavin roped a two-run single to left field with the bases loaded.
• In the final four innings of the contest TC Roberson managed to put at least one runner on base, but was unable to capitalize on its chances.

NOTABLE INFORMATION

• Santa Margarita’s Clarke had an impressive outing on the mound as he fanned 12 batters in six shutout innings of work. He scattered five hits and issued just one walk in his dominant performance.
• Balsz, Lavin, and Johnson tallied two hits apiece in the contest to combine for six of Santa Margarita’s eight total hits in the contest.
• Additionally, Lavin drove in two runs while Balsz, Blake Wilson, and Rutter each drove in a run for a combined five on the day for Santa Margarita.
• TC Roberson’s Simpson allowed two earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched to suffer the loss. He additionally tallied a hit to contribute to his team’s six total in the game.
• At the plate, Moses went 2-for-3 to turn in the lone multi-hit outing of the day for the Rams.

ON DECK

• Santa Margarita advances to the quarterfinals of the NHSI and will face St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.).
• TC Roberson will matchup with Doral Academy (Doral, Fla.) Friday in consolation play.
• All games of the 2023 NHSI will be streamed on TV and @USABaseballTV on YouTube.

**SOCIAL MEDIA
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