FAIRFAX, Iowa – When heavy rain and flooding in Eastern Iowa forced the postponement of this year’s Perfect Game WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship from last week (Sept. 23-26) to this week (Sept. 30-Oct. 3), the Hitters Baseball Navy’s “Road to the Repeat” got a little rockier.
Several of the Navy’s top prospects from the class of 2017 – Ben Dragani (Louisville), Ryan Hoerter (Auburn), Troy Hickey (Oklahoma State) and Jack Blomgren (Michigan) among them – had scheduled their official campus visits for this weekend.
They did so seemingly safe in the knowledge that this weekend’s dates fit comfortably between the Kernels Foundation Championship and any commitments they had made to playing at the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., Oct. 20-24.
Also unavailable this weekend is the Hitters Navy’s top national prospect, No. 3-ranked 2018 outfielder and Louisville recruit Jarred Kelenic, who is staying busy performing exceptionally well for the USA Baseball 18u National Team. Team USA is playing in the COPABE Pan American “AAA” Championships in Monterrey, Mexico, and Kelenic delivered a two-run, ground-rule double in its 11-1 win over Venezuela on Friday.
Despite those absences, Hitters Baseball Navy general manager/manager RJ Fergus arrived at the field in this small town just west of Cedar Rapids on Saturday morning feeling pretty good about his team’s chances of winning a second straight PG WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship title.
“We’re missing a (good number) of predominantly really good players that can change the face of a team, but we’re confident with the guys we have that we can make a run at it,” Fergus told PG during an early morning conversation. “We have a bunch of guys who can grind it out and compete, and the biggest thing for them is to just come on out and have fun with a bunch of other guys from the Midwest.”
And, as Fergus noted, it’s not as if the Navy arrived here with a roster full of unrecognizable players, although a lot of the star-power from last year’s championship team is gone. 2016 first-round MLB Draft pick Gavin Lux and second-rounder Ben Rortvedt both began their professional careers this past summer, and it’s important to remember that Kelenic was the Most Valuable Player at last year’s Kernels tournament as a high school sophomore.
But top 2017s Zion Pettigrew from Chicago (No. 259, Iowa commit), Trey Leonard from Cedar Rapids (No. 270, Louisville), Austin Milbauer out of Mukwonago, Wis. (No. 315, Texas Christian) and Ryan Bader from Mukwonago (t-500, Northwestern) are here, as are top 2018s Alex Binelas from Oak Creek, Wis. (No. 130, Louisville) and Jacob Campbell from Janesville, Wis. (No. 309, Illinois).
Fergus also speaks very highly of 2019 Luke Hansel from Caledonia, Wis., and 2020 AJ Vukovich, another top gun who calls Mukwonago home.
“We won it last year and we have a few guys here that actually played on that team, so we’re coming back with some kind of experience,” Pettigrew said Saturday. “We’ve got a lot of talented guys so I think we can go out here and do it again.
“We’re missing a few guys but we can’t let that stop us; we’ve got to keep it going,” he continued. “We’ve got really good chemistry and when that happens and guys can play together as a team, good things can happen on the field.”
Leonard agreed: “We may look a little under-manned but with the kids we have I think we can really perform and show well at this tournament,” he said. “If we all play (as well as we’re capable) I really think we can make another good run this year.”
Fergus, Pettigrew and Leonard all spoke with PG before the start of play Saturday and by the time the results of the Hitters Navy’s first two pool-play games were recorded for posterity, it was safe to say everyone involved with program was fit to be tied.
They held a 5-1 lead over Cangelosi 2018 Black out of Lockport, Ill., heading into the top of the sixth inning in their opener, but Cangelosi rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth and two in the top of the seventh, and the game finished in a 6-6 tie. Next up was Rhino Baseball North, also from Lockport, and after enjoying leads of 2-1 after two innings and 3-2 after four, the Hitters Navy again was forced to settle for a 3-3 tie.
Binelas hit a solo home run in both games and Campbell went 4-for-6 with a double and two RBI, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome sub-par pitching performances on this day – four Hitters’ pitchers combined to give up nine earned runs on 14 hits in 14 innings of work (4.50 ERA).
An 0-0-2 pool-play record isn’t necessarily an end-all because it is basically the same as a 1-1-0 record according to PG tire-breaker procedures. If Hitters can win its final pool-play game on Sunday – and do it with a shutout – it could still win the pool championship if several other scenarios also work in its favor.
Even if Hitters Baseball Navy falls short of a playoff bid this weekend, there have been a lot more highs than lows for most of the players in the program.
“RJ gave me a great opportunity to play with them this past summer and we’ve been able to travel and play against the best kids in the country; it’s really helped me a lot,” Leonard said. “It’s helped me mature as a player and as a person, and I’m just grateful they gave me this opportunity.”
Added Pettigrew: “I’ve been playing for RJ for about a year now and I’ve loved every moment of it. I’ve had the opportunity to play against the best teams and it’s been a great experience for me personally.”
Fergus is quick to point out that every group he has brought to the PG WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship has had its own personality and stood out in its own way. Last year’s team with Lux and Rortvedt, for example, was extra special simply in terms of the MLB Draft, but every year, every player in the program wants to win.
Every team may be different, but every team also has the same goal, and that’s to win championships. “If you don’t have that winning attitude, then you’re not going to move on,” Fergus said.
Hitters Baseball does not have an automatic bid to the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter so Fergus makes sure any of his top guys who want to participate at the mega-event can find homes with other clubs. Most settle in with the Chicago Scouts Association but others go elsewhere. This year, for instance, Pettigrew will play with the Reds Midwest Scout Team and Campbell with the Dallas Tigers.
But the PG WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship is their last hurrah of the season playing together, which makes the tournament all the more special in Fergus’ mind.
“This is the premier event in the Midwest,” he said. “All the best teams, probably, from St. Louis to Chicago to Minneapolis and out into Nebraska and Iowa and Wisconsin, this is where it’s at. There just isn’t an event like this anywhere in the Midwest during the fall.”