Oxbridge Academy Wins 2-0 Over American Heritage-Delray

Alex Rao pitched five shutout innings and struck out eight.

For the first time, the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches hosted a High School Baseball Network Game of the Week. Thursday’s district contest between American Heritage-Delray and Oxbridge Academy did not disappoint, as Alex Rao and the Thunderwolves defeated the Stallions by a 2-0 final.

In a pitcher’s duel between Rao and Carmine Lane, all it took was one inning for the Thunderwolves to win their third straight game. Rao also delivered at the plate to support his own efforts on the mound.

With the score tied at zero entering the fourth inning, Oxbridge took advantage of consecutive errors that put Jordan Bustabad and Frankie Guelli on base with no one out. As the two awaited who would drive them in for the game’s first run, a walk put Andrew Johnson on base, setting up Rao’s big hit to give the Thunderwolves a lead they didn’t relinquish. With one out, Justin Hogan brought Guelli home, allowing Rao to take the lead in the top of the fifth with a 2-0 lead.

“Whenever you beat Heritage, it lightens the day,” Thunderwolves manager Chad Mills said. “We had some injuries, we had some kids traveling to China on a school trip for two weeks, but now that we’re all back together and healthy, we’re gelling at the right time. We wanted to peak at the end of the season and hopefully today is the start of that.”

Alejandro Borjas takes a pitch during Thursday’s HSBN Game of the Week.

Rao, who entered play with a 2.59 ERA and 32 strikeouts, allowed three hits and struck out eight in his six shutout innings.

“He pounded the zone,” Mills said. “The wind was blowing in and we thought he was going to struggle with his curveball with the wind behind him like that, but he adjusted and threw his curveball for strikes. He worked the corners of the plate very well and I think he had one walk, so he made them earn it.”

Hits were at a premium on Thursday, with Rao and Lane combining to allow five hits between them. The two also struck out 15 hitters, dazzling in the shadows of Major League Baseball’s newest spring training park. No player had a multi-hit game on either team, though Heritage-Delray’s 3-4-5 hitters, Lane, Michael Malinchak and Troy Hamilton, had the team’s three hits.

The Stallions had a chance to break through in the top of the sixth inning, but Rao picked Lane off between second and third to end the opportunity. When the Stallions threatened again in the top of a seventh after a lead-off walk, Frankie Guelli forced a double play and recorded a strikeout to end the game.

“It was just poor baseball, plain and simple,” American Heritage-Delray manager Carm Mazza. “Their pitcher did a nice job, hats off to him, but we played poor baseball.”

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