BOX SCORE - PLAYS - CUMULATIVES: Doral | St. Xavier

CARY, N.C. – Ty Starke tossed a two-hit, complete-game shutout to propel St. Xavier (Louisville, Ky.) past Doral Academy (Miami, Fla.), 1-0, in the opening round of the 2023 National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance.

Starke and Doral’s Frank Menendez were locked in a pitcher’s duel all morning long, exchanging zeroes until St. Xavier (1-0) finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth. After Zach Marks singled and later advanced to third on a throwing error, Cooper Smith lifted a sacrifice fly to plate the game’s first and only run. Starke returned to the mound for the seventh and worked around a two-out error to secure the 1-0 victory.

The two teams combined for just five hits in the game, with St. Xavier accounting for three of them. Marks (1-for-3), Landon Akers (1-for-3), and Luke Wright (1-for-2) had the hits for St. Xavier, while Doral’s (0-1) hits came from Adrian Santana (1-for-3) and Wilfred Gonzalez (1-for-3). Akers hit a double in the fourth which was the only extra-base hit of the day for either side.

Starke (1-0) allowed just two hits and none after the third inning in his shutout performance. Doral reached on an infield single in the third and did not have another baserunner until a two-out error in the seventh, as Starke struck out five and did not walk a batter to earn the win. Menendez (0-1) suffered the tough-luck loss after throwing six innings without allowing an earned run, striking out six and allowing just three hits.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Doral Academy put together a two-out rally in the top of the first on a single by Wilfred Gonzalez and an Alejandro Ludeiro hit-by-pitch. However, Ty Starke coaxed an inning-ending fielder’s choice to keep it scoreless.
• Frank Menendez set the tone for his strong outing on the mound in the bottom of the first, striking out the St. Xavier side to start his day.
• After both sides went down in order in the second, Doral’s Adrian Santana legged out an infield single in the top of the third but got picked off to halt the scoring threat.
• St. Xavier’s first baserunner came on a one-out double by Landon Akers in the bottom of the fourth before a fly out and strike out helped Frank Menendez escape unscathed.
• A two-out single by Luke Wright gave St. Xavier another baserunner in the bottom of the fifth but Frank Menendez ended the inning by inducing a ground out to shortstop.
• St. Xavier finally opened the scoring in the bottom of the sixth when Zach Marks singled, advanced to third on a throwing error, and scored on Cooper Smith’s sacrifice fly to center field to give St. Xavier a 1-0 lead.
• With two outs and a runner on first in the top of the seventh, Xavier’s Ty Starke capped his stellar performance by coaxing a game-ending fly out to left to finish off the 1-0 win.

NOTABLE INFORMATION

• St. Xavier’s Ty Starke’s complete-game shutout was the 31st in the history of the NHSI.
• Frank Menendez carried a perfect game into the fourth inning before St. Xavier’s Luke Wright roped a one-out double to right center field.
• Neither Frank Menendez and Ty Starke walked a single batter in the game.
• Three of the five combined hits in the game were infield singles.
• St. Xavier remains in title contention with a 1-0 record, while Doral drops into consolation play at 0-1.

ON DECK

St. Xavier will take on Santa Margarita Catholic (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, while Doral will play T.C. Roberson (Asheville, N.C.) in consolation play.

All games of the 2023 NHSI will be streamed on USABaseball.TV and @USABaseballTV on YouTube.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Stay tuned with all of the action at the 2023 National High School Invitational by following @USABEvents on Twitter and @USABaseball on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Fans and media can use #NHSI23 in their posts.