The 2014 Perfect Game summer tournament season was only weeks old and already the Elite Squad 17u Prime could feel some momentum building.
Elite Squad founder, owner and head coach Richie Palmer had entered his top prospect-laden upperclass team in the 18u PG WWBA Memorial Day Classic. Led by soon-to-be-named Perfect Game All-Americans Daniel Reyes and Elih Marrero, the 17u Prime won its three pool-play games by a combined 29-2 and charged into the championship game with a 6-0-0 record.
Waiting in the other dugout was the Florida Burn 2015 Pennant, also 6-0-0, itching for a fight and looking to start the season off with a championship. But a rain storm at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., doused the party and the teams were named co-champions.
Undeterred, the Elite Squad 17u Prime regrouped and several weeks later rolled into Perfect Game South at LakePoint in Emerson, Ga., for the PG WWBA 17u National Championship with the intent of wiping away that “co” and emerging only as “champion.”
Everything fell into place nicely at the mega-event, and 17u Prime found itself 10-0-0 and in the championship game against the mighty EvoShield Canes (11-0-0), facing the nation’s No. 2-ranked right-hander in the class of 2015, Beau Burrows. The Canes and Burrows clawed out a 5-2 victory.
“We still talk about how (Burrows) was still available to pitch in that game; we have no clue,” Palmer said during a telephone conversation last week, laughing at his own recollection. “But hey, you go up against a potential first-rounder and you’re in the ballgame and right there for the majority of the game, it’s hard to be upset with your guys.
“Just to make it to that point in that type of event, you’ve got to be satisfied and at least proud of your guys, and we certainly were.”
In retrospect, the first two Perfect Game tournaments of the season for both the Elite Squad 17u Prime and younger brother Elite Squad 16u Prime were a microcosm of how the entire summer and fall seasons would transpire for the two teams. And, also in retrospect, they transpired very, very well.
“I think it was quietly one of our most successful years (as an organization),” Palmer said last week. “We’ve had years when we went out and won a major event and that was pretty much it for the summer. … This year, when I look at the grand scheme of the whole organization and what we were able to accomplish, I think quietly it may have been our best year.”
At the same time the Elite Squad 17u Prime was sharing the championship with the Florida Burn 2015 Pennant at the 18u PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic, the Elite Squad 16u Prime was finishing as runner-up to the Florida Burn 2016 Pennant at the 16u PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic.
And then, a week after 17u Prime lost in the championship game at the PG WWBA 17u National Championship, the 16u Prime lost to eventual champion BPA DeMarini Elite in the round-of-16 at the PG WWBA 16u National Championship.
The trend continued throughout the summer and fall. A depleted 17u Prime team, playing under the name of Elite Squad Baseball, traveled to the west Phoenix suburbs to compete in the elite 20-team 17u Perfect Game World Series, and advanced all the way to the semifinal round before falling to the eventual champion Houston Banditos.
The 16u Prime finally broke through when they won the Perfect Game national championship at the 16u PG BCS Finals in Fort Myers in early July, compiling an 11-0 record that included a 10-0 win over Team Elite Prime in the championship game.
After that triumph, they posted runner-up finishes at both the 16u PG World Series and the PG WWBA Florida Qualifier (the 17u Prime won its pool at the PG WWBA Florida Qualifier but opted out of the playoffs and instead won a consolation game and finished 4-0).
Both Squads competed at their respective PG WWBA World championships: Elite Squad Prime finished 3-2 after a second-round playoff loss at the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., and Elite Squad 16u Prime finished 4-1 after a second-round playoff loss at the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship in Fort Myers.
“It seemed like every tournament that we went to, we were making deep runs and having great showings,” Palmer said. “Besides the (16u) BCS championship, we didn’t win rings or stuff like that, but in terms of the organization as a whole this may have been our most successful year, and that includes everybody in the program.”
The Elite Squad 17u Prime finished the 2014 season at No. 3 in Perfect Game's 17u National Travel Team Rankings; the Elite Squad 16u Prime finished No. 5 in the 16u National Rankings.
WITH THE WAY THE 2014 PG SEASON BEGAN FOR THE 17U PRIME there was every reason to believe there might be numerous ring-fittings as the summer and fall played out. The star-power on the team’s elite roster – there were 21 D-I commits on Elite Squad Prime’s 25-man Jupiter roster – screamed championship potential and there were at least a couple of near-misses.
The good karma the team enjoyed started with 2015 outfield Daniel Reyes and 2015 catcher/outfielder Elih Marrero, both of whom played for the East Team at the Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego last August.
Reyes is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound University of Florida signee ranked No. 19 nationally and Marrero – the son of former big-leaguer Elieser Marrero – is a 5-foot-9, 190-pound Mississippi State signee ranked No. 82. Reyes was named to five PG all-tournament teams, including at the PG WWBA World Championship, and Marrero was cited as the Most Valuable Player at the 18u PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic.
“The Danny Reyes’, the Elih Marrero’s, guys like that, they were the backbones for us this summer throughout our whole organization,” Palmer said.
PG All-American Daniel Reyes was named to five all-tournament teams while playing for Elite Squad 17u Prime during the summer and fall.
Other highly regarded class of 2015 prospects on the 17u Prime team included shortstop Lucius Fox Jr. (ranked No. 66, a North Carolina State commit); third baseman/right-hander Julian Infante (No. 90, Vanderbilt); catcher/third baseman Dominic DeCaprio (No. 160, Rice) and right-hander Andrew Cabezas (No. 200, Miami).
Incredibly, the Elite Squad Prime’s 2016 class may possess even more star power, with six prospects ranked in the top-199 nationally and five of those six committed to the University of Miami. The contingent of 2016 Miami recruits is led by right-hander/outfielder Anthony Molina (ranked No. 9), right-hander/shortstop Gregory Veliz (No. 16) and catcher Michael Amditas (No. 35).
Amditas and left-hander Garrett Rukes were each named to four PG all-tournament teams and Rukes (No. 403, Alabama) was the Most Valuable Pitcher at the 16u PG World Series. Molina, Veliz, shortstop/third baseman Colton Welker (No. 168, Miami), middle-infielder Brandon Chinea (No. 230, Tennessee) and right-hander Andres Perez were named to three all-tourney teams.
Additionally, Veliz was the MV Player at the 16u PG BCS Finals and right-hander Nick McDowell was the MV Pitcher at the same event; left-hander Jesus Luzardo (No. 89, Central Florida) was the MV Pitcher at the 16u PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic. Another key contributor is right-hander/outfielder Evan McKendry, a Miami commit ranked No. 199.
Palmer expects all of those players to return and provide the foundation of the 2015 Elite Squad 17u Prime. He sees proven prospects in the group and others who just might have something more to prove.
“I think Mike Amditas is someone that is going to make huge, huge waves this summer,” Palmer said of one of his top 2016s. “We were missing Elih Marrero for the World Wood Bat in Jupiter and we brought him up to play with our older guys and you could feel his impact right away. … I think he’s got a chance to be very special.”
THE HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL SEASON STARTS EARLY IN FLORIDA, and this year the state athletic association has set Jan. 19 as the first official day of practice. Florida travel ball coaches need to make sure they hold their tryouts and start assembling their teams in December and early January and considering the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., was just completed about a month ago, it makes for short offseason.
“We kind of do all of our planning way ahead of time and set everything up, which is good because I get a chance to change things up if I need to, because we’re still months out,” Palmer said. “We just finished Jupiter … and we’re saying goodbye to all the seniors and saying hello to all the young guys.”
It should be noted that a couple of even younger Elite Squad teams played well at the inaugural Perfect Game Florida State Championships last summer. A 15u Elite Squad team won the 15u PG Florida State Championship and a 14u Elite Squad team was third at the same tournament.
“This is actually my favorite time of the year,” Palmer said. “It is bittersweet because we had such a good time with that 2015 group … so it’s weird because you don’t want to let them go. But then you have the injection of the younger guys that makes you excited to look forward to the future and you’re kind of like, ‘Hey, we had a great year last year, we kind of know our strengths and weaknesses and we really like that team, so here’s what we want to get better at.’”
As strong as the 2016 group is – especially with pitchers Molina, Veliz, Luzardo, Rukes and McKendry – Palmer is also excited about a strong group of prospects from the class of 2017. Many played up in 2014 and were key contributors to the 16u Prime’s winning efforts.
Leading that group is Alejandro Toral, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound first baseman/left-hander from Davie, Fla., who is ranked No. 6 nationally in the 2017 class. Toral was named to four all-tournament teams playing for the Elite Squad 16u Prime in 2014, and was the Most Valuable Player at the 2013 PG WWBA Freshman World Championship playing for the SF Elite Squad Freshman team.
Other top 2017s Palmer is likely to have playing up for the 2015 upperclass team include shortstop Mark Vientos (No. 8, Miami), catcher/right-hander Zach Jackson (No. 20, Central Florida) and corner-infielder Joseph Perez (No. 21, South Florida), each of whom earned one all-tournament selection in 2014.
“Even though they’re a year younger, in some cases every year you have some special talent and I think this 2017 class for us is one of those groups,” Palmer said of their contributions.
Teams from the Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based Elite Squad organization garnered 10 final four appearances during the 2014 PG tournament season, an impressive accomplishment to be sure. They led a pack of other top organizations like the Orlando Scorpions (nine), Team Elite (nine), Homeplate Chilidogs (eight), EvoShield Canes (six) and Upstate Mavericks (six) in terms of making repeated trips to the podium at PG’s most prestigious tournaments.
With its PG national championship titles at the PG WWBA World Championship and PG WWBA 17u National Championship and a runner-up finish at the 17u PG World Series, an argument can be made that the Canes had the most successful 2014 campaign. But count on the Elite Squad to always be right there, knocking on the door.
“We know it’s not easy and I think some people kind of take it for granted and they don’t realize how hard it is to win one of those (PG) events,” Palmer said. “Kudos to the Canes that they’ve won so many of them, but I’m sure Jeff Petty works his butt off all year ‘round putting those teams together.
“It’s so hard to win one of those Perfect Game tournaments, and that’s why when you get into the final four and you get into the championship games, you’ve just got to enjoy it,” he concluded. “It’s a flip of the coin at that point because those four teams left, they’re all good and it’s a matter of who’s going to play better that day.”