CEDAR
RAPIDS, Iowa – The rising class of young talent represented on the
Elite Baseball Training rosters, for both the 2016 and 2017 teams
assembled in Northeast Iowa to compete in this year's WWBA Kernels
Foundaiton Championship has been known about for a long time. The
recently graduated 2015 class and this year's group of rising seniors
boasts several players that are (or were) considered among the best
in the nation.
Of
the 27 players on Elite Baseball's 2016 roster and you'll find 21
that have committed to college and a few more that have yet to make
their decisions. You'll also find a pair of Perfect Game
All-Americans in righthanded pitcher Drake Fellows and shortstop
Tyler Fitzgerald.
So
it wasn't a surprise that Elite turned to Fellows on Sunday to help
them secure their pool in a must-win matchup against the Illinois
Indians.
Fellows
didn't disappoint, going the distance in a tight contest that was
tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. His usual heavy
sinker, which peaked at 92 mph on this day, was working very well for
him, as was his entire three-pitch mix, recording eight groundball
outs and 10 punchouts.
“It
feels really good,” Fellows said after the game. “It's been a
long summer. A couple starts I haven't been so hot so it feels good
to come back and be the player that I am.
“Warming
up in the bullpen felt pretty good. Coach Rich (Ruffolo) was looking
at me and I told him I was feeling really good today. The changeup
was feeling really good today, all of my pitches were going for
strikes.”
With
the win the Elite Baseball Training 2016s team move to 3-0 and has
advanced to play in the playoffs. They await the results of their
seed since the young Elite players, the 2017 squad, have their own
game with playoff implications on Sunday afternoon.
The
win was especially sweet for Fellows, who also pitched a dominant
game a year ago at this same event but were shutout by the Rawlings
Hitters National Baseball Club 2016's, a game the Hitters won 2-0
that allowed them to advance to the quarterfinals.
“You
have to have a short memory in this game,” Fellows said of the game
a year ago. “You can't look back on the past, you just got to move
forward and do what you can do now.”
“Last
year was definitely a huge disappointment,” Ruffolo added. “Fall
baseball can be tricky at times because we have so many multi-sport
athletes. So keeping these guys prepared, especially the arms if
they're playing other sports, and making sure you have the right
families that are going to stay on board with you through the fall,
is extremely important.”
Ruffolo,
the program's Professional and Collegiate Scout Liason, knows about
talent. He's been coaching several of the players on this team,
including his son Michael, since they were five years old. He also
knows that Fellows' talent is especially unique.
“We
talked a lot last night about what's going to happen in the future,”
Rufolo said. “No one can predict the future, but there's few guys
that have opportunities like Drake has. We just want to make sure
that he continues to give himself those opportunities, however the
situation plays out, not to cheat yourself out of a life-changing
(moment). Keep competing, keep getting better every day and that's
what Drake does. He's one of the hardest working kids I've known.”
Elite
Baseball Training, like Perfect Game, is all about furthering the
careers of young baseball players. Justin Stone, the program's
founder, opened his own baseball training academy in the Chicago
area, instituing state-of-the-art technologies, such as digital
motion analysis, to break down players' mechanics, knowing that
practice doesn't make perfect, but perfect practice does.
“Our
objective at Elite Baseball Training is to help kids move on to the
next level, whether that's Division I, Division II, Division III,
NAIA or pro ball,” Ruffolo said. “Our job is to move them along
to the next level, wherever their talent takes them.”
So
far at the Kernels Foundation Championship that talent is taking them
pretty far after locking up a spot in the playoffs.
But
the path didn't come easy, as opposing Elite on the mound on Sunday
was Sam Ferri, another talented player in the 2016 class and an
Arizona State recruit. Ferri, despite playing with the Indians at
this event, is a long-time member of Ruffalo's Elite Baseball
Training squad and someone Ruffolo has a deep personal connection to.
“This
was an emotional game today and I'm proud of my guys and the way they
stepped up to the task,” Ruffolo said after the game. “Sam Ferri
is absolutely legit and I knew it was going to be a battle. We would
have to wait it out, but we stuck together as a unit and as a family.
“I've
coached Sam since he was five as well, he and my son grew up
together. There's nothing tougher than coaching against another son,
and that's what Sam is to me. On the field this is our family and off
the field this is our second family. That is how we operate at
Elite.”
PG All-American Tyler Fitzgerald plays shortstop for Elite Baseball Training 2016s
Elite
Baseball had to wait for Ferri to leave the game, just shy of 100
pitches, after striking out 11 Elite batters in five innings of work.
With the game tied at one the Elite hitters went to work in the
bottom of the sixth, scractching across a pair of runs on RBI
singles.
Joey
Polak and Bobby Miller provided those run-scoring singles, with
Jordan McFarland leading off the inning with a well-struck double
into the left-center field gap.
Of
course the winner of this year's WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship
receives a paid invitation to participate in the WWBA World
Championship in late October, something all of the players have on
their minds.
“It's
going to be great to go down to Jupiter, I love playing with the guys
that I've grown up with since 11-years old,” Fellows said. “Just
to go down to Jupiter and get that experience with them would be a
great opportunity.”
Fellows
and his PG All-American and Elite Baseball teammate Tyler Fitzgerald
have shared nearly the exact same travel itinerary this summer. They
both kicked things off in Fort Myers, Fla. at the National Showcase,
where both were invited to participate at the PG All-American
Classic. Before that occurred they travelled to Emerson, Ga. to play
in the 17u WWBA National Championship. Their next stop was in
Phoenix, Ariz. for the 17u PG World Series and then Long Beach,
Calif. for the Area Code Games.
The
stage was finally set for them to shine in front of a nationally
televised audience in addition to the 6,000-plus that filled seats at
Petco Park.
“It
was an unbelievable experience pitching at Petco,” Fellows said of
the Classic. “It's a once in a lifetime opportunity being a PG
All-American. You only get that once, your senior year, it's going to
be a memory that lasts forever.”
“I'm
so grateful to have my family,” Fellows continued, reflecting on
the philanthropic efforts that come with being a PG All-American.
“They've been traveling with me everywhere throughout the summer,
especially my dad. To share that experience with them is
unbelievable, having them come out and watch me at the highest level
possible.
With
all of the success that comes so does Fellows' senior season in high
school. He's currently ranked 55th in the nation
(Fitzgerald is 37th), has a college commitment to play for
national powerhouse Vanderbilt and also has the possibility of being
drafted to begin his professional career.
That
also means his travel ball career is nearing its end.
“This
is going to be our last year together,” Fellows said. “It's going
to be emotional when it ends. I've been playing with these guys since
I was 11, and I've been playing with Coach Rich since I was 11-years
old. It's going to be a great experience to end it out with them like
we started.”
Rich
Ruffolo's coaching career also nears an end as he plans on focusing
on the new aspects of his position with the Elite program. Maximizing
a players' talents and knowing where they best fit in is one of the
things Ruffolo does best, to help players like his son, Fellows,
Fitzgerald and Ferri.
Before
that occurs he intends to go out on top with a group of players he
considers an extension of his family.
“I
took this team – some of the guys since they were five-years old
that stuck with me – and we're looking to finish this fall strong,
hopefully in Jupiter with some rings on our hands.”