MARIETTA, Ga. -- A
jet-lagged San Diego Show was able to pull out a win in their first
game of the 2014 16u WWBA National Championship.
“We
came off a flight yesterday,” explained center fielder Mickey
Moniak, “so obviously we were a little tired. But we got the first
one out of the way, [although] we didn’t play our best.”
Tired
or not, the San Diego Show managed to put on a show. Moniak came out
strong as the lead-off hitter, starting off the first inning with a
single, which led to a 3-0 lead by the end of the inning. His
teammate, Ryan Orr, brought in their first run with a ground out, and
continued with three more RBIs throughout the game.
Orr
and Moniak both play for the same high school team – La Costa
Canyon – as well as the Show. Moniak, who was named California’s
2014 Sophomore of the Year said their high school team is “a good
program with a lot of good baseball.”
Moniak
began playing in Perfect Game events last year and is ranked No. 22
in the PG High School Class of 2016 rankings. He said it is an honor
to be ranked so high since Perfect Game has “some of the best
baseball in the world.”
Moniak
showed up for one day in the 15u WWBA National Championship and
helped his team reach the quarter-finals. He is now on track to
helping his team in the 16u go further.
“Mickey
is a very special talent,” explained head coach Anthony Stabile.
“[He] played on the 15u USA team last year. We’ve had a long list
of PG All-Americans in this program and we’re hoping mickey is a
2016 PG All-American.”
The
6-foot-2, 175-pound outfielder has already made a verbal commitment
to UCLA, although he has aspirations of one day going pro.
“Since
I was younger, ever since I knew you could get a scholarship to
college, I’ve wanted to go to UCLA. I definitely want to go to UCLA
but ultimately be in the pros,” explained Moniak.
Although
young, the Show has many players already committed to play in
college. Jonah Davis, class of 2015, is committed to Nevada; Ryan
Johnston, class of 2015, is committed to UC Irvine; Jonathan
Pendergast, class of 2015, is committed to Pepperdine; and Ben
Ramirez, class of 2017, is committed to Southern California.
“This
squad has a lot of commits on it [and] we have other guys who are
looking to get commits this weekend,” explained Stabile. “It’s
a talented group. This squad is expected to do big things in this
tournament.”
The
Show as a program has been competing in PG events for many years, and
their 16u started off this tournament well with a big win, but still
have six more games to prove themselves.
“We
won as 14s,” explained Stabile, “We came out as 15s and lost in
the elite 8 and we’re back to see how far we can go [this year.]”
The
San Diego Show has been around for 13 years, and has teams for
players aged 8-18. The teams are coached predominately by alumni of
the program.
“We’ve
got a good reputation across the country, great families, [and] we’ve
got great kids who buy into the program,” said Stabile, “Our
philosophy is to play baseball real hard, play with passion, and let
the chips fall where they may.”