SAN DIEGO – When the six rosters were assembled for this week’s Perfect Game Underclass All-American Games, event organizers were tasked with making sure the 28 prospects that identified themselves as primary shortstops were distributed evenly among their geographic teams.
And these were not run-of-the-mill shortstops that gathered at Fowler Park on the University of San Diego campus Monday and Tuesday. All 28 – 24 from the national high school graduating class of 2018 and four from the class of 2019 – are ranked in the top-400 nationally in their respective class and most of them are in the top-300.
Each of them has a dream of emerging from this event as the next Nick Allen, a local favorite who is an alumnus of the 2015 PG Underclass All-American Games, a 2016 Perfect Game All-American and the 2016 Rawlings High School Defensive Player of the Year. A select few have a better chance of gaining that title than any of the others, although it remains to be seen if “the next Nick Allen” really was in attendance here.
Two of the four top-ranked shortstops from the 2018 class were here Monday and Tuesday: No. 2 (No. 10 overall) Kendall Simmons from Macon, Ga., and No. 4 (No. 19 overall) Emilio Rosas, this year’s SoCal shining star from Yorba Linda, Calif., up in Orange County.
Both have already made their college commitments (Simmons to Georgia Tech and Rosas to Cal-Berkeley) and while Simmons felt this event was important enough to travel across the country to attend, Rosas also felt he needed to be here in his backyard to see how he measures up against some of the country’s very best.
“I feel like this will be a good experience and I couldn’t pass it up; it’s great to be out here,” Rosas said Saturday from Fowler Park. “I think it’s definitely important for me to be here because it’s really good exposure, and not just for my development but for what might come about past college.”
Emilio Rosas was here with his mom, Amalia Rosas, and she echoed her son’s words:
“I think it’s important because (the young players) need to continue to see pitchers and other talent at a higher level and not be complacent. I think it’s important for them to continue to develop and you’re not going to develop into a better player if you don’t see your competition that you’re going to see in high school or at some of these events. Just because he’s already committed, I don’t think you should be complacent and just walk away,” she said.
The 6-foot-2, 172-pound Rosas performed admirably during the infield-outfield workout and ZEPP testing Saturday morning. He threw 87 mph across the infield, good for 17th best at the event, and ZEPP recorded his exit velocity off the bat at 91 mph, tied for 27th best. He also recorded the only hit in Team California’s 1-0 loss to Team USA in game-action on Saturday.
He is the type of player that always seems to perform well on PG’s biggest tournament and showcase stages. He was named to the Top Prospect List at the 2015 PG Sunshine West Showcase in Chula Vista, Calif., and a year later repeated that TPL recognition at the even more prestigious 2016 PG Junior National Showcase in Fort Myers, Fla.
“I really like the showcase environment. They’re really fun and you get to meet some new kids,” Rosas said. “I like meeting new people that have the same goals that I have. You see a lot better players and that challenges you to be better; it brings the whole level of competition up for everyone.”
His scouting report from the PG Jr. National addressed both his intricate skills in the infield and his prowess at the plate:
“(Emilio Rosas has a) large, athletic frame with broad shoulders and high waist (with) room to fill out throughout his frame moving forward. … A primary shortstop with the tools to stick, light and quick footwork ranging to either side.
“(He) rounds the ball well going up the middle, comes through backhand well, good instincts and first step off the bat … fields out front with soft hands, ball leaves hand clean and easy across with solid carry. … shows a line-drive swing plane for the most part with occasional lift, creates extension out front (with a) nice balance to his swing. … Projects very well with continued physical gains.”
Rosas’ rise up the class of 2018 national prospect rankings happened in one big thrust and was a direct result of his performance at the Jr. National. He entered the rankings at No. 212 overall (No. 49 shortstop) on Sept. 9, 2015, dropped to No. 258 (No. 49) on Nov. 15, 2015, and slid to lows of No. 278 (No. 60) on Jan. 28, 2016. And then the Jr. National happened and here he is at Nos. 19/4.
“I feel like I’ve made a really big improvement in my game since last year,” Rosas said. “I hope to keep working hard and keep getting better. I try not to get too caught up in (the rankings) because sometimes you can get a little too much ahead of yourself, but I look at it as, ‘That’s good’ and I want to keep getting better and better; I want to move up as far as I can.”
Rosas is rolling into his junior year at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., coming off a sophomore season when he hit .338 (27-for-80) with six extra-base hits, 13 RBI and 11 runs scored in 27 games. He credits all of the coaches he’s had through the years for playing big roles in his development, including Burt Call, his coach at Mater Dei, and Charles Chatman, the head coach at Tustin (Calif.) High School, also in Orange County.
Another coach he gives a lot of credit to is Mitch Spiers from the Team California Warriors, a program for which he has played with in five PG WWBA tournaments since January 2015. He was named to the all-tournament team at the 2015 15u PG World Series played at Perfect Game Park South-LakePoint in Cartersville, Ga.
“Mitch has definitely helped me out a lot too; he’s a good guy,” Rosas said. “I really like the way Mitch runs things and it’s been great (being with the Warriors). We play a lot games and we play in a lot of Perfect Game events. It’s been a great experience.”
His mom added: “We think he’s just like any other kid in that he works hard, and (his high ranking) is a result of his continuous contribution towards working on his own personal growth. We’ve been surrounded by very good mentors and individuals that have helped him develop, and not just in the game but mentally and preparing himself for competing at a higher level. We’ve been pretty lucky to have great people to guide us through.”
Emilio and Amalia Rosas made it a point to attend Sunday night’s PG All-American Classic at the Padres’ Petco Park in downtown San Diego. Emilio called the experience “sweet” before adding how honored he’d be if were selected to play in the 15th annual PG All-American Classic a year from now.
Amalia saw much of the same thing: “I thought it was great because he competes with some of those kids already. Just to be able to see what they’ve done and what they’ve accomplished, it’s something that he can strive for,” she said.
During his conversation with PG Saturday afternoon, Emilio Rosas spoke of how blessed he felt to have grown up in Southern California where the baseball action can be non-stop for 365 days a year if a player is so inclined to pursue the activity with sort of regularity.
But when it came to choosing a college he decided to head a little farther north to the San Francisco Bay Area to matriculate at Cal and play baseball for the Bears and head coach David Esquer.
“I know it’s a good baseball program but I also wanted the academics,” Rosas said. “If baseball doesn’t work out I want to be able to have a good degree from there so I can get a good job.”
Before Rosas started play at the PG Underclass All-American Games late Saturday afternoon, he spoke about his experiences at previous showcases allowed him to just go out and play loose, stay relaxed and have a good time; he has definitely achieved a level of comfort at these things.
Amalia spoke about how happy events like this made Emilio, how when he’s finished he’ll tell her how much he loves his teammates and go on and on about how much of a good time he’s having. As a mom, she gets a great deal of satisfaction seeing these teenagers develop a camaraderie that thinks leads to even better play on the field.
“What I hope he gets out of this experience as a parent is seeing the competition, seeing what he’s around and not ever being complacent; that’s what we always tell him,” Amalia said. “The game changes so fast you have to continuously develop, and take from the other kids what you see.
“Fine-tune those things so that you can become a better contributor to your school and to your team,” she concluded. “The school he goes to is very demanding we want to make sure he continues to perform at that high level.”