2015 Perfect Game High School Preview Index


No. 2 IMG Academy Ascenders (Bradenton, Fla.)

State Association/League: Florida High School Athletic Association/Independent

Head Coach: Chris Sabo (1st year as head coach)

2014 Results: 14-11 overall record

Key Losses: OF Luke Bonfield (Arkansas); SS Taylor Lane (Florida); RHP/3B Brian Rapp (Boston College); SS Scott Bellina (Murray State); OF Andrew Dilacqua (Chipola CC).

Top Returning Players: Sr. LHP/3B Logan Allen (South Carolina); Sr. SS/3B Ryan Karstetter (Virginia); Sr. OF Eric Feliz (Notre Dame).

Top Newcomers: Sr. OF Danny Blair (South Carolina); Sr. SS/RHP L.T. Tolbert (South Carolina); Jr. MIF Nick Derr (Florida State); Jr. LHP/1B Jason Groome (Vanderbilt); Jr. RHP Anthony Holubecki (Notre Dame); Jr. LHP Dion Henderson (Kentucky); So. C Austin Bates (North Carolina).

Notable Matchups: Feb. 20 vs. Montverde Academy; Feb. 25 at Tampa Catholic; March 6 vs. Clearwater Central Catholic; March 12-15 at PG High School Showdown, Emerson, Ga.; March 23-26 at Central FL Spring Break Slam, Orlando, Fla.; March 30-April 2 vs. IMG National Classic, Bradenton, Fla.; April 6-9 vs. Hard 9 National Classic, Anaheim, Calif.

REGARDLESS OF WHAT LEVEL HE’S BEEN AT OR THE EXTENT OF HIS INVOLVEMENT, when it comes to the game of baseball Chris Sabo has always seemed to have a knack for surrounding himself with the highest level of talent and personalities.

He was a 28-year-old, fourth-year third baseman with the Cincinnati Reds, playing alongside guys like Barry Larkin, Mariano Duncan, Eric Davis, Tom Browning, Jose Rijo and Rob Dibble when the Reds won the 1990 World Series Championship. He was a coach in the Reds’ minor league system for a couple of years, working with guys like Joey Votto, Miguel Perez and Chris Dickerson.

So, perhaps, it only stands to reason that when Sabo decided to make his first foray into coaching at the high school level, the 1988 National League Rookie of the Year and hitting star of the 1990 World Series would wind up at a prestigious academy in South Florida that boasts a roster featuring many of the top senior and junior prospects in the country.

The 53-year-old Sabo was named the head coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., last summer, taking over a non-affiliated program that cannot compete for a Florida high school state championship but certainly can be considered for a Perfect Game High School National Championship.

Today, the Ascenders debut at No. 2 in the PG National High School Preseason Top-50 Rankings. Coaching at the high school level is new territory for Sabo and he’s learning as he goes.

“I have never coached high school (players) before so I was a little apprehensive coming in. I’ve mostly dealt with pro baseball players,” Sabo told PG during a recent telephone interview. “It’s been a little bit challenging and I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s definitely been different than the pro guys – you can’t assume as much knowledge from these players as you would a professional.

“But I’m treating them as professionally as possible and I’m teaching them the same skills and techniques that I’ve taught the (pro) guys.”

He couldn’t be getting his feet wet with a more talented group of high school-aged prospects. The roster is stockpiled with 16 NCAA Division I recruits from 14 states and Perfect Game has 10 of those prospects from the classes of 2015 and 2016 ranked in the top 211 nationally.

Left-hander/first-baseman Logan Allen from North Carolina (ranked No. 74, a South Carolina signee), shortstop/third baseman Ryan Karstetter from Pennsylvania (No. 143, Virginia) and outfielder Eric Feliz from New Jersey (No. 211, Notre Dame) are the top seniors back from a team that was 14-11 a year ago.

Allen went 4-1 with a 0.52 ERA in 2014, striking out 72 and walking 12 in 50 innings. Karstetter hit .469 (38-for-81) with six extra-base hits (including a home run), 22 RBI and 20 runs scored. Feliz hit .294 (20-for-68) with eight extra-base hits, 16 RBI and nine runs.

Allen has never regretted his decision to leave his North Carolina home and move to Florida to take advantage of the specialized educational and athletic opportunities offered at IMG Academy.

“It’s unreal; it’s almost like a college atmosphere,” he told PG in a November interview. “The weather, first and foremost, is great for baseball all year around, and the facilities, the coaching staff, the college preparatory school – I go to school from 9 (a.m.) to 11:45 and I’m out on the baseball field at 1 o’clock. It’s great; I’ve improved so much physically and mentally.”

Senior INF Ryan Karstetter, a U. of Virginia signee from Pennsylvania, is the leading hitter back this season for No. 2-ranked IMG Academy (Photo: Kit Carson)

While players like Allen, Karstetter, Feliz and a handful of others have had a taste of the IMG baseball experience, it is an abundance of talented newcomers that will ultimately pen the Ascenders’ 2015 storyline.

They include seniors L.T. Tolbert from South Carolina (No. 77, South Carolina) and Danny Blair from Maryland (No. 117, South Carolina); juniors Jason Groome from New Jersey (No. 4, Vanderbilt), Anthony Holubecki from Illinois (No. 46, Notre Dame), Dion Henderson from Michigan (No. 132, Kentucky) and Nick Derr from Illinois (No. 144, Florida State); sophomore Austin Bates from New York (No. 88, North Carolina) is also on board.

These are some of the top arms and position players in the land, all of whom are working to get acclimated with each other, with Sabo and his staff and with the rigorous academic and athletic demands being a student at IMG Academy demands.

Sabo said he’s found his young players are receptive to the elements of the game he’s trying to convey to them. He’s found that they listen and they don’t question, and that’s helped him get more of a handle on exactly the type of young men he has in the clubhouse and the dugout.

While Sabo works to adjust to his new surroundings, he is leaning heavily on his assistant coaches, especially Nick Phelps, IMG’s Baseball Program Manager since 2005. While Phelps’ responsibilities lie primarily on the business side of the academy’s operation, he’s more than willing to help out on thel human side of things, as well.

When Phelps looks at the 2015 IMG roster, he comes away just as impressed as the most impressionable outside might be.

“On paper, when you look at the commitments, you look at the level of the schools these kids are going to, you look at their accomplishments in the summer circuit and the recognition they’ve garnered through outlets such as Perfect Game … they’re definitely, by far, the most talented collection of players we’ve had in our program,” Phelps said. “… I think this team with the bonds and the friendships and their personalities and they type of kids that we have, it’s the perfect blend of talent with character and teammates that could do something very special this year.”

As evidenced by their national rankings and college commitments, all of these players have been very active with Perfect Game, with all of the most prominent seniors alumni of last year’s PG National Showcase.

Allen, Karstetter, Blair and Tolbert were all members of the Virginia-based EvoShield Canes powerhouse travel ball team that won a pair of PG national championships in 2014, including the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla. Allen himself has been on the Canes’ roster for five PG national championships the last two years.

Although IMG is not eligible to compete for FHSAA state championships, it will compete for the championships at four tournaments contested during the regular season, including its own IMG National Classic March 30-April 2 in Bradenton.

The Ascenders will also be at the Perfect Game High School Showdown in Emerson, Ga., March 12-15; the Central Florida Spring Break Slam in Orlando March 23-26; and the Hard 9 National Classic in Anaheim, Calif., April 6-9. It is a truly national schedule pitting the Ascenders against nationally acclaimed competition.

“When you look at the four core guys that played for the EvoShield Canes and have been through it all, they’ve certainly seen the best competition,” Phelps said. “They’ve been measured and tested, and they’re proven winners – a guy like Logan Allen is a winner and he’s proven that.

“That core group, along with these other guys, have really meshed and jelled well,” he said. “I think they’re ready to do something special and we’re excited to see it all play out here starting (Feb. 13).”

Sabo officially played in nine big-league seasons, although he played in 137 games or more in only four of those. In addition to his NL ROY campaign in 1988 and his World Series championship in 1990, he was a three-time NL All-Star in 1988, 1990-91.

His best season offensively was 1991 when he recorded career highs in games-played (153), batting average (.301), home runs (26) and RBI (88). He was 9-for-16 (.563) with two home runs, a double and five RBI in the 1990 World Series – the Reds swept the Oakland Athletics in four games – but somehow lost out on the MVP vote to his teammate Jose Rijo, who was the winning pitcher in Games 1 and 4.

After his big-league playing career, Sabo served as a hitting coach, infield instructor and talent evaluator within the Reds’ organization, while also doing some assisting coaching at the collegiate level, with Xavier, Miami and Cincinnati among his stops. The teaching aspect of coaching has always intrigued him.

“I do enjoy it, but it took me a couple of months to get the hang of it, going into so much detail,” he said. “It’s fun, and hopefully (the players) will retain it. I have to keep reminding myself that these are young kids and their retention might not be as accomplished as a pro, but I’m enjoying it so far. I’m really looking forward to the season because we’ve been practicing so much and the games will be sort of like a reward for all these kids.”

Even with his talented roster, Sabo insists he has no expectations of the group in terms of wins and losses. His only expectation is that when they reach the next level of play – be it at the collegiate or professional level – they don’t run across a situation on the field that is foreign to them.

“But as far as wins and losses, no,” he said. “I’ve always been that way, though, through my whole life in sports; I was a hockey player, a baseball player. We’ll see what happens, and what we have ‘on paper’ doesn’t mean too much for me – we’ve got to go out and do it.”

The biggest challenge, according to Phelps, will come with getting the young prospects to play together in a unified front. He compared to it to any organization for business in that anytime new people are brought in and brought together, they will have to learn to work with one another.

“I think since day-one with Coach Sabo … the message has been pretty clear that we’re a family, we’re a group of brothers here, and we play for each other and we practice for each other and we all have the same common goals,” Phelps said.

“It is a challenge but I think It’s one we’re doing a pretty good job at, and I don’t really see that being an obstacle this season for this team with this group of players that we have.”