Flames 3-1 In Pool Not Enough To Advance

It was a great day of baseball for the Bethesda Flames on May 26 at Prasco Park for the Flames. After losing the previous evening to Emmanuel College, the Flames knew they needed to win both games to have a chance to advance to the semi-finals at the NCCAA World Series.

Sheldon Mobley and Benjamin Lopez responded with two of the best starts all season, both throwing complete games in the Flames 9-1 and 4-0 wins over Southwestern Christian and Hiwassee College respectively.

The Flames would surrender the only run they allowed in the top of the first going down early 1-0 to Southwestern.

The score remained there until Nathan Munoz tied it up with a RBI-single to center. Adrian Flores responded with a RBI-single of his own for the second run, and Daniel Arellano doubled off the top of the right field wall to make it 4-1 Flames.

The Flames would continue to add on with a Kevin Maxey RBI-double in the fifth, Ivan Galindo RBI-single in the seventh, Daniel Arellano 2 RBI-single in the seventh, and a Brady Hochhalter RBI-single in the eighth.

While the offense did their part, the story was Benjamin Lopez. After allowing the run in the top of the first, the junior right-hander put up eight straight scoreless frames to complete the game. He pitched nine innings, giving up nine hits, four walks, and one earned run while striking out three. Lopez left runners stranded all game making a big pitch every time he needed to.

In the second game, the Flames handed the ball to senior right-hander Sheldon Mobley. An early season standout for the Flames, Mobley had been battling injury and had not started a game since March 17. In his final collegiate game, Mobley hurled nine shutout innings for the Flames allowing five hits two walks and striking out three.

It was a scoreless game until the fourth, when Alex Rodriguez doubled off the left-center wall scoring Adrian Flores.

Daniel Gutierrez scored Flores again in the sixth with a RBI-single and the Flames added two insurance runs in the ninth with a pinch-hit RBI-single from Ivan Galindo, and a sacrifice fly from Nathan Munoz. The score would end 4-0, as the Flames would win their last two games of the season.

"It was the best day of baseball we have had all season," said Head Coach Garrett Trevino. "We had a tough turnaround playing the 8 p.m. game followed by a doubleheader with the morning game. I think our guys liked it that was because they did not want to wait to play again after our performance in game two. Benjamin and Sheldon responded with the best starts of their careers and will remember them for the rest of their lives. It was tough to see that we did not advance, however I am extremely proud of our players for the work they put in this season."

The Flames finish their season 27-22.