Pitching highlights first day of 2016 NHSI baseball tournament

Video: Huntington Beach (CA) Baseball - Preseason Rankings

Pitching proved to be the story on the first day of the National High School Invitational in Cary, N.C., with an eight-inning battle between Brax Garrett and Zack Hess providing the highlight of the day.

Garrett, a potential first round pick in the Major League Baseball Draft in June, led Florence (Ala.) to a 2-0 win over Liberty Christian (Lynchburg, Va.) by throwing eight shutout innings which included 11 strikeouts, four hits and just one walk.

Liberty Christian's Hess nearly matched Garrett, as he gave up just two hits and two walks and struck out 10 in 7 2/3 innings pitched. However, Florence got to Hess for two runs on a wild pitch and a dropped third strike in the top of the eighth inning to score the only two runs of the game.



Florence was one of eight teams to get wins in the first day of the NHSI, which pits some of the top teams in the nation. Here's a look at the rest of the first-round games:

Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) 7, Topsail (Hampstead, N.C.) 0
Three Trinity Christian pitchers combined to shut out host Topsail on three hits. AJ Labas got the win, striking out six over 3 2/3 innings pitched. Todd Lott led the Conquerors with a 2-for-4 effort that included a double and two RBIs.

Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) 3, Flanagan (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) 1
Tommy Costello went seven innings and gave up one run on seven hits with 10 strikeouts to lead Chaminade. He got help from Nick Kahle, who had a home run and two RBIs. All-American candidate Blake Rutherford added a 2-for-3 effort with a run scored.

North Broward Prep (Coconut Creek, Fla.) 7, Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins, Colo.) 3
The Eagles had just five hits, but four of them were for extra bases. Dillon Belle had a home run while Aaron Antonini had two doubles and four RBIs and Anthony Masiello had a double and one RBI.

Huntington Beach (Calif.) 8, Poly Prep Country Day (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 5
Two of the nation's top junior pitchers went at it in this one, with Hagen Danner taking on Nick Storz. Danner went 5 2/3 innings to get the win for Huntington Beach. He gave up three earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and five walks. Storz took the loss, striking out five and walking seven in 4 2/3 innings pitched. The Oilers had four doubles in their six hits with Landon Silver knocking in a pair of runs with his two-bagger.

Allatoona (Acworth, Ga.) 5, Houston (Germantown, Tenn.) 0
The Buccaneers pitched a shutout against Houston with Grayson Harbin going 6 2/3 innings for the win. He gave up just four hits and struck out six to get the win. Juanyea Tarver led the offense with a double and three RBIs.



Walton (Marietta, Ga.) 10, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) 0
Walton had, perhaps, the best combination of offense and defense on the day, as Chris Hummel went seven innings and gave up just four hits while striking out five for the shutout win over Bingham. Meanwhile, the offense got 10 runs on seven hits, including doubles by Christian Furr and Carter Kieboom. Furr led the team with two hits while Kieboom had a team-high three RBIs.

The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) 6, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) 5
The 2014 NHSI champion The First Academy edged the 2012 and 2013 champ Mater Dei with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of the final game of the first day of competition. The Royals tied the game on Cash Case's single. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Bernard Gilot was hit by a pitch to force in Cody Oerther with the go-ahead run. Gilot also had a home run earlier in the game. Josh Stephen had a huge game for Mater Dei, going 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run with five RBIs.