SAN DIEGO – Every one of the 150 prep prospects from the classes of 2019 and 2020 who accepted invitations to this week’s Perfect Game Underclass All-American Games at the University of San Diego’s Fowler Park had their own reason for wanting to be here.
The reason offered by top California 2019 left-handed pitcher Cooper Benson was not an uncommon one for many of the 2019s and, in fact, has been cited by top underclass prospects many times through the years.
Benson is a young man from the Central California coastal city of San Luis Obispo who is not only performing at the PG Underclass A-A Games for the second straight year but on Sunday night attended the PG All-American Classic at the Padre’s Petco Park for a second straight year.
The two events go hand-in-hand for a Cali prospect like Benson, and when asked if he thought it was important for him to be at the PG Underclass Games for a second time, his eyes widened and his speech quickened ever-so-slightly.
“I think it’s really important because my ultimate goal is to play in next year’s game at Petco. That’s just kind of been a dream of mine since I was 12 or 13 (years old) watching all those guys play,” he told PG on Monday. “It’s just something I really want to do next year, so that’s why I think it’s important to come down here and participate in this (event).”
Benson happily took-in everything there was to see at Sunday’s PGAAC, an entertaining affair in which the West topped the East and won for the second straight year and the sixth time in seven years; the West now leads the all-time series with a 9-4-1 record.
A true-blue Californian, Benson cheered for the West unapologetically during their 6-1 victory, in large part because he’s good friends with West All-Americans Preston Hartsell and Austin Wells; he watched with delight as Hartsell won this year’s PGAAC Home Run Challenge.
“It’s just so special because it’s the best players in the country and you get to compete against them and you get to build relationships with all the guys,” he said. “You get to meet them and hang out with them, and everything they do before the game just seems so super cool.”
Cooper Benson is a 6-foot, 200-pound, recently minted 17-year-old left-hander/outfielder who will soon begin his senior year at San Luis Obispo High School.
He’s an Arizona State commit PG ranks as the No. 22 overall prospect from the class of 2019 (No. 2 LHP, No. 4 overall California) who has definitely been on the PG scouting department’s radar screen. He’s aware of the ranking of but he also knows he has to continue trending upward if he expects to realize that dream of playing in the 2018 PG All-American Classic.
This is the 15th PG event Benson has attended, a total that includes three showcases and 12 tournaments; he was included on the Top Prospect List on both the 2016 PG Underclass A-A Games and the 2017 PG Junior National Showcase in Fort Myers, Fla. Benson called the Jr. National an “eye-opener” because he got to see so many talented players from the East Coast.
“They definitely play a little bit of a different style than we do,” he said. “Seeing the arms that they have down there … I definitely learned a lot from them.”
Three of his earliest tournaments were played with the SY Titans before Benson became part of BPA Baseball in 2015. He has been included on five PG all-tournament teams through the years and was named the Most Valuable Pitcher at both the 2015 14u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic and the 2017 16u PG WWBA National Championship, where BPA finished as runner-up.
No. 49-ranked C.J. Rodriguez, No. 253 Cutter Clawson and No. 287 Ryan Flaherty – all 2019s – were other members of that 16u WWBA National Championship runner-up BPA team that joined Benson at the PG Underclass All-American Games this week.
“(Cooper has) always been real positive about Perfect Game,” his dad, Chad Benson, told PG on Monday. “We’ve been to Georgia a couple of times and we were able to go down to (Fort Myers) this year, which was great, and then next year he wants to do (the PG National Showcase) as well.”
The association with BPA founder and head coach Jared Sandler has been a god-send, according to both Bensons: “Jared is just an awesome coach,” Cooper said. “He’s helped me a lot with my pitching and my overall confidence. Now when I’m out there he tells me I’m the best guy, and he’s helped a lot of guys get better, which is his main goal for the program.”
Benson first started playing for Sandler at age 14, and the veteran coach – and former collegiate and independent league left-handed pitcher – immediately started calling college coaches on Benson’s behalf. Sandler was the guy responsible for bringing Benson to the attention of the Arizona State coaching staff, according to Benson himself.
“Me and my wife (Shelley) love the fact that (Sandler) just leaves everything on the table,” Chad Benson said. “Jared is the kind of guy that if you do something wrong, he holds you accountable. … We’ve had a great time playing for Jared and we will continue playing for him.”
Benson also took part in the 17u USA Baseball Developmental Program this summer and once again was able to establish solid and what promises to be long-term relationships with a wide range of other top prospects, many of whom were at least a year old than he was.
“That’s kind of how it is now,” he said. “If you meet a guy one time at an event and then you see him again it’s just cool to catch up with them. I live up in San Luis Obispo and I don’t really get to see a lot of really good players when I’m playing in my league … so summer-ball is it for me.”
When asked if the jam-packed schedule he subjects himself to ever gets overwhelming he admitted there were times that, in fact, it did. But these are elite players who live for performing the biggest stages made available to them, and they will always squeeze those opportunities onto their crowded calendars.
Every prospect that is at the PG Jr. National or the PG Underclass A-A Games or the PG WWBA 16u National Championship or any number of underclass events looks forward to the competition because they’ve already come to understand that facing the best or playing alongside the best will only make them better.
Benson is a primary left-handed pitcher but he also plays some outfield with BPA, and admits that he loves to hit. The pitching, though, has come naturally to him, and it doesn’t hurt that he has a strong and powerful left arm on his side. Over the years, he’s developed a lot of confidence in his abilities on the mound, and confidence is nine-10ths of the battle.
“Pitching just fits well with how I play,” Benson said. “I like to attack hitters and stay real confident so it just kind of came naturally to me, my style of play with how I pitch. That’s why I think it’s a really good fit for me and hopefully I can continue doing it in the future.”
He is quick to heap praise on his parents for the roles they’ve played in helping him reach the upper rungs on the baseball prospect ladder. One of them will be at every showcase and tournament Cooper attends, and sometimes both are able to be in attendance.
Chad Benson has seen dozens of top draft prospects perform over the years while following his son from event to event and never stops being amazed at the off-the-charts talent levels of the young ballplayers. His son is one of those players who one day hopes to make a very good living playing baseball and he’s proud of the way Cooper has carried himself at these PG national showcases and tournaments.
He carried himself very well at June’s PG Jr. National Showcase. The PG scouting report referred to his “up-tempo delivery with good rhythm whose “3/4’s arm slot creates good angle to the plate, good lower half drive to the plate. … Fastball gets on hitters quickly, throws strikes with his fastball ad gets it to both sides of the plate … short breaking slider is effective.”
Those words are music to Benson’s ears:
“Whenever I come to (a new showcase) it’s always my goal to keep getting better from the last event that I went to,” he said. “I did well in Florida, so (in San Diego) I want to do even better. In Georgia, I did really well and was the MV Pitcher and at every event I just want to keep doing better.”
Benson got his first taste of playing baseball on a national stage when the SY Titans team he was a member of won the 2013 National Youth Baseball Championships in a nationally televised game played in Memphis, Tenn. The Titans had to win a qualifying tournament in California before they could advance, and when they did they were one of the last 12 12u teams still standing.
“That was one of the coolest baseball experiences that I’ve ever had,” Benson said. “At that (tournament) I was actually the MVP – I hit two home runs in the championship game – and after that baseball has been my thing.”
Chad Benson acknowledged that one of his son’s No. 1 goal in 2018 is to be selected to play in the PG All-American Classic, and that’s a big reason why he will continue to come to as many high-profile PG national showcase events as he is invited to (and the family can afford to send him to). He only has to keep proving himself.
“I know I’ve done well this summer but I just need to continue to get better and continue working out and throwing harder,” Benson concluded. “If I keep doing that, I think I’ll be pretty pleased with myself. I want to keep moving up (the rankings) even though (No.) 22 is pretty good. I want to keep getting better and end up being a Perfect Game All-American.”