FORT MYERS, Fla. – The total is impressive enough and when squeezed down into a specific time frame, it borders on impossible, not impressive. But there it is, in all its glory, a Perfect Game tournament and showcase total almost certainly unmatched by any 16-year-old in Perfect Game’s nearly 20-year history.
When Shane Shifflett stepped out onto a field at the East Cobb Complex in Marietta, Ga., in early June 2012 about a month after his 14th birthday, getting ready to play in the 2012 14u/15u Perfect Game-East Cobb Invitational, there is no way the 5-foot-8, 127-pound shortstop could have possibly imagined what the future held.
Fast-forward to this past Sunday morning when Shifflett, now a 5-foot-11, 165-pound, 16-year-old shortstop, stepped out onto a field at the JetBlue Park Player Development Complex for the Perfect Game National Underclass Showcase-Main Event, he could accurately look back a PG event file that now totals 28. That’s right. Twenty-eight PG events attended over the past 30 months, or nearly one per month for 2 ½ years.
“I love baseball; I just love playing,” Shifflett said when asked Monday afternoon what his motivation was to keep showing up time after time. “I’ve been playing in Perfect Game (events) since I was in eighth grade and they’ve done a lot of things for me. It gets your name out and everywhere I go people know who I am, so that’s something I really like.”
What makes that total even more eye-popping is that there are several months during a calendar year when there are no PG events scheduled. Shifflett has had to play a lot – 26 of the 28 events he has attended were tournaments, including two PG Super25 tournaments this summer – in a very compressed time period.
He played in six tournaments in 2012 between early June and early October; he nearly doubled that in 2012 with 11 events between late May and late December, having attended last year’s PG National Underclass-Main Event (he played in 10 events between late May and late October); he did another 11 this year, beginning in mid-May and finishing with Tuesday’s final day at the Main Event.
“He’s got a deep love for the game. He’s very dedicated, very committed and he works hard at it,” his mother, Donna Shifflett, told PG on Monday, adding that Shane never seems to feel the pressure of a heavy workload. “I think anything in life can be overwhelming; you just take one step at a time, one day at time.”
The Shifflett family – dad Joseph was also in attendance at the Lee County Sports Complex on Monday – calls Venice, Fla., home. This was an easy trip down I-75 for the trio, but it almost didn’t happen because on Friday Shane began feeling the effects of strep throat.
He was quite a bit less than 100 percent the first two days of the showcase, but it really didn’t show. He ran a personal-best 6.54-second 60-yard dash and threw a personal-best 91 mph from the outfield during Sunday’s workout session, topping his efforts here a year ago when he was named the Top Prospect in attendance from the class of 2017.
“I came down here last year and I liked it, and I wanted to get everything I did (in the workout) up higher,” Shifflett said. “I like the showcase format; you learn a lot of new names and you see what other kids can do. Instead of just playing on one (high school) team, you’re seeing that other kids are just as good or maybe even better, and you can see what you want to do to be better.”
It’s probably worth mentioning at this point that Shifflett is no garden-variety prospect at this event. He came in ranked as the country’s No. 59 overall prospect and No. 13 shortstop prospect in the 2017 class, although this past year he started playing the outfield on occasion.
Shifflett has already committed to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, so he’s not here to impress the college recruiters. He simply wants to gauge any improvement he may have made over the past 12 months, and this is a good spot to do that.
“He’s already committed but we think it’s important for him to show his progression from last year to this year so people can see how he’s moved along,” his dad, Joseph, said. “The showcases are where you can really see their 60s, their throws and then they go into the games and (the scouts) can see how they play in the games and how they use their backup skills.”
Shifflett has jumped around the Florida travel ball scene over the last 2 ½ years, playing most of 2012 with the Iron Pigs and most of 2013 with Xtreme Baseball – he also played in two 2014 PG Super25 tournaments with Extreme in mid-May.
But by October, Shifflett had seemed to find a permanent and, it seems safe to say, a perfect home. He began playing for Mark Guthrie and the national championship-caliber Florida Burn organization, a group based in Venice that annually has a roster filled with Venice Senior High School players; Shifflett is a sophomore at Venice Senior High this school year.
“They’re a very good organization,” he said of the Burn. “They’ll tell you straight-up if you need to work on something, and they’ll tell you when you’re playing and this is (the position) you’re playing … so I like how it’s structured (so well).” He also likes the idea of playing with several of his VSHS teammates during the summer months.
“It helps in high school ball because you’re going to be playing with some the same kids (from summer ball),” Shifflett said. “I’m getting to know them better and it’s helping me to figure out what kind of player they are and they can figure out what kind of player I am.”
He enjoys the challenges a mega-showcase event like the PG National Underclass-Main Event presents, especially with three 2016 prospects and 11 2017s ranked in the top-150 nationally in attendance. It may not be as cut-throat as some people might believe, either.
“You just try to play the best that you can,” Shifflett said. “If you want to try to help a player out you can … and try to help them improve their game and help them get better and maybe get them higher in the rankings, too.
“I’ve gotten faster with my trainer helping me out with the running and I’m hitting the ball farther than I ever have. I think I’ve been gaining ground and that’s all that matters right now.”
Shifflett also possesses a tool not too many of the other top guys that are here can pull out of their bags: he is a switch-hitter.
He first started toying around with switch-hitting when he was around 12 or 13 years old and has stuck with it. In the beginning, he would only try his luck from the left-side against the least formidable right-handers but then started doing it fulltime. Those efforts were thwarted during the summer when he broke the hamate bone in his left hand and surgery was required. He’s still in the healing process.
“I stopped hitting lefty because that’s my driving hand and it was kind of hurting when I was doing that,” Shifflett said. “I’ve tried to hit lefty a little bit the last couple of weeks because my hand hasn’t been hurting so much and I’m trying to get back into it.” Shifflett batted right-handed against a right-handed pitcher in his first at-bat during game action on Monday.
Shifflett was born in Kissimmee in the Orlando area and his family owns a home in Orlando, so he’s familiar with the territory, which likely played a part in his commitment to UCF. There were, of course, other factors, too.
“I like the academics and how they will help you if you need help,” he said of UCF. “I like the coaching there and how the field is and how everything is around the school … and (the baseball program) has been getting better every year.”
Twenty-eight PG tournaments and showcases in 30 months. I might sound like a Herculean effort to most mere mortals but in reality it’s just a kid doing what he loves to do and one who is fortunate to have parents who support him every step of the way.
“He’s a great kid – he’s a great all-around kid – and I think that sports is a very important thing for all kids,” Donna said. “I’ve really seen the growth in him, not just athletically but all around. It’s been an adventure for all of us; it’s a great thing. It’s a family event. It’s not just him, it involves all of us.”
Added Joseph, with a smile and a laugh: “It’s been a very good experience and it also keeps him out of trouble. But it’s been very pleasurable and it’s fun to watch him play; we love to watch him play.”