Mercedes-Benz prep baseball club started weekend trip strong, finishing 3-2

by CASEY MCCARTHY
Staff Writer | June 30, 2020 8:49 PM

NAMPA, Idaho — Mercedes-Benz 18U prep baseball club made the trip to Northwest Nazarene University for summer play Thursday through Sunday, going 3-2 over the stretch.

Mercedes-Benz picked up an 11-0 shutout after just five innings in the opening game on Thursday against New Level DJAXX. Dominic Barela and Othello’s Trey Garza combined to allow no runs on no hits in the win, striking out a combined eight batters.

A pair of back-to-back four-run innings to start the game put the Mercedes-Benz prep team ahead for good, cementing their lead with three more runs in the third.

The clamps remained tight in Game 2 as the Walla Walla Sweets couldn’t match their opponents, letting Mercedes-Benz walk away with a comfortable 14-0 win after five.

Back-to-back five-run efforts in the second and third put the squad comfortably ahead early, never looking back. The hit differential was 14-2 in the win.

Garza was one of three Benz players to notch a home run in the 14-1 victory over Kirkland Merchants Elite 18U last Friday. Mason Guerra led the team with five RBIs in the win, while Garza finished 2-2, with three runs earned and one RBI.

Up 6-0 after just two innings, Mercedes-Benz poured in eight more runs in the last two innings to seal the deal. Othello’s Jaxon Rocha finished 1-1 from the plate in the win.

Idaho Cubs gave Mercedes-Benz their first defeat of the trip, pouring in a barrage of runs late to take the 13-4 win.

Tied at 1-1 heading into the sixth, the Cubs fired off 12 runs in the top of the inning to take a commanding lead. The lead proved too steep as the Cubs took the win despite being out-hit 9-7 in the game.

Rocha picked up the loss on the mound, allowing six runs off three hits in one-third of an inning. Garza came in to relieve Rocha, allowing six more runs off just one hit in one-third of an inning.

In its final game of the weekend on Sunday, the Mercedes-Benz summer club could never recover from an early deficit against the Walla Walla Sweets 2021. Down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, Mercedes-Benz managed to take back a run in the bottom of the fourth.

Three more runs from the Sweets in the top of the sixth helped them pull away to hold on for the 5-2 win on Sunday at Northwest Nazarene University.

Coming out of the weekend, Mercedes-Benz prep baseball club sat at 5-5-1 for the summer.