EMERSON, Ga. – There is no end to the challenges coaches of 15-and-under baseball teams face when trying to prepare their specific group of teenagers to play at a Perfect Game national championship tournament.
The logistics can be a nightmare in and of themselves, with important items like trying to make sure every player and parent (if present) has the most up-to-date schedule in their possession, organizing team meals and arranging transportation to and from the ballpark. The biggest challenge of all, however, is making sure the young man wearing the team uniform stays focused on the job at hand.
So imagine what Central Florida Gators head coach Joe Mertadante faced Sunday morning. Just a few days removed from making a strong statement at the 15u PG WWBA National Championship, Mertadante needed to have his group of teenagers ready to play in what amounted to a double-header on the first morning of play at the 15u Perfect Game World Series.
The game times? 8 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., with both games to be played on Field 16 at Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint. The challenge? These are 14- and 15-year-old kids being asked to perform at a very high level for four hours and 14 innings before lunch is served. The result? These are the Central Florida Gators, so there was no need for concern.
“We made a decent run at the World Wood Bat and they got a couple of days off, and for the most part the guys came out with some energy today,” Mertadante told PG after Central Florida won its second game Sunday morning. “When you wake up and you have to play at 8 a.m., everybody has to ring the bell and kind of get in here and go to work.”
After beating the Indiana Prospects, 3-0, and Chain National, 5-3, in their tournament-opening double-header Sunday, the only bell the Gators were ringing was the one that had the word “victory” in front of it. Those were eye-opening wins that showed just how versatile and talented this roster is.
2018 right-hander/catcher Mason Denaburg threw five innings of one-hit, shutout ball with seven strikeouts and four walks, and righty/utility Max Clark followed him with two innings of one-hit, shutout ball with a strikeout in the win over the Indiana Prospects. 2018 Elijah Cabell singled, doubled and scored two runs, and Clark and 2019 Joseph Charles both doubled.
In the win over Chain National, Charles and Cabell each hit solo home runs, 2018 Connor Ollio was 3-for-4 with an RBI and 2019 Tyler Callihan had two hits, including a double. 2017 right-hander Eric Foggo threw four, three-hit innings without allowing a run, striking out four and walking one to pick up the win.
Those are the kind of performances Mertadante has come to expect from his team this summer. The Gators reached the final four at the 15u PG BCS Finals in Fort Myers, Fla., earlier this month, finishing 7-2-0 after a semifinal loss to eventual champion Chain National, the same team they beat here Sunday morning. They went 6-1-2 at the recently completed and aforementioned 15u PG WWBA National Championship after a loss in the second-round of the playoffs. It was largely this same team that reached the semifinals at last year's 14u PGWS in Fort Myers.
“The biggest thing with us is that we’ve all been together as team since (the players) were 13 (years old) and they all know how to play together as a team,” Mertadante said. “When situational at-bats arise, they know what to do and they just really play the game of baseball well as a group; that’s really helped us this summer.
“We’ve had some really good pitching and obviously we have some guys in the lineup that can hit for some power, but as a group we’ve played the game very, very well.”
Judging by the success the Gators enjoyed in PG national championship tournaments this month it would be easy to assume this is a team that will play up to the level of their competition. Put them in a powerhouse pool like the one they’re in this week – they’re joined by Chain National (Warner Robins, Ga.), Dirtbags (Sedalia, N.C.), Indiana Prospects (Fishers, Ind.) and Phenom Signature (Riverside, Calif.) – and they’ll be ready for life in the fast-lane. It can be a two-way street, however.
“They do play to the level of their opponent but sometimes that’s a negative,” Mertadante said with a laugh. “But they’ve always stepped-up to the challenge. Every time we’ve played a very good ball club from another organization that might be nationally ranked, these guys always step up to the challenge.
“We faced some very good teams last week (at the 15u PG WWBA) and we’re going to face (many) more very good teams this week (but) our guys always make me proud the way they go out there and compete, that’s for sure.”
For a variety of reasons, the Central Florida Gators’ roster can best be described as both local and national. Twelve spots are filled by Florida kids, but there are also a couple of spots filled by players from the Phoenix, Ariz.-area, and there’s one each from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and South Carolina.
According to Mertadante, the Florida kids had formed those friendships with the out-of-state kids when they were much younger, and they were already in place when he took over three years ago.
“It’s really cool because they keep in touch with each other throughout the year and when the summertime comes it’s like a big reunion,” he said. “When they’re in-between games they’re always hanging out and going to do things together. It’s always fun to see them get back together because they really are friends away from the field.”
Mertadante was reluctant to name names when asked about his most reliable contributors this summer simply because it always seemed to be somebody new who stepped-up and delivered with each passing game.
That might come across as nothing but coach-speak until the time is taken to search the all-tournament team selections from one of the two PG national championship tournaments the Gators participated in this month. That would be from the 15u PG BCS Finals since the 15u PG WWBA National Championship honor squad has not been published yet.
Eleven Gators were named to the 15u BCS team and a Gator player occupied 15 spots because four were named as both hitters and pitchers. Among the four named twice was Denaburg, a versatile 6-foot-3, 170-pound athlete from Merritt Island, Fla., who comes in at No. 35 in PG’s class of 2018 national prospect rankings.
The other two-time selections were Ollio (2018, Renfrew, Pa.), third baseman/right-hander Andrew Roberts (2019, Altamonte Springs, Fla.) and left-hander/first baseman Matthew Liberatore (2018, Peoria, Ariz.). Cabell, Callihan, Charles, Clark, Tommy Ben, Nolan Gorman and Grayson Kicklighter were the others named all-tournament at the 15u BCs.
The Central Florida Gators call Altamonte Springs, Fla., home, which means they share an address with the Orlando Scorpions, a nationally prominent organization that won last week’s 17u PG World Series in Arizona and has teams vying for titles in the 16u and 15u PGWS events here this week.
Mertadante doesn’t consider his group to be in any sort of competition for talent with the Scorpions, mostly because the programs are apples and oranges. The Gators have only one other 15u team and none at any other age-group, and they have kept the same two teams together for the last three years.
Their rosters are filled with two-way players which means they don’t really have spots for many pitcher-only’s, and they just haven’t had the need to add and subtract players on an annual basis. It’s an approach that doesn’t work successfully for everyone, but the Gators’ group has made it go.
“It’s been fun to watch these guys transition from 13s to 14s and now into 15s and kind of make a name for themselves in these Perfect Game events,” Mertadante said. “For the most part, we’ve just kind of stayed with the same group of guys.”
It’s a group that seems to be able to confront any challenge head-on and ultimately ring that victory bell, even it requires playing for four hours and 14 innings before lunch is served.