CARY, N.C. – Stoneman Douglas (Parkland, Fla.) eased through the first three games of the 2022 USA Baseball National High School Invitational (NHSI) presented by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance but capped off its title run with a hard-fought 5-3 victory over St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park, Fla.) on Saturday night at the National Training Complex. It is the Eagles’ first NHSI title in program history.

The game was a battle from the very beginning as both teams traded blows all night with timely hits, costly errors, and stellar defensive plays. Ultimately, tournament MVP Chris Arroyo and the Eagles were too much for the Spartans.

Both teams loaded the bases in the first inning, but Stoneman Douglas (4-0) was the one that broke through first. Cameron Harris brought in Jake Clemente for the first run of the game when he was hit by a pitch. Arroyo followed by pushing an 0-2 pitch through the right side to bring home Christian Rodriguez and Niko Benestad, and the Eagles threw the first punch to the tune of an early 3-0 lead.

St. Johns Country Day (3-1) punched back. The Spartans put pressure on the Stoneman Douglas defense to great success, forcing three defensive miscues in the top of the third inning. Brad Hodges and Jordan Taylor led off the inning with back-to-back walks. A double steal caused the inning's first miscue as Santiago Ordonez attempted to throw out Taylor at second, but no defenders stepped up to take the throw, allowing Hodges to score and Taylor to move on to third.

With two outs and a man on third, Shawn Andrade hit a slow roller just left of the first baseman and out-legged him to the bag, diving headfirst for the RBI single. Andrade advanced to second on a passed ball before Kody Daneault hit an infield single to the second baseman when chaos ensued. The second baseman booted the ball, allowing Andrade to sprint home, scoring the third run of the inning, and allowing Daneault to advance to second on the overthrow home before the inning ended with the score tied at three apiece.

Stoneman Douglas retook the lead, 4-3, in the bottom half of the third when Rylan Lujo hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield after the Eagles loaded the bases with one out. Two innings later, the Eagles took advantage of a defensive miscue by St. Johns Country Day. Arroyo started a two-out rally by reaching base on an error by the shortstop and advanced to third on a single to left from Lujo. Grant McDonald followed with a single to centerfield to score Arroyo and double their lead, 5-3, heading into the sixth inning.

Vic Patel pinch-hit with one out and one on base in the top of the sixth inning for the Spartans. He laced a ball through the outstretched glove of the first baseman to put runners on first and second. The Eagles followed by going to Arroyo out of the bullpen, where he immediately walked Hodges to load the bases. Down 1-0 in the count, Arroyo hurled a wild pitch, but a fortuitous bounce off the backstop allowed Stoneman Douglas catcher Ordonez to grab the ball and throw out Boylston on a bang-bang play the plate to preserve the two-run lead.

St. Johns Country Day attempted to rally down to its last three outs. Taylor fought off an 0-2 count to lead off the seventh with a single, but Arroyo proved too much, retiring the next three batters on nine pitches to clinch the title.

Roman Anthony went 2-for-3 and two stolen bases, and Arroyo finished the night 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBIs to lead the Eagles' offense. Jacob Gomberg gave up three runs (one earned), four hits, and three walks in his 3.0 innings of work in the no-decision. Brandon White came on in relief in the fourth inning and was stellar for Stoneman Douglas, striking out two in 2.2 innings of work to earn the win. Arroyo earned the four-out save, striking out one and surrendering just one hit.

Seven different batters registered hits for St. Johns Country Day in what was a total team effort, while Andrade registered the only RBI for the Spartans. It was a pitcher by committee kind of night, with seven different pitchers appearing in the game. Jude Howell started the game but only registered one out before being lifted. Trevor Bradley came on in relief and suffered the loss, giving up a run on two hits in his two innings.

The Eagles became the first team from Florida to win the NHSI since 2014 when The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) defeated Clovis High School (Clovis, Calif.). It was a night of firsts as it was also the first time both finalists were from Florida, ending California’s run of nine consecutive years with a team in the title game.

Stoneman Douglas was dominant in the 2022 NHSI, outscoring its opponents 43-4 in its four games. It finished the event leading in batting average (.453) and team ERA (0.61). The Eagles also placed three players on the All-Tournament Team: Roman Anthony, Chris Arroyo (MVP), and Christian Rodriguez.

Ten schools are represented on the All-Tournament Team, led by three Stoneman Douglas’ players and two from St. Johns Country Day. The complete list of all-tournament team selection are as follows:

• Roman Anthony (Stoneman Douglas)
• Chris Arroyo (Stoneman Douglas) – MVP
• Ben Barrett (The First Academy)
• Jarrod Hocking (Servite)
• Brad Hodges (St. Johns Country Day)
• Seth Keller (Hanover)
• Dallas Macias (Regis Jesuit)
• Matthew Matthijs (D.H. Conley)
• Mason Neville (Basic Academy)
• Christian Rodriguez (Stoneman Douglas)
• Louis Rodriguez (Orange Lutheran)
• Luke Scherrer (Yucaipa)
• Jordan Taylor (St. Johns Country Day)