In their grief, members of the Delmarva Aces travel baseball organization posted a mood picture of Sang Ho Baek, the 20-year-old former James M. Bennett High School star baseball player who died unexpectedly after routine elbow surgery.

To  the right in the picture, a bespeckled Baek, baseball glove on his left hand, is pitching, a look of concentration on his face. To the left, his image is rather muted and he’s surrounded by clouds and a blue sky. Above are the words: “In loving memory, Sang Ho Baek 2001-2021.”

“We remember Sang as a top-notch competitor with a breaking ball that would make your knees buckle. He was funny, smart and had an aura about him that made him very popular among his peers. Lots of special memories with Sang Ho and his family. You will be missed, young man,” wrote members of Delmarva Aces who were as shocked by his sudden death as everyone who knew and admired him.

At Bennett, Baek helped earn the school a Maryland State Championship in 2019.

The son of Seong Han Baek and En Young Lee, he was a freshman at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Va., and on the baseball team there. He recently completed his first season with the Patriots, appearing in seven games and debuting against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, on March 12. His first win was against St. Bonaventure. It was  the third game of his career.

On the school’s Athletics Facebook page, he is remembered “for his positive attitude, determination and love for the game.”

“We extend our thoughts to Sangs’s family, teammates, friends and all who knew him,” it says.

“This is heartbreaking,” Salisbury Mayor Jake Day posted on Facebook.

“This young player had such a bright future ahead of him. My thoughts  are with his family and the Clippers baseball family,” the mayor wrote, referring to the team Baek played for in high school where he was a four-year member of the varsity team.

Amy Brooks, a teaching assistant at Bennett Middle School whose son, Jakob, was close friends with Baek, said he loved quick Chick-fil-A meals and often took trips with her, Jakob and other players.

“I was a team mom for the travel team. He was the best kid, so kind, so humble. We met him and his family when they first came to this country and my family is  blessed to have so many memories with Sang Ho. Such good people,” she told the Salisbury Independent.

“I still, I just can’t wrap my head around how such a tragedy could happen to one of the sweetest, most giving families. I just don’t understand,” she said, adding he died at home a few days after surgery and that his father attempted CPR.

“He was so young and healthy. I saw the family the next day after he died. I went to his house and his mom, oh, my heart. I have no words for her. I went and I took my son who was a  teammate of his when they were probably 13, 14, before high school. Sang Ho was around that age when they moved to America. He was so humble. He played in the Little League World Series in Korea and he came here knowing how to throw a baseball and that boy could really throw a baseball. He would strike my son out in high school and my son would be like, ‘I can’t even be mad at him.’ You couldn’t get mad at him,” she said.

Baek underwent a  common procedure that pitchers often have, reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament, located on the inside of the elbow and attached on one side to the humerus. It’s known as Tommy John surgery because it was first done on baseball pitcher Tommy John in 1974 by Dr. Frank Jobe.

“He was the most well-behaved child,” Brooks said. “I would never have had to scold him or worry about him. It didn’t bother him that he was staying with us in a hotel. He was just happy to be there. He was a hard worker. He did whatever the coach wanted him to do,” she said.

According to his obituary, he attended the Korean Presbyterian Church where he was involved in the youth group and played drums in the worship band.

“Several years ago, he was on the YMCA swim team for three years and played on the Aces and Canes travel baseball teams for years. He went on a mission trip in 2018 to Nicaragua where he helped to build houses for indigenous people, and sanitized their houses, and taught gospel to the children. He loved all types of music and playing the drums, and enjoyed swimming and surfing at Assateague National Park. He especially loved his mother's Korean cooking,” his obituary states.

He is survived by his sister, Sun Ho Baek of Salisbury, his maternal grandparents, paternal grandfather, an uncle, five aunts and 12 cousins in Korea.

His funeral will be held Saturday at 4 p.m. at Holloway Funeral Home, with visitation beginning at 2 p.m. The service will also be live streamed with a Korean interpreter.

Baek was born in Seoul and  grew up, partially, in Salisbury, according to his obituary, and was a young man who “embodied everything you would want from a student-athlete.”

A GoFundMe Page was started by his friend, Scott Morgan, with the goal of raising $44,000 for the family. At mid-week, $26,083  had been contributed and donors  expressed their sympathy on the page.

“Baseball guys stick together, rest in peace.” Brian Crociata wrote.

News of Baek’s unexpected death was broadcast by CBS News, NBC News and CNN and was reported in The New York Times and USA Today newspapers, Sports Illustrated and People Magazine.

The CNN article,  on the cnn.com Website, includes a photograph of Baek signing college papers while his mother, to his left, smiles, and his younger sister watches.

"We are devastated by the passing of Sang," head coach Bill Brown said in a statement.

“Sang was an incredible teammate who was loved by everyone associated with Mason baseball. He will be missed and forever cherished in our hearts. Right now, our thoughts are with Sang's family at this unbearably difficult time."

“He was an excellent student, dedicated teammate and friend to so many," Brad Edwards, George Mason Director of Athletics, said. “We are committed to providing support and resources to Sang's teammates and all those in the Mason family who loved him."