Grable shines for Flintridge Prep baseball against Rio Hondo Prep
ARCADIA — In a short period of time, Ben Grable got plenty accomplished for the Flintridge Prep baseball team.
On the mound and at the plate.
It’s the kind of performance that has become commonplace for the junior all season, and Grable got the results he wanted.
On the mound, Grable struck out 10. In addition, he excelled on offense with three hits and four runs batted in to power visiting Flintridge Prep to a 5-1 Prep League road victory against Rio Hondo Prep on Wednesday.
Grable, a right-hander, allowed two hits in 6 1/3 innings and had a perfect game with one out in the fourth inning. Grable had a no-hitter into the fifth.
“I just wanted to be locked in and get ahead in the count when I was pitching,” Grable said. “I felt like I had a lot of my pitches working, especially after getting that first strike and it’s definitely my best effort this season.
“At the plate, I got some pitches that I could handle and it helped getting guys on base to give me a chance.”
Grable helped himself early on.
Grable gave Flintridge Prep (14-5, 7-1 in league) a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a sharp single to right that scored Bradley Marelich and Spencer Seid.
He then took the mound and promptly struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to frustrate Rio Hondo Prep (12-6, 5-5).
“That was big for him in the first inning,” said Flintridge Prep coach Guillermo Gonzalez, whose team finished with 11 hits. “He went out there and did what he needed to do with that at-bat and then came back strong on the mound.
“He was locked in, especially on the mound. He’s a monster at the plate.”
Flintridge Prep, ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division V, made it 3-0 in the second on a run-scoring ground out by Robby Case.
Grable struck out the first two batters in the second before getting a ground-out to end the inning.
Grable, who had his 16-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday during Flintridge Prep’s 5-4 home victory against Rio Hondo Prep, registered a two-run single in the third to give the Rebels a 5-0 lead.
With one out in the fourth, Grable hit Bryant Flores with a pitch to end the perfect-game bid. Rio Hondo Prep, No. 9 in Division VI, broke up the no-hit bid when Anderson Lang singled with one out in the fifth.
The Kares cut the deficit to 5-1 in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Evan Foor.
Grable left with one out in the seventh. Seid came on in relief and got two strikeouts to cap the victory.
“[Grable] throws hard and he’s easy to catch,” Flintridge Prep catcher Germaine Harvey said. “When he got that first-pitch strike, it allowed him to go to some other pitches.”
Marelich finished with three hits and scored two runs for the Rebels, who got two hits and two runs from Seid.
Rio Hondo Prep and Flintridge Prep will complete their three-game season series on April 26 at the Glendale Sports Complex.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
