SAN DIEGO – More than 140 top prospects from the national high school classes of 2018 and 2019 will be able to call themselves alumni of the 2016 Perfect Game Underclass All-American Games showcase when it packs up its tent sometime late Tuesday afternoon. It is worth noting that right around 50 percent of these underclass prospects have already made commitments to NCAA Division I schools.
The only reason that 50 percent figure isn’t all that surprising is because most of the top prospects at the event are from right here in California, a large state that produces baseball prospects with the same proficiency it produces sandy beaches. Adding to that homegrown bounty, an influx of highly ranked and regarded players from the talent-rich states of Texas, Florida and Georgia also managed to find their way to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
It would be really easy for easy-going Brendan Tinsman to tread water among the waves before being sent to the bottom of this very deep talent pool. But the 6-foot-2, 200-pound, switch-hitting catcher/corner-infielder and Wake Forest University recruit from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, has spent his fair share of time here on the West Coast. And on Monday, he felt right at home at USD’s Fowler Park and was still riding high after attending the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco Park Sunday night.
“It was really neat because I’ve played against some of the kids that were there, and it was cool to see them playing against and with all the best players in the country,” Tinsman said early Monday afternoon when asked about the Classic. “After I saw that game it inspired me to work hard and see if maybe I can play in it next year.”
If he does make the 2017 East Team roster, it’s very likely he’ll be teammates with quite a few of the prospects that are here for the Underclass A-A Games’ two-day run Monday and Tuesday. And that would suit him just fine simply because, through his extensive travel ball associations, it’s very likely he would know quite a few guys on the West Team, too.
“It’s good to be out here and see all my buddies again,” Brendan Tinsman said Monday. “Just to play against the best underclass talent is very neat; this is a great opportunity.”
Brendan Tinsman and his parents, Patrick and Jennifer Tinsman, realized early that their budding baseball prospect wasn’t going to get the exposure he both craved and was entitled to by staying locked away in the extreme Northeast.
He got noticed by some coaches from the SoCal-based Phenom Baseball organization after playing at an event in Cary, N.C., in the summer of 2014, and was invited to join that growing program. He debuted for Phenom at the 2014 PG/EvoShield Underclass National Championship in mid-September of that year.
He basically took up residence on the West Coast in 2015 and played in seven PG tournaments with Phenom Signature, earning all-tournament recognition in four of them, including the elite 15u PG World Series; he was at the 2015 PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., with the Midland Redskins.
“Being from the Northeast, I hadn’t had a chance to play for a really good team like (Phenom Signature),” Brendan Tinsman said. “I agreed to play with them and I spent a summer out here – it was really neat – and I got to meet a lot of kids. It was completely different from the East Coast.”
This summer he flipped back to and East Coast program, playing in the 16u PG WWBA National Championship and the 16u PG World Series with the Virginia-based EvoShield Canes 16u. He hopes to return to Jupiter with one of two Canes’ teams this October and continue his association with that powerhouse program into 2017.
Coming from a cold weather state like Maine, it would have been easy for Brendan Tinsman to go full-throttle with a “Oh, woe is me” act when it came to his development, but he declined to take that route. He may have felt he was playing with a short deck in this card game with his contemporaries from the southern climes, but instead of shedding crocodile tears he decided to even the playing field.
He’s found that when he joins programs like Phenom and the EvoShield Canes, the prospects from the southern states welcome him with open arms. They’ll tease him from time to time – “Do you ever get to play baseball outside up there or does it always snow?” – but, at the end of each day, talent always embraces talent.
“I’m really just trying to get exposure in front of all the pro scouts because, obviously, that’s everyone’s goal,” Brendan Tinsman said. “But making all these new friends that I see at all of these events I go to, that’s probably the most fun part of all of this.”
He made his commitment to Wake Forest during his freshman year in high school. He had attended one of their camps in the summer before his freshman year, the coaches there liked what they saw and were quick on the draw to make the offer. “I compared it to all the other schools I was looking at and I just loved it there; I just felt like that was the right choice,” he said.
The only “instructor” Tinsman has ever worked with is his dad so it’s no surprise when he names Patrick Tinsman as the person who has had the biggest impact on his baseball career to date. Patrick continues to help his son any way he can, even it means something as simple – and valuable – as being his chauffeur.
“I’m just really his taxi driver, to tell you the truth,” Patrick Tinsman said Monday, keeping a straight face while his son looked on. “I keep him fed and drive him around everywhere, and then he tells me to get lost. I go hide in the shade somewhere and just hope he does well.”
This isn’t Patrick and Jennifer Tinsman’s first trip on the Perfect Game merry-go-round. Their oldest son, 2014 catcher/first baseman Chris Tinsman, played in four PG events during his high school career – he was named to the Top Prospect List at the 2010 PG Underclass Showcase-Main Event – and was Maine’s No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2014 when he graduated. Chris Tinsman completed his redshirt freshman season at the University of Rhode Island this spring.
Patrick Tinsman is also appreciative what he calls the “social” side of PG showcases and tournaments and how that side of the coin has benefitted Brendan. As referred to previously, his son has been able to make friends from all over the country and while he’s making friends he was also getting some valuable exposure.
If Brendan hadn’t been given the opportunity to leave home and experience how the baseball world spins in other parts of the country, he probably wouldn’t have his scholarship with Wake Forest. “If he does well at events like this and gets good exposure, that helps keeps the dream alive for him,” Patrick Tinsman said.
The more than 140 top prospects that gathered here for two days this week came from California and Texas and Florida and Georgia … and Iowa and Oklahoma and New Jersey and Maryland … and North Carolina and Missouri and Wisconsin and Ohio … and Maine, among many others.
On Monday and Tuesday, Brendan Tinsman was able to play at USD’s beautiful Fowler Park after a summer in which he also played at state-of-the-art Perfect Game Park South-LakePoint in Cartersville, Ga. The summer before he was performing on the beautiful Cactus League spring training fields that populate the Phoenix area’s expansive metropolitan area, better known as the Valley of the Sun.
Not bad for a “Maine-lander,” a kid from the farthest most northeastern corner of the United States. Brendan Tinsman is in San Diego this week and as the No. 72-ranked prospect in the class of 2018, he certainly within sniffing distance of possibly receiving an invitation to next year’s 15th annual Perfect Game All-American Classic. There is, of course, a lot of work to be done – a lot more high-level baseball to experience – between now and then.
“We’ve enjoyed all the Perfect Game events with the top competition,” Patrick Tinsman said. “It’s important for (Brendan) to get the repetition because being from the Northeast you don’t get as much repetition as you’d like. … It’s just nice to come to an event like this and spend time with your son and watch some good baseball.
“I enjoy baseball so much and I’m just glad he enjoys baseball as much as he does,” he concluded. “… It’s been an amazing run and the opportunities that he’s been given have been amazing as well. A good percentage of it is because of these events and the exposure that is allotted to all of these kids.”