GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Sunday morning marked the beginning of the third day of play at the four-day 16u Perfect Game WWBA West Memorial Day Classic with the final pool-play games of the tournament set to get underway at the Goodyear Ballpark Complex and the Camelback Ranch Complex in nearby Glendale.
At a tournament like the 16u PG WWBA WMDC that advances only eight teams into the playoffs, Day 3 can be stressful for the many teams entering their final pool-play game on the playoff bubble. It’s that whole “win or go home” mentality, or in this case “win or go into consolation play.”
Other teams have made a habit of being able to approach Day 3 with a much more relaxed sense of purpose, comfortable knowing they’ve already found a place in bracket-play and need only to be concerned with improving their seeding. For more than two years now, that is the rarified air Riverside, Calif.-based Phenom Signature has resided in.
Phenom Signature went into its final pool-play game against Kings Baseball (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) Sunday having already clinched its pool championship and in a very good position to grab the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, which kicked off Sunday afternoon. This is a relatively young 16u team with several roster spots filled by top prospects that won a pair of PG WWBA tournament championships in 2014 and posted four podium finishes (second or third) in 2015.
Joe Keller, the founder of the now national Phenom Baseball organization and the head coach of this Signature team, explained that he and his coaches are treating the 16u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic as their spring training. It’s a good way to launch the team into a summer that is going to include attendance at PG WWBA tournaments and PG World Series national championships at Perfect Game Park South-LakePoint in Cartersville, Ga.
With the majority of his roster spots filled with California kids, Keller was missing five key players this weekend – including his son, Jordan – who remained at home completing their high school seasons. But he has been able to turn that into a positive, as well.
“It’s good for the other kids to have opportunities to do what they want to do and show what they can do on and off the field,” Coach Keller said. “We have a ‘team’ and every kid here has a job, and they always step up to whatever it may be. It’s a great group of kids and it’s a great bunch of guys that work hard; they love the game.”
Like most established teams that have been successful at just about every age-group level along the way, there is a core group of players who have been along for the ride all the way through. They are the players that have learned to follow directions, and each one has a vision of one day playing college baseball and, possibly, beyond college. “It’s just great to see kids that have the love and desire to play this game for a long time,” Keller said.
There are four members of this young Phenom Signature team that have already committed to NCAA Division I colleges. 2017 left-hander Christian Winston from Barstow, Calif., has committed to San Diego State; 2018 left-hander/outfielder Joseph Martin from Comfort, Texas, is a Kansas State commit; 2019 outfielder/left-hander Spencer Jones from Encinitas, Calif., has verballed to Vanderbilt; and 2019 third baseman/outfielder Jordan Keller from Moreno Valley, Calif., the coach’s son, is a San Diego State recruit.
Although they just completed their freshman years in high school, Jordan Keller and Jones have already drawn a lot of attention in their still unfolding careers, primarily due to their accomplishments with Phenom Baseball. Keller, listed at 6-foot-3, 180-pounds, is ranked as the No. 37 overall national prospect in the class of 2019 (No. 10 California) and Jones (6-6, 185) is right behind at No. 39 nationally (No. 11 California).
Jordan Keller is not here this weekend because his Woodcrest Christian High School team is still playing in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 state playoffs; the Royals play in a semifinal-round game on Tuesday. But when reached by telephone early Sunday morning, the young Keller expressed his appreciation for what he’s experienced playing with Phenom.
“What I like about playing with the Signature team is that when you play you’re getting everyone’s best from the mound; you’ve got a target on your back,” he said. “You’ve got (scouts) always watching, so you’re always playing for the team and you want to do well to get the exposure.”
His track record is remarkable. Sixteen-year-old Jordan Keller has played in 14 PG WWBA tournaments with Phenom Baseball since 2014 and has been named to the all-tournament team at six of them, at the 14u, 15u and 16u level. Two of those all-tournament citations came at the 2014 14u PG MLK Championship and the 2014 14u PG WWBA West Memorial 63 Classic, tournaments Phenom won.
Phenom Signature finished third at both the 2015 15u PG World Series and the 2015 15u PG WWBA National Championship, two other events at which Jordan Keller was named all-tournament. He was also cited at the 2015 16u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic and at the 2016 PG West MLK Championship in January.
The team’s other podium finishes were a runner-up showing at the 2015 14u PG World Series and third-place at the 2015 14u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic. The PG WWBA and PG World Series tournaments were played at the LakePoint complex.
“We went to the Georgia tournaments last year and those were the most fun tournaments I’ve ever been to,” Jordan Keller said. “Those all-turf fields (at LakePoint) are so nice and the competition there is the best, so we’re really looking forward to going back. We’re going to go to Arizona a couple more times this year, too., and that will be fun.”
Spencer Jones turned 14 years old on May 14, 2015, and about a week later debuted with Phenom Signature at the 14u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic. He earned all-tournament recognition after Phenom Signature advanced to the final four and finished third. Jones had played in four previous PG events in 2013 and 2014 but after one event with Phenom, he knew he was in a different place.
“I always thought I knew how to play baseball, but they really taught me how to play baseball the right way; how to get recruited, how to get seen,” said Jones, who celebrated his 15th birthday a couple of weeks ago. “They helped me commit to Vanderbilt, and it’s just been an eye-opener. They gave me the opportunities that I don’t think a lot of other teams would have given me.”
A recently graduated freshman at LaCosta Canyon High School, Jones just saw his high school season end last Friday when LaCosta was eliminated from its CIF Section playoffs. For elite prospects, even those as young as Jones and Jordan Keller, the transition from the spring high school season to the summer travel ball season is usually pretty fluid. Jones indicated about the only adjustment that needs to be made is getting acclimated again with using a wood bat as opposed to the metal bats that are used in high school.
“I think this event is going to be a good way for me to meet some of the new players on the team,” he said. “We want to come in and show what we can do and prove that we’re no joke this year and that we’re going to be a formidable team in the future.”
This is the sixth PG event Jones has attended wearing a Phenom uniform. He was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2015 14u PG World Series at LakePoint; he was also all-tournament at last year’s 14u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic.
Phenom Signature beat its three pool-play opponents here this weekend by a combined score of 27-2 after disposing of Kings, 12-0, Sunday morning. Those numbers were good enough for Signature to secure the playoffs’ No. 1 seed.
Jones played in only Sunday’s game and went 1-for-2 with two RBI, and also pitched an inning striking out two. 2018 Sean Guilbe had a team-high five hits in the three games, with a double, triple, home run, five RBI and four runs scored. 2019 Anthony Sortino had four hits, including a double, and drove in three runs and 2019 Jake Skipworth had three hits, two of them doubles, and also drove in three. Coach Keller used eight pitchers who didn’t allow an earned run on seven hits over 18 innings of work, striking out 25 and walking nine.
“What helps make this team click, in my opinion, is that we know everybody here is good or else they probably wouldn’t be playing with us,” Jones said without a hint of arrogance in his voice. “We’re a lot of fun to play with together.”
Jordan Keller added: “A lot of us have been together for 3 to 5 years and our chemistry is great. We’re always together (during the summer) … and we’re pretty much like brothers. We know each other so well, and we just kind of fit together like a puzzle when we’re paying together.”
Phenom Signature coaches and players might consider this weekend’s 16u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic their own spring training but they’ve also put themselves in a pretty good position to take home a championship trophy. “The Signature always going to be up to the challenge; we’re never going to back down no matter what,” Jordan Keller said from afar. “If we’re losing, we’re still going to fight until the end, and we never lay back. We’re always reminding each other of that.”
On Sunday morning, Jordan’s dad, head coach Joe Keller, was feeling pretty good about his program: “I feel this is going to be one of our best teams ever when we get done. This is a team that is going to make a lot of noise this summer, for sure,” he said. “The kids know that at Perfect Game is where they’ll make their name and where they’ll get the best competition, and it’s stuff they can do to (enhance) their careers. We want to play the best.”