CEDAR
RAPIDS, Iowa – The Rawlings Hitters are no strangers to the annual
WWBA Kernels Foundation Championship, participating in the qualifying
event every year since it's inception in 2003. They've taken home the
championship trophy twice, most recently in 2007, and finished third
in both 2012 and 2013.
Last
year the younger of the two teams – Rawlings Hitters National
Baseball Club 2016's – that Hitters founder R.J. Fergus brought to
Cedar Rapids, Iowa won their pool, arguably the toughest in the
entire field, but lost in the quarterfinals at the hands of the St.
Louis Gamers. In fact, that marked the second time in as many years
that the Hitters' championship hopes ended at the hands of the
Gamers.
On
Saturday on a cool yet brilliantly sunny day in Fairfax, Iowa, the
Rawlings Hitters Navy team had a chance at redemption. They entered
their 2:00 p.m. contest against the the St. Louis Gamers 17u Blue
with a win already under their belt, taking their first contest of
the day, 4-1, over the Minnesta Mash Black 18u at Duane Banks Field
on the University of Iowa campus.
They
did indeed take the second game as well, 7-2, finishing the day at
2-0 with one more pool game to play on Sunday morning. That game will
be played against Cangelosi Baseball White 2016, who are also 2-0, a
contest that will determine the pool winner and which teams advances
to the playoffs for a chance at a paid invitation to Jupiter, Fla.
for the WWBA World Championship.
This
Navy team is nearly identical to last year's quarterfinal club,
especially at the top of the lineup. PG All-American shortstop Gavin
Lux continues to provide as steady of a glove as you can find up the
middle while also serving as the team's leadoff hitter. Justin Lavey,
who batted second last year, is in the three hole this year. And
Rortvedt, yet another 2015 PG All-American, is now batting cleanup
after batting third a year ago.
“It's
great,” Rortvedt said prior to the Hitters second game on Saturday
of playing on this Hitters squad. “I've known these (guys) for a
while. Gavin (Lux) and Justin (Lavey), we've been playing (together)
for a long time. And Jarred Kelenic is going to be really good as
he's coming up. It's a lot of fun to play with a lot of your best
friends.”
Rortvedt,
who is currently ranked 21st in the nation and has
committed to play for Arkansas, did his job in the cleanup role on
Saturday. In their first game on Saturday he hit a double to lead off
the fifth inning which began a three-run inning. He added another
double in game two, this one driving the first run of yet another
three-run inning in the opening frame.
Lux
and Lavey also did their jobs, as each went 2-for-4 in that second
game. Lux scored the first run on Rortvedt's double after leading off
the game with an infield single and Lavey capped the scoring with a
solo home run in the seventh. Kelenic enjoyed a 2-for-3 performance
in the first game, as the four batters are collectively 9-for-23
(.391) through the first two games.
Kelenic
and the other 2018 on the Navy team, Alex Binelas, yet another
Louisville recruit, are proof that the organization from top to
bottom, and the corresponding talent in the state of Wisconsin, is
strong well past this year's class. Kelenic is currently ranked 10th in the class of 2018 and has quickly embraced a larger role
with a team made up almost entirely of high school seniors and a
handful of juniors.
“Justin
Lavey is a really good leader. Obviously Gavin and Ben, all of the
kids look up to them,” Fergus said of his impact performers. “But
all summer long Kelenic, the 2018, has been the hitter. He had a big
knock today, he's been light's out. He can really, really hit, in
certain situations better than others, but he's been the one that
took the zero off the board and put a one or a two up.”
The
pitchers did their job as well. In the Hitters first game of the day
Ryan Hoerter, Ben Dragani, Troy Hickey and Jacob Lindemann combined
to one-hit the Minnesota Mash. In the afternoon contest, recent
Oregon State commit Nathan Burns, a rising 2017, struck out 12 in 5
2/3 innings.
While
Lux, Lavey and Rortvedt are the seasoned veterans on the team and the
three players the rest of the squad turn to for leadership, the
talent does end with that trio. Of the 17 players listed on the
roster, 13 have commitments to Division I universities. This group of
players has been playing together now for several years, and the
talent they individually, and collectively possessed at a young age
was evident.
“We
knew when these kids were incoming freshmen that we had a really high
level class,” Fergus said of his now upperclass squad. “They did
really well at the youth levels. I talked with a few of the college
guys around and I sat down with the parents and said “we're going
to put these guys on the same U17 team travel schedule, playing U17
baseball, they're going to take their lumps but they're going to
learn to play.” They really learned how to compete at 15-years old
and what it takes to win.”
The
more this team has played together they more they have won. Outside
of individual showcase events, such as the National Showcase and the
Area Code Games, this squad spent the majority of the summer with one
another.
“This
summer we had one of our most successful summers,” Fergus added.
“When we were full strength, with everyone together, we went 29-2.
They come in and work everyday. It's nice to have a bunch of
committed guys chasing either pro money or to be prepared when they
get to college, to continue our legacy. They don't want to go there
and not play. They've chosen big schools and if they get there and
they're not ready they're going to sit and watch.”
“You
have an Arizona State at short, a Louisville at second, a Louisville
at first, Arkansas behind the plate, Illinois, Louisville and
Louisville or Jacksonville in the outfield. And an Oregon State guy
on the mound,” Fergus said of his lineup on Saturday afternoon.
“Since Gary Arndt played at Missouri we've had a shortstop at the
major college level for 15 or 16 years.”
PG All-American Gavin Lux bats leadoff for the Rawlings Hitters Navy
Rortvedt
and Lux (who is ranked 31st in the nation) lead a
promising class of players from the state of Wisconsin. There are
currently 17 players from the state ranked among Perfect Game's 2016 high school player rankings. Thirteen of those players are in
Cedar Rapids taking part of the Kernels Championship, and five of
them play on this Hitters Navy ballclub.
Both
Rortvedt and Lux helped their stock quite a bit over the course of
the summer, which began at the National Showcase in Fort Myers and
continued with stops in Cary, N.C. for the Tournament of Stars,
Joplin, Mo. to claim the Premier Baseball Senior National
Championship, Long Beach, Calif. for the Area Codes Games and finally
Petco Park in San Diego for the 2015 Perfect Game All-American
Classic.
Rortvedt
was quick to point out how all of those experiences helped him grow,
playing with and against the best players in the nation.
“Just
having confidence,” Rortvedt said of what allowed him to succeed
the most during his busy summer. “First at the National, seeing how
I could play, knowing that I could play (with the best players in the
nation) and letting my game speak for itself.
“It
was a lot of fun, it was a blessing. I was just happy to be invited
to all of those events, so I was just trying to make the most of it.”
So
much of their success can be linked to the growth of baseball in the
state of Wisconsin, something that Fergus has played a large part in.
Last
year Fergus and the Hitters opened a state-of-the-art indoor training
facility that is over 40,000 square feet full of batting cages,
workout equipment and a full-size infield that allows his players to
play live games and practice game situations to better prepare
themselves when they travel south to compete during the summer
months.
“When
I started doing this (travel baseball) it was us and Andy Stack with
the Waukesha Blazers (now known as the Reds Midwest Scout Team) at
the time and that was it,” Fergus said of the growth of baseball in
the state. “(We) were the only two that were crazy enough to take
these kids out for a whole summer. Now, just in a 20 minute drive (in
Southeastern Wisconsin) there's probably five or six teams. And then
you have the GRB (Greg Reinhard Baseball) Rays in Madison and the
Stiks (Academy) in Oconomowoc, and the kids are training more year
round.
“With
all of the talent that's coming up it's also helping the pro coverage
that we get in Wisconsin. Whether it's our program or whether it's
other programs, people are starting to realize that Wisconsin isn't
just a football state. We love baseball.”
A
year ago Lux spoke to Perfect Game about the number of rising stars
emerging from the state of Wisconsin, over six months before he and
his teammate, Ben Rortvedt, were selected to participate in the
Perfect Game All-American Classic, and how they were trying to change
the perception of players that lived in colder climates.
“I
think it's programs like the Hitters, and then there's a couple of
other pretty good programs in Wisconsin, and I think that contributes
to it a lot,” Lux said at last year's Kernels Championship. “We're
kind of sick and tired taking losses from teams from farther down
(south). We're starting to work harder and moving toward the right
direction.”
A
year later, his Hitters and PG All-American teammate still knows that
playing with a chip on their shoulders help them compete with the
best in the nation.
“Everyone
sleeps on us,” Rortvedt added on Saturday. “Now that we can
travel to those events and have been compared to those players, we
know we can play with them. It's just knowing that we're not as bad
as everyone thinks. Just the competition we play (changes that). When
you go down there you want to prove yourself for sure.”
Not
surprsingly, Fergus is quick to agree with his two young rising
stars.
“I
think because of the facility that we were lucky enough to build we
have a real chance of competing with anyone in the country moving
down the line because we're no different than anyone. (When inside)
the pitcher, the catcher and the infielders are no different than
being out here. Our baserunning has gotten better and our infield has
really gotten better.”
No
one is sleeping on the Hitters in Northeast Iowa at the Kernels
Foundation Championship, and that includes the “junior” team that
also came to play, the Rawlings Hitters White. The White team, made
up predominantly with 2017 position prospects and 2016 pitchers still
looking for a college commitment, also opened the tournament at 2-0
with hopes of advancing to the playoffs on Sunday.
“It
would mean a lot for our program,” Rortvedt said of the possibility
of winning the Kernels championship and a paid invitation to the WWBA
World Championship in late October. “Just winning this would be
huge for us. It would be a huge honor. Having a lot of our younger
guys go down there (to Florida) and have that experience would be
fantastic for them.”