Antonio Menendez, Herndon Hornets baseball pitcher delivers a "Shutout" at the WWBA Championship in Jupiter, FL

Touted as the World Series of High School Baseball; the PG WWBA World (Perfect Game World Wood Bat Association) Championship Series showcased the best baseball talent in the country. This is a great opportunity for MLB scouts and Universities to evaluate players at one location.

Antonio, a senior pitcher for the Herndon Hornets, was asked to join the Dirtbags composed of Division 1 commits predominantly from North Carolina. Travel teams are always looking for additional pitching arms to give the team an edge heading into the championship rounds. Coach Darnell, former travel coach for Antonio, asked Dirtbags' Head Coach Partin to consider taking Antonio. Coach Partin hesitated but after watching some videos clips of Antonio he gave the OK to join the team in Jupiter, FL.

Upon arriving in Jupiter, the Dirtbags played a consolation game against "Chicago Scout Association" as a warm up to the tournament. They quickly showed their talent and took a commanding lead. They never looked back. Antonio pitched 2 innings with 1 strikeout on 1 earned run.

Pool play began against a very tough "Team Indiana". The game ended in a 1 to 1 tie. The pressure was on to win the remaining games decisively in order to make it into the playoff bracket. The next afternoon, they faced "Florida Burn" and won convincingly 8 to 0. The following morning they took another victory at the expense of the "DBack Langley Blaze" 6 to 1. Antonio pitched 1.1 innings in long relief on 16 pitches with 0 hits and 0 runs.

The wins kept coming, defeating the "Mavericks" 8 to 0 and "Evoshield Canes" 9 to 5. As the number 12 seed out of 88 teams, the Dirtbags faced "CBA Marucci" from California who was considered the favorite moving forward after beating the 3 time Champs, "Evoshield Canes" 6 to 1. Coach Partin used Antonio as a long relief pitcher, but due to pitching regulations Antonio was asked to start the next game on short notice. Opportunities like this don't present themselves often so Antonio told the coach, he was "excited to take on the challenge". Traditionally, sidearm pitchers close games but Antonio has been starting games throughout his high school career. As a starter, he has pitched a no-hitter for the Hornets, a no-hitter for Tri-State Arsenal (his summer team) and several 1 hitters the last few years. He was ready to take the stage and pitch his team to victory. Antonio motivation was to prove that one doesn't need to thrown in the upper 90s to be successful. The deception and movement of his pitches are just as effective.

The golf carts (full of scouts) began lining up in preparation of this pitching battle between two very competitive teams. Antonio's no-hitter was broken up in the top of the 4th inning but it was in the bottom of the inning that the Dirtbags took the lead with a 3-run homerun by Schneider. It was now up to Antonio to maintain the lead and win the pitching battle. Antonio kept his composure and closed out the game without giving up another hit.

As described by Vincent Cervino in the Perfect Game write-up after the game, "In arguably the pitching performance of the day, righthander Antonio Menendez (2017, Herndon, Va.) tossed a complete game shutout to send the Dirtbags to the semifinals." Antonio's 1 pitch shutout was impressive to watch!

On the final day the Dirtbags blanked the "Midland Redskins" 8 to 0 and headed into the finals to play the now favorite "Team Elite". It was a close game but the Dirtbags took the lead in the bottom of the 6th and won the WWBA Championship 4 to 2 to close out the 2016 season. The winners get fitted for World Series rings for pulling off the victory.

What an exciting way to end 2016! We are excited to see Antonio play this upcoming season at Herndon High. Antonio is scheduled to officially sign his letter of intent to play baseball at Wake Forest University this November. It's going to be exciting to follow Antonio's pitching and power swing with the Hornets . Join us this upcoming Spring and watch the Hornets battle.