EMERSON, Ga. – Barrett Baseball finished pool play of the 18u PG EvoShield Classic with a 6-2 win over Velocity Baseball on Thursday to finish 3-0 and clinch a spot in bracket play. Barrett Baseball benefitted from a good start from pitcher Austin Smith as he allowed just one run on one hit over four innings pitched. Offensively, the bottom of the order got it done as the bottom three hitters contributed with two RBI each.

This team has been playing under Barrett Baseball for the last three years and for the players being part of the organization has helped tremendously. Originally founded by former MLB catcher Michael Barrett, the facilities and contacts have helped train the 18u team to perform at the best of their abilities.

“This team has been together since they were 11 or 12 years old,” said manager Dave Gerstner. “We steadily started out as a park team and moved up to where we are today. Every year increasing our players and their abilities to play. Off our 12u team we have four guys who are still with us. We’ve grown as an organization and came to Barrett Baseball three years ago with the help of Michael Barrett and he’s gives us the ability to put our quality players with the name of his organization.

“We’re a homegrown team, 90 percent of our players are from Forsyth County, Georgia, and most of them go to three different schools. We have very few kids from outside that area and we’ve been pretty fortunate that about twelve to thirteen players are going to play college baseball.”

With most of the players being 2016 graduates, this summer is all about preparing for college baseball. It shows a commitment to the game to be out here grueling in the Georgia heat just to stay in top shape and be ready for the challenges that college baseball brings. In addition to their skills, the players have learned a lot of life lessons from playing baseball over the years. Responsibility, trust and overcoming adversity are just a few of the tenants that these players will be taking with them as they move on.

“Some of these guys have been together for years now under Dave (Gerstner), our coach,” said Alex Jacovetty, a Texas at Dallas commit. “He doesn’t try to change us as players or who we are. There’s a bond here, a lot of us go to school together. Friendship is what’s kept us together.”

“I’ve taken a lot out of this game,” said Graham Holley, the No. 27 shortstop in the state of Georgia for the class of 2016. “Some of your teammates may be better than you or not as good, but you still have to play with those guys in a respectful manner. I’ve taken respect for the game and being a good teammate.”

This team has put a lot of hard work into receiving their college scholarships. Many of them have contacted the college coaches and have done a lot of the legwork at proving to coaches that they have the ability and moxie to play at the next level. These players are also academically sound students, which undoubtedly helps check another mark off the list of college coaches.

“As freshmen, we wanted to put together a team of quality baseball players from the local high schools with the goal of playing at the next level,” said Gerstner. “As players, they did their homework, they contacted the coaches to get them out to watch them play. It’s not easy to play baseball at the next level and these guys have done a lot of it on their own with the help of their high school coaches. Academically, this team is as academically-minded as baseball-minded. We have three or four kids with 4.0-plus GPA’s and a lot of them are going on academic scholarships as well as baseball scholarships; we have a presidential scholarship winner and everything. These kids have known each other for 10-plus years.”

One of the aspects of baseball that translates to the next level is baseball IQ or knowledge of the game. Gerstner believes that this team has an advanced feel for the game and thanks to the people surrounding the team, including Barrett, the players will be ready to contribute at the next level on day one.

“Besides the great friendships that they’ve made, they’ve learned responsibility,” said Gerstner. “They’re all eighteen years old and have jobs, schoolwork, or girlfriends but they’re also committed to playing the game. A lot of these guys are 2016 graduates so they had to commit themselves to the game and not straying away. I’m proud of them for that. We focus on team play, not one guy. We have a great group of 18-20 kids that can all perform at the same level. We play good defense, timely hitting, and we strive on our great pitching. Besides the responsibility and friendship they have all increased their baseball knowledge, and that will help them at the next level. We’ve been fortunate to be around some great people and Michael Barrett at his great facility. These guys will succeed because of their baseball knowledge and ability to play.”

Barrett Baseball came into this tournament after finishing third in the 17u PG EvoShield Classic last year. They have now clinched a spot in bracket play and will be playing some of their final games of their high school careers. In addition to preparing for the next level, Gerstner wants make sure that the players are simply having fun.

“Our goal for the year was to keep getting these guys some reps so they go into their college seasons ready to play,” said Gerstner. “We weren’t going to overthrow our pitchers, we were only going to give them a limited number of innings. We’re blessed to have 8-10 pitchers on the team so we can go deep into tournaments. Our goal was to just go out and play quality baseball and play against the best competition, and Perfect Game offers that. We did well in the 17u EvoShield last year finishing third and our goal was to finish strong. This is our last tournament of the year and a lot of these guys are leaving next week or the week after. We’re trying to play good, quality baseball and have fun for the weekend.”

This team is scrappy. There are few big named schools that these players are attending but they all know how to play fundamental baseball and play a game that translates well to the next level. This mentality helps not only in baseball, but in life, as these players know to never give up and to keep grinding until they achieve their success.

“If people tell you that you can’t do something, you can go out and get it,” said Jacovetty. “I learned that through baseball, that if you work hard enough you can go and get it.”