Former Vikings Garcia, Flores playing for national championships at next level

By Chris Ruiz, Long Beach City College Sports Information

A pair of former Long Beach City College baseball players are currently playing for national championships at the next level. Second baseman Derrick Garcia is playing in the NCAA Division II World Series for Colorado Mesa University while shortstop Avery Flores is at Oklahoma Wesleyan University playing in the NAIA World Series.

Garcia, originally out of Mayfair High School, has started 39 of 43 games he's played in for Colorado Mesa this season and has an impressive .423 batting average. He's totaled 60 hits with 10 doubles, three homeruns with 39 RBI for the Mavericks and was recently named second-team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Garcia's Colorado Mesa squad is in Cary, North Carolina playing for the Division II national championship. Colorado Mesa resumes play tonight at 7 p.m. against Seton Hill University after beating St. Thomas Aquinas College 5-4 in 10 innings on Sunday and defeating Seton Hill in game 1 on Tuesday. CMU is located in Grand Junction, Colorado.

As a sophomore for LBCC in 2013, Garcia was named second-team All-South Coast Conference after hitting .347 in SCC games.

Flores, a Millikan High School grad, was named first-team All-Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference for Oklahoma Wesleyan and is hitting .359 with 80 hits, 11 doubles, and 40 RBI. He also scored 69 runs and stole 17 bases.

Oklahoma Wesleyan will play Tabor College in an elimination-round game of the NAIA World Series today at 5 p.m. in Lewiston, Idaho after falling to Cumberland University 8-7 in 10 innings on Monday. OKWU is located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Flores was as All-SCC honorable mention selection as a sophomore for the Vikings in 2013.

A trio of former Vikings playing at Georgetown College in Kentucky also advanced to the NAIA World Series but have been eliminated. Justin Moore, Javier Saenz, and Edwin Santiago helped lead Georgetown to a Mid-South Conference championship and a trip to the national championships.

Moore started 42 of 51 games and hit .335 with nine doubles, three triples while scoring 46 runs with 17 stolen bases. Moore, originally out of University High School, was a first-team All-SCC selection for Long Beach in 2012.

Santiago totaled 16 hits in 39 at bats for Georgetown for a .410 average. From the mound, he made 12 appearances and went 5-3 with a 2.62 earned run average. Santiago, out of Jordan High School, was also a first-team All-SCC pick for the Vikings as a sophomore in 2012.

Saenz also pitched for the Tigers and was 2-0 in 11 appearances with a 3.42 ERA. Saenz, originally from Santa Fe High School, pitched in eight games for LBCC in 2012 and had a 1.93 ERA.