EMERSON, Ga. – The preeminent 14u Perfect Game World Series national championship that kicked-off Friday at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint welcomes 20 of the best 14u teams from seven states, including three that made their way all the way from California. It is not the least bit surprising to see BPA DeMarini Elite from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., among those representing the Golden State.
This BPA DeMarini Elite 14u team boasts a 12-kid roster – three from the class of 2018, nine from the class of 2019 – that has made itself relevant not only at the 14u level but also while playing up at the 15u level. The Elite finished as runner-up at the 14u PG/MLK Championship in the Phoenix-area in January and returned to the desert in early July and won the USA Baseball 14u West National Team Championship.
BPA (Baseball Performance Academy) director of team development and head coach Jared Sandler looks at the 20-team 14u PG World Series field and sees a perfect fit for his hard-driving gang from Southern California. The best, it seems, always want to be surrounded by the best.
“Any time you have an event that is kind of condensed and you know everybody you’re going to play is really good – you’re going to see some good arms and the lineups are going to be really good – it’s a lot of fun,” he said Friday morning from PG Park South. “It’s good to go to the field every day and know you’re going to have a tough game on your hands.”
The Elite opened play Friday with a 5-2 win over the Team MVP Banditos from Houston thanks to a 12-hit onslaught that featured four players collecting two hits apiece: Hunter Cranton was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI; Evan Salcido was 2-for-3 with a double and Carlos CJ Rodriguez and Brooks Lee each singled twice; Tony Jacob tripled and drove in a run.
Sandler has had teams here in the Atlanta Metro Area since early July, competing in the 17u, 16u and 15u PG WWBA National Championships. “I try to come out here to Georgia for most of July every summer, especially now that this new complex is built,” he said. “Perfect Game, they run the best events, so we really like coming out here.”
BPA DeMarini Elite finished 6-2 after a loss in the first-round of the playoffs at the 15u PG WWBA National Championship that concluded Friday, and five roster spots on that team were filled by guys who are playing at the 14u PG World Series over this next week.
The organization doesn’t have a specific 15u team, which led to the 14’s not only plugging some holes on last week’s roster but plugging them quite nicely. Jacob, the 2018 outfielder Salcido, 2019 catcher/outfielder Paul Roche, 2018 second baseman/outfielder Ryan Docuyanan and shortstop/right-hander Greg Reasbeck are all doing double-duty.
The versatile Jacob, a 2019 left-hander/utility player from Acton, Calif., and arguably the team’s top prospect, performed at an all-tournament team-level at the 15u PG WWBA. All he did was pitch 12 four-hit innings without allowing an earned run, while striking out 17 and walking four; he was 6-for-16 (.375) with a two doubles, two triples, six RBI and four runs scored at the plate.
“These are good events; they’re just a lot of fun,” the soft-spoken Jacob said Friday, adding that he enjoys being around other top players in his age-group from around the country because it provides him an opportunity to learn.
He especially likes to watch the players from the northern states that don’t have the opportunity to play the year-around like and he and his teammates from Southern California are able to do. But there is something else Jacob hopes to achieve during his two-week long stay in north-central Georgia: “I want to keep improving and let other people know who I am,” he said.
BPA Marucci Elite finished 6-1-0 after a loss in the championship game at the 14u PG/MLK championship in January, and 2019s Joshua Hahn and Alexander Smith joined Reasbeck, Cranton, Salcido and Rodriguez on the event’s all-tournament team; Reasbeck and Cranton were named as both pitchers and hitters.
After sampling a taste of Texas with the Team MVP Banditos to start things out Friday, the Elite will get a look at a pretty good cross-section of the country with pool-play games remaining against the Carolina Vipers (Waxhaw, N.C.), Baseball Northwest (Salem, Ore.) and Team Elite (Loganville, Ga.). Those will all be solid tests for the So Cal kids.
“Every team at this tournament is pretty good; everybody’s about in the same boat with good players,” Sandler said. “These guys are starting to get a little bit older and doing more things right, but we’re certainly going to have our hands full this week; this is a tough tournament. This group is getting better and they’ve improved a lot this year, so we’re on the right track.”
The 20 teams at the 14u PG World Series are scheduled to complete pool-play Saturday and the four pool champions and four pool runners-up will meet in the quarterfinals on Sunday; the semifinals and championship game are slated for Monday. Sandler likes this team of 14-year-olds he has competing for this PG national championship, but win or lose he’ll leave Georgia if sees a noticeable improvement in his kid’s level of play.
“The thing about our organization is we want guys that want to be (NCAA) Division-I college baseball players and guys that have a chance to play professional baseball,” he said. “I think where people in this game get confused is that it doesn’t matter how good you are at 14 (years old) – nobody goes to the big leagues at 14 – so it’s about continuing to get better; it’s about continuing to learn every time you go out there.
“Having this opportunity to come out and play great teams and compete against the highest level is going to help them on their journey to where they want to be.”