GLENDALE, Ariz. – Just as the first four teams were arriving at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ side of the Camelback Ranch spring training complex for the first two games at the 16u Perfect Game WWBA West Memorial Day Classic (WMDC) Friday morning, a large group of Dodgers minor-leaguers were wrapping up a spirited workout.
Music was playing loudly from the scout tower in the middle of the four-field quad. The young professionals were hooting and hollering while taking part in some sort of home run hitting competition. The young amateurs missed most of the show, but were still able to cross paths with the Dodgers and breathe-in some of that rarified air.
“They see these minor-league guys out here, and that’s where they all want to be someday,” Canyon Thunder head coach Greg Bordes said Friday when asked about the impression the pros made on his very young 16u team. “They kind of get to see it and they understand that those guys are out here working hard every single day. That’s what you’ve got to do in this game to get to where those guys are at.”
The Phoenix-based Thunder are one of 28 teams – most are from Arizona and California – vying for the title at this weekend’s 16u PG WWBA WMDC. They are part of a busy four days of action that also includes play at the 20-team 18u PG WWBA WMDC and the 26-team 14u PG WWBA WMDC. Games are being played both on the Dodgers’ and White Sox’s sides at Camelback ranch and on the Cleveland Indians’ and Cincinnati Reds’ sides of the Goodyear (Ariz.) Ballpark Complex.
The Thunder’s roster – comprised exclusively of players from the Phoenix Valley-area high schools – is a relatively young one for a 16u event, with seven recently promoted sophomores and nine recent freshmen filling the 16 slots. Six of the 16 players listed are also teammates and classmates at Corona Del Sol High School in Tempe where they are part of head coach Dave Webb’s program.
The team got together for its first workout Thursday night and while there were enough unfamiliar faces on hand that the players were trying to size-up one another, having the big group from the same high school helped build some cohesiveness.
Bordes and his assistant coach Kasey Coffman intentionally planned this “youth movement” as a challenge to the players to rise-up and face teams with prospects that are a year or two older than they are.
“They’re a good group and they’re going to be handle that challenge,” Bordes said. “Some of these guys have been together for a while even during high school ball … and I’m looking forward to the challenge and they’re looking forward to the challenge; it’s just going to make them better playing against some older guys.”
The Thunder certainly got off to an impressive start Friday morning, scoring 13 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning in a 13-1, four-inning victory over the G1 Diplomats (Riverside, Calif.). They scored their 13 runs on seven hits and seven walks, and eight of the 13 were earned.
Bryan Webb and Cade Verdusco were both 2-for-3 with two RBI, and 2019 left-hander Eli Ankeny allowed one unearned run and only one hit in four innings of work, striking out three and walking four. It was a good way to initiate the tournament experience.
“They just finished their high school seasons about a week or two ago, so this is a perfect tournament to kind of get them right into the summer; there wasn’t a big gap, a big break,” Bordes said. “Get them right our here, the first time together as a group … and Perfect Game always does a tremendous job hosting these tournaments. We always try to get into as many Perfect Game tournaments as we can.”
The team’s go-to guy is 15-year-old, 2020 shortstop Hunter Haas from Phoenix, who just completed his freshman year at Corona Del Sol HS. An Oregon State commit, PG ranks Haas as the No. 173 overall prospect nationally in his class.
Haas played in seven games at the varsity level for Corona Del Sol this past season – the team finished 23-8 after a loss in the semifinal-round of the Arizona Conference 6A state playoffs – but the other 2020s on the roster played on the freshman team.
“This is a great tournament to kick-off the summer,” Haas told PG Friday morning. “Perfect Game always has great tournaments and hopefully we can win some games. We’re just trying to come in and compete since it’s the first time we’ve all played together for the summer, and we’re going to try to get some wins. It’s great competition and you really get to see where you’re at with everyone else that’s here.”
Haas played in the USA Baseball 14u National Team Developmental Program last summer and called it “the most amazing experience of my life, pretty much” just getting to know so many other top-notch players from around the country.
He also feels like his experiences with the Canyon Thunder last summer – he was named to three PG all-tournament teams including one at last year’s 16u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic – made him a better ballplayer.
“Hunter is the table-setter, for sure,” Bordes said. “Not only is he a very talented kid but he’s got a really good head on his shoulders and you can tell he’s a little more advanced and mature. Even with the Oregon State (commitment) he knows that’s a long way from now and he knows that he’s going to have to continue to get better. There’s no doubt in mind that he will because that’s the kind of kid that he is.”
It seems likely that the earliest Haas will ever begin classes at Oregon State is in the fall of 2020, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting to be an Oregon State Beaver recruit in the spring of 2017. Perfect Game ranks the Beavers as the No. 1 team in all of NCAA Division-I baseball, and their 46-4 record (27-3 Pac-12) in games played through Thursday, May 25, makes that ranking difficult to argue with.
“I committed there because they’re just great people up there, but they can really play; they’re a great team,” Haas said. “The people, the coaching staff – they’re all real loyal and it’s just a great program.”
Bordes grew up in nearby Mesa, played for Pat Murphy at Arizona State for four years and then played for two years (2008-09) in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ farm system. He got into coaching when his playing days came to an end, first serving as a volunteer assistant at ASU before moving on to Saint Mary’s College (Moraga, Calif.); he is now a volunteer assistant at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Coffman also played at ASU and enjoyed a three-year minor league career (2013-15) in the Detroit Tigers and L.A. Angels organizations. Both men try to do as much teaching as possible when they’re put in charge of a group of 15-year-olds.
“If you don’t continue to learn in this game the older you get, it’s probably going to pass you by,” Bordes said. “We do a lot of teaching, even in-game. It would be a disservice to our kids if me and Coach Coffman didn’t teach these kids in-game. They’re still young and they’re still learning the game, so that’s very important to us.”
The Canyon Thunder program was started several years ago by Ryan Cisterna and Nic Spence, and they’ve developed a program that is unique in many ways.
“This isn’t just a go and showcase yourself type of baseball,” Bordes said. “We go and we practice and we train, and the good thing about this group is that they’re young but they want to compete; they’re gritty and they want to learn.
“Most importantly, what we stress here is that we’re going to respect the game, we’re going to have fun and we’re going to play the game the right way,” he said. “They’re very receptive to that and I’m excited to watch it all unfold this summer and see how these guys do.”
Due to their relative youth and inexperience at the national 16u level, the Thunder will be an underdog as they pursue a championship at the 16u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic.
The field includes the event’s defending champion Phenom Signature (Riverside, Calif.) with their nine D-I recruitments from the classes of 2018 and 2019, along with LVR (Las Vegas, Nev.), the 2016 14u PG WWBA WMDC champions. And then there is the Peoria, Ariz.-based Padres Amateur Team, which boasts an impressive roster of talent, as well.
Signature’s lineup can include top 2019s in No. 5-ranked Wesley Scott (a Vanderbilt commit), Spencer Jones (Vanderbilt) and Jordan Keller (San Diego). The Padres Amateur Team counters with a fine collection of 2019s themselves, including No. 19 Joseph Charles (North Carolina), No. 34 Jared Thomas (Miami), No. 49 Elijah McCormack (Oklahoma) and No. 66 Chandler Freeman (Dallas Baptist).
Not to be outdone, LVR can boast the presence No. 21-ranked 2020 Jaden Agassi (uncommitted) and No. 10-ranked 2021 Tyler Whitaker (Arizona).
“Whenever we step on the field the intention is to win,” an undeterred Bordes said. “We stress respecting the game, playing the game the right way and having fun, and when you can do those three things the winning is going to come; everything is going to take care of itself.”
Added Haas: “Hopefully we can learn to play together and win some games, and then learn something from the other older guys that we’re playing against; learn what that competition is like.”
Bordes only wants his young charges to enjoy the atmosphere at a national event like this, one that will launch them into a summer of more unreplaceable learning experiences that create not only valuable college recruiting opportunities but also memories that will last a lifetime. Like crossing paths with and playing on the same fields as those Dodgers’ minor-leaguers.
“It was really cool to be able to see them out here,” Haas said. “They’re obviously professionals and they’re great at what they do. They looked like they were having fun and that’s what you’ve got to do; you’ve got to love it and have fun.”