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Visiting Salisbury is becoming a summertime tradition for the Frederick Flying Dogs semi-pro baseball team.

For the third consecutive year the Flying Dogs will travel to the Eastern Shore to compete in the National Amateur Baseball Federation Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament after defeating the Baltimore Bobcats 11-1 on Sunday at Husky Field in Frederick to claim the Mid-Maryland Semi-Pro Baseball League title.

NABF regional play begins Aug. 5 at Salisbury's Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex. The regional tournament will be held from Aug. 5 to 8, and will consist of eight district winners in a pool-play format.

"It was a little more exciting this year than it was last year," Frederick manager-player Nick Collingham said of his team's league title. "There was a lot more parity across the league this year."

Frederick scattered the ball all over the field Sunday. Cranking out 11 hits, the Flying Dogs were led by Steve Shriner's two home runs and four runs batted in. Chris Fulda also homered and scored twice, while Ryan Morse was 3-for-4 with two runs, a stolen base and an RBI.

Starting pitcher Rich Ropp was just as dominant on the mound. The right-hander allowed only one run while striking out seven in seven innings of work. Nick Bourque finished the game with two hitless innings.

However, the title celebration was cut short Sunday by Mother Nature. After assembling near the first-base line, players, coaches and fans scattered to their respective vehicles, seeking refuge from the rainstorm that began just after the final out.

Winners of 11 straight, the Flying Dogs are playing some of their best baseball of the year. Seven times during the stretch, Frederick has scored in double digits. Sunday was the seventh consecutive game the pitching staff had allowed two runs or less.

"I think we're pretty confident," Ropp said. "We're coming together. From the top to the bottom of the lineup we're hitting the ball pretty well. The pitching staff is throwing well."

Collingham said he's looking for a team or two to scrimmage during the week, and then after a few days off, the Flying Dogs will return to the diamond.

The Flying Dogs advanced to the regional semifinals last year. Frederick's two losses in 2009, 5-3 against the Newark Royals (N.J.) and 4-2 versus the Bamboo Bats (N.Y.) of the Eastern Shore League, were largely the result of five combined errors. However, Frederick was the only team in the field to knock off the eventual champion Atlantic Coastal Drifters of Delaware, 6-2.

"The first year [2008] getting down there [Salisbury] was an accomplishment," Ropp said. "Last year we kind of let ourselves down. This year we expect not just to go down there and have a good showing, but to make it to the next level. We have the [pitching] staff to do it and I think we expect it of ourselves."