FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Navy team’s roster at this week’s 12th annual Perfect Game Junior National Showcase is as far-flung as it is talented. Navy’s prospects from the classes of 2019 and 2020 arrived at jetBlue Park Monday morning from 10 states, with players from California and Texas combining to fill 11 of the 24 spots.
But there are also a couple of Florida boys in the Navy dugout, with the most prominent being Oviedo Hegarty High School rising junior outfielder/left-handed pitcher Riley Greene, the No. 6-ranked national prospect in the class of 2019. This is the PG showcase debut for the 6-foot-2, 180-pound University of Florida recruit, and he was intrigued when he saw the melting pot of a roster he was a part of.
“I went to the USA Baseball developmental camp last year and I met a bunch of older kids up there,” Greene said before taking part in his PG Jr. National workout session Monday afternoon. “It was cool, because going to all these different tournaments and going to the Area Codes (Games) and going to Jupiter (PG WWBA World Championship), the same guys are all there.
“It’s the same thing here, and it’s a learning experience,” he continued. “Everybody’s the same as you, so it’s just a matter of going out and doing your best and trying to be better than the other guy.”
Over the next four days, the PG Jr. National will bring together and showcase most of the country’s top young prospects who will be high school juniors or sophomores in the fall. The amiable Greene is among eight 2019s that PG ranks in the top-19 nationally, and he arrived here eager to soak up everything the event will offer.
“I don’t really have any expectations,” he said, exuding a mature demeanor with his words. “I just want to come out with an open mind and just go with the flow. … (A showcase requires) a little bit of a different mindset, but I just think it’s important to stay relaxed and go out do your thing.”
Alan Greene, Riley Greene’s dad, accompanied his son to Southwest Florida and he, too, was excited about what this event will offer his son.
“This is a great opportunity for Riley; he just loves to play baseball and he enjoys being out here,” Alan Greene said Monday morning. “… (Perfect Game) does a great job out here with the tracking of all these kids, and it makes them better. They can see where they’re at and how they can improve.”
Greene played both baseball and basketball right up until he got to high school. He called basketball his “secondary” sport, something he might be able to fall back on if baseball didn’t work out. That, obviously, didn’t happen so now he’s able to direct all his energy to baseball, and things are working out quite well, thank you.
It’s been a “great” thing being a part of the Hegarty HS baseball program these past two years, Greene said, first under the direction of former head coach Jered Goodwin during his freshman year and this past spring under current head coach Matt Cleveland.
Goodwin left for Florida International University after coaching the Huskies to a FHSAA Class 8A state runner-up finish in 2016; Cleveland guided them to another state runner-up finish this season.
“My high school coaches have had a big impact on me,” Greene said. “First with Coach Goodwin (in 2016), and then Coach Matt Cleveland came over and picked it right up. And my dad has always been coaching me, too.”
His dad was quick to add: “Hegarty is unbelievable. Riley (lives) for high school ball and to see the camaraderie between the kids he’s grown up with in the Oviedo area (is amazing).”
Goodwin was also the long-time coach at FTB during the summer travel ball season, so it only made sense that Greene would eventually land with that program. He played in four PG tournaments with FTB in 2016 – he was named to the all-tournament team at both the 16u PG WWBA East Memorial Day Classic and at the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship – including the PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., with the star-studded Astros Scout Team/FTB Tucci.
“It was actually really cool,” Greene said of the Jupiter experience. “It was kind of humbling knowing all those teams are there and there are so many good kids there, and it’s just fun to play with and against those kids.”
Alan Greene played college baseball at Central Florida State CC and the Florida Institute of Technology – former big-leaguer Tim Wakefield’s old school – and even made a trip to the NCAA Division II World Series in 1992. Alan owns and operates Alan Greene’s Promoting Athletes Center – it offers baseball and softball instruction – but he’s always made the effort to have Riley work with other coaches as much as he can.
“Riley actually listens to me a lot more than what I sometimes see with some of the other fathers and sons,” Alan said. “He’s an athlete and he’s very talented, but he also works really hard. Everybody always says that Riley is Riley because of me, and I always say absolutely not: Riley is Riley because of Riley; he works his butt off.”
“I’ve been pleased with my (development) so far, but there’s always room for improvement,” Greene added. “I’m working hard every day trying to get better; there are no days off.”
The PG Jr. National is heavily scouted, of course, but 16-year-old Riley Greene has already learned how to stay focused on what he needs to do out on the field and in the batter’s box. He said he never looks at what’s going on in the stands while he’s playing, and he made it a point not to look behind the plate when he was hitting at the PG WWBA World Championship because he knew there was a good chance hundreds of scouts would be watching from their golf carts.
Greene has been a big fan of just about every Florida Gators’ athletic teams since he was 5 or 6 years old, and once he learned Gators’ head coach Kevin O’Sullivan and his staff were interested in him, the excitement was almost overwhelming. “I guess it was just meant to be because I love (the University of) Florida,” he said.
There are many aspects of a big-time PG event like the Jr. National Showcase that can be especially enjoyable, but without exception players and parents alike talk about the relationships they develop with other baseball families.
Alan Greene disclosed Monday that he had already been reacquainted with parental groups that he had hadn’t spoken with since Riley was playing in all-star events as an 8-year-old. The parents tell stories, compare notes and take stock in what their own sons have accomplished and continue to accomplish moving forward.
“The way (Riley has) come through the process and how he’s developed as a student as well as a player – as well a person – this (interaction) just makes him better,” Alan Greene said. “That’s where we’re at, we just want to make him better and that’s why we’re here.”
“I really hope to learn some things,” his son added. “I want to see some good pitching, get some good ABs and hopefully hit the ball hard.”
All those other talented 2019s on the Navy roster were also hoping to learn some things over the next couple of days and take that new-found knowledge back home with them. They include guys like No. 59-ranked right-hander/infielder Sam Wibbels (Hastings, Neb., uncommitted), No. 128 catcher/right-hander Jonathan French (Lilburn, Ga., Clemson) and No. 180 right-hander/middle-infielder John Wyatt Chaney (Bertram, Texas, Oklahoma State).
Alan Greene noted that Riley had already talked with other top prospects and top coaches from around the country thanks to his experiences at the PG WWBA World Championship, the Area Code Games and with USA Baseball. He said he’s always found it interesting that when his son greets the other players at an event these days, there’s more than a handshake or a fist-bump – there is also a hug.
“The relationships that he builds here and the coaches that he sees, maybe they can see a few things that they can help us with,” Alan said. “We’re just looking for different people to look at him and offer him some good ideas. … It’s important to get him around talent – not only talented players but talented coaches – that can promote him and help him get to the next level.
“It’s very valuable that he gets to see the talent that’s out there and it’s beneficial to everyone that Perfect Game brings them all together, all these different players.”