FORT MYERS, Fla. – This past spring, Max Bain graduated from Clarkston (Mich.) High School with a heady 3.50 grade-point average and for the first time could really start to look ahead to the next four years he’ll spend studying Sports Management at Northwood University in Midland, Mich.
But first, Bain could look forward to what will likely be the last care-free summer of his new adult life, and there would have been no shame if he chose to spend it without any commitments. Seventeen-year-olds live for that summer right after graduation, those glorious three months before the responsibilities that come with being a college student knock at the door.
So did Bain – a 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-handed pitcher and first baseman from Clarkston – have to be begged to give up one week of that carefree summer to join the South Oakland A’s at this week’s 18u Perfect Game BCS Finals national championship tournament? And the week immediately after the Fourth of July, no less? Come on, get real.
“Baseball is number-one for me; baseball will always be number-one,” Bain said Sunday morning before trotting out to pitch for the A’s in their second pool-play game at the event. “I don’t consider baseball to be a job – baseball’s fun. As soon as you start treating it like a job that’s when it’s not fun anymore. Baseball is a vacation; it’s always fun and it’s always awesome to be out here.”
Bain’s attitude is common among the 17-and 18-year-olds at the 18u PG BCS Finals, but compiling team rosters for the event can be dicey for travel ball team coaches and general managers. If a prospect who graduated from high school in the spring – in this case, the class of 2015 – is playing here this week it almost certainly means he wasn’t drafted and is now looking forward to his college career. Taking a few weeks off during the lazy, hazy days of July wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
South Oakland A’s 2015 outfielder Nate Grys graduated from Bishop Foley Catholic High School in Madison Heights, Mich., this spring, and has signed with Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he decided to give up a week of his summer vacation to play at the 18u PG BCS Finals.
“For me, I look at it as preparation for college and fall ball,” he said Sunday. “I don’t look at it as any kind of sacrifice but as another opportunity to get better by working on stuff that you need to. It’s almost like another offseason but you’re still out there competing; it’s a lot of fun.”
A’s head coach Keith Lelli told PG Sunday that it wasn’t the least bit difficult convincing the players to come down and compete but it was more of a hard-sell with the parents and families. They are the ones that have to take time off from work and schedule their own travel itineraries – the A’s travel as individual families as opposed to traveling together as a group. Competing at the tournament requires a sizable commitment in terms of both time and money.
“The kids, with this group I have, it’s an easy sell; they’ll go play anywhere,” Lelli said. “I have a deeper roster and there are about five guys that could not make the trip, so it can be a tough sell in some cases. But these guys love baseball, they love playing together and they love the game in general. We can go somewhere where it’s freezing cold, and they’ll go out and play.”
Of course, the easiest sell of all – especially for a group from the Upper Midwest – is Southwest Florida, in general, and the beautiful, major-league quality playing fields spread across Lee County, in particular.
Between the JetBlue Player Development Complex, the Player Development 5-Plex, the CenturyLink Sports Complex and the Terry Park 4-Plex there are 20 current or former MLB spring training practice fields at Perfect Game’s disposal for the BCS tournaments. There are also three terrific stadiums in Fort Myers: JetBlue Park, City of Palms Park and Hammond Stadium.
“The facilities that Perfect Game uses are just great,” Bain said. “I’ve actually played in a few tournaments out west in Phoenix and California and Perfect Game does such a good job of running tournaments. I love coming down here and playing at these spring training facilities; I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
The South Oakland A’s Baseball organization is officially headquartered in Macomb Township, Mich., which is a north Detroit suburb; the Oakland name is taken from Oakland County, Mich., which is northeast of Detroit. The A’s players come from all over the Detroit Metropolitan Area, including the Detroit suburbs of Rochester Hills and Northville.
The roster submitted for the 18u BCS lists 10 prospects from the classes of 2015, 2016 and 2017 who have already signed with or committed to colleges at all levels; five of those prospects are ranked in the top-600 of their respective classes in PG’s national prospect rankings.
Shortstop/outfielder Caleb Belgaard from Fenton, Mich. – the team’s only 2017 – is ranked in the top-500 and has committed to Indiana. 2015 right-hander/first baseman Will Mullen from Rochester, Mich. is a top-600 and will join Grys at Western Michigan.
A pair of 2016s – right-hander/utility Joey Prechtel from Oakland Township and catcher Michael Ryan from Holly – have committed to the University of Toledo (Ohio); several others, like Bain, have signed with or committed to smaller schools.
As is typical with most 18u teams, the core of the South Oakland A’s roster has been playing together for most of the last three or four years which, Lelli admits, makes his job easier – not as much repetition required. The team has played the same style of ball under his leadership since they got started as 14-year-olds, and while the players got bigger and stronger, they’re still playing the same style. It keeps everyone on the same page.
The A’s weren’t able to generate any offense in their first two games here, beating MAP Baseball from St. Louis Park, Minn., 2-0 in their opener Saturday and losing 1-0 to the Florida Legends 15u out of Miami on Sunday; they managed only six hits – five singles – in the two games.
On the flip-side, Lelli received two outstanding pitching efforts. 2015 left-hander Evan Flohr from Northville threw a complete game, two-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts and one walk in the win over MAP. Bain was Sunday’s loser despite not allowing an earned run on seven hits over six innings, while striking out five and walking two.
Lelli played baseball at NCAA Division-II Madonna University in Livonia, Mich., and has been coaching at the high school and travel ball level for the past 10 years. He is currently an assistant coach at Madison Heights (Mich.) Lamphere High School, his alma mater.
This is a loose group, according to their head coach, with guys who like to enjoy themselves and have fun while playing the game they love. Lelli encourages a lot of “green-light” baseball in that the players are allowed to do a lot of things on their own. If the batter wants to bunt, go for it; if a runner gets a steal sign, the batter certainly has the option of turning it into a hit-and-run if he so desires.
“It’s green-light until they do something dumb and then it’s pulled off,” Lelli said with a laugh. “But no, we’re kind of loose and laid-back and we try to put the pressure on the defense in some way or some form.”
The players on the A’s roster that have already signed with or committed to the colleges of their choice reached that esteemed position through a lot of their own hard work. But they have also benefitted by their association with Lelli, who takes a lot of pride in the fact that the time he took to send out emails and make phone calls in an effort to get them in front of the right sets of eyes has paid off.
“It’s kind of a little bit of a pat on your back,” he said when an offer comes in. “… It’s also them knowing what level of baseball they are set for – a are they a Division I guy or are they a D-II or a juco guy who needs a few more years of development? … It’s a pat on their back for working hard and it’s also a pat on our back as an organization – it’s not just me – for getting them the right looks to move on.”
Bain had nothing but high praise for the organization and its history of finding the perfect college fit for its players. Coming from Michigan, he knew that if he was serious about playing college baseball, the South Oakland A’s was the organization he needed to be with. He’s been part of the group for four years and he wouldn’t trade the friendships he’s made or the relationships he’s built for anything.
“It’s been fun to watch all of these guys grow around me, as well as myself,” he said. “It’s cool to see all of these guys that I’m with who are committed to colleges … and it’s really just awesome to play with these guys.”
But back to this vacation idea. Each of the 30 teams in the 18u PG BCS Finals field plays only one pool-play game the first five days of the tournament, which leads to a lot of time away from the ballpark. That, in turn, leads to the likelihood that the players and their families can treat this very much like a working vacation.
The Gulf of Mexico is only about a 15-20 minute drive from most of the Fort Myers hotels and, in fact, several of the South Oakland A’s families rented a house out on the island of Fort Myers Beach for their stay. A preponderance of morning games can lead to a lot of time yucking it up on the beach.
“It’s kind of a nice getaway before these kids go off to college; it’s kind of their last hurrah together,” Lelli said. Added Grys: “In the morning hours it’s all business. After that you can just hang out and do whatever you want; it’s all good.”
So, is this a business trip or a vacation or, as Bain pointed out, is anytime a guy is allowed to play baseball a vacation and never a job. To Lelli’s way of thinking, his guys are competitors first and then everything else falls in line. It doesn’t matter if they’ll be playing D-I or juco next year, they’re going to want to be out there competing,
“You want to see what else is out there, and not just in your region; you want to see what you’ve got,” Lelli said. “There are teams from all over (the country) out here and guys are committed (to colleges) all over the place, and you’re going to see some different styles of baseball. It just opens up their eyes to something new.”
Grys, who will room with South Oakland A’s teammate Mullen at Western Michigan in the fall, called the tournament “a great experience” and mentioned again how he viewed it as excellent preparation for his collegiate fall practice season. He spoke of staying focused and having your mind ready at all times for that next game, that next at-bat.
Bain, the guy who never met a working vacation he didn’t love, put it more succinctly: “It’s all about improving mentally, seeing where I stack up and taking it into fall ball,” he said. “I want to walk into (Northwood) with the confidence that I can pitch against anyone in the country.”