FORT MYERS, Fla. – The young prospects from 18 states, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic began rolling into Southwest Florida Thursday morning, and each one arrived intent on representing themselves honorably while making their family and friends proud through their participation at the 2nd annual Perfect Game Select Baseball Festival.
Two of those highly regarded prospects showed up for the event’s first practice session at the jetBlue Park Player Development Complex having taken red-eye flights 24 hours apart from their homes in California over on the other side of the country.
But those late night/early morning flights did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm shown by 2021 outfielder Roc Riggio from Simi Valley and 2021 middle-infielder Isaac Rodriguez out of Murrieta.
The two 15-year-olds from a pair of inland Cali cities located both north and south of Los Angeles were all-in when it came to hopping on coast-to-coast flights. They are out to seize the moment and take advantage of the opportunity playing in this age-group all-star game that will be nationally televised live on Fox Sports Networks and streamed simultaneously on MLB.com presents.
“All these guys are just amazing; they’re all just really talented players,” Rodriguez told PG Friday morning. “I felt blessed that I was able to be (invited) and when (PG informed) me, me and my dad were just super excited because we’ve been kind of looking forward to something like this.”
When you bring together 38 of the top prospects from the national high school classes of 2020 and 2021 and divide them into two teams, diversity is bound to rule the roost. While Riggio and Rodriguez proudly represent their home state of California, there are young prospects from 12 other states on the Team West roster alone, including four from Texas. Five states and Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are represented on Team East (11 East prospects call Florida home).
Being given the opportunity to play alongside many of the other top 14- and 15-year-olds from the western part of the country and then against many of his same age-groups peers on the Team East roster is something special for Riggio. But while he knows some people on the outside looking in might view Sunday’s game as a big East vs. West rivalry, Riggio sees it differently.
“Most of us have already played against each other and we already have this rivalry, but a lot of us are big friends; we hang out, we talk and we act like we’re on the same team,” he said. “We’re all friends, so it’s not as big of a (rivalry) as you might think. But then again, once we get out on the field, it’s game-time and it’s time to go. … It’s going to be a great experience and I’m pumped; I’m excited.”
He then added one more quick thought regarding both his West teammates and his East opponents: “Out on the field, it’s all the same kind of vibe because we’re all here together. We’re all baseball players and we all have the same goal, so we all have the same natural energy to work with each other and play as a team.”
Rodriguez realizes that a lot of these players have more difficult environments to work in than the one he enjoys in Murrieta, which is in California’s Inland Empire region about halfway between Los Angeles to the north and San Diego to the south.
“I try to pick up stuff from everybody else just because they’re from a different area and they do different things,” he said. “Players from around their states do different things and compete differently, so I try and take any advantage I can get.”
Isaac Rodriguez is one of two players from California in Fort Myers, Fla. for the 2nd annual PG Select Baseball Festival
This is the third PG event the 5-foot-9, 155-pound, left-side swinging Riggio has attended, and it comes on the heels of an all-tournament team performance at the 15u PG WWBA National Championships played in mid-July at PG Park South-LakePoint in Emerson, Ga.
Riggio, who has climbed to No. 13 overall in PG’s class of 2021 national prospect rankings and has already committed to UCLA, played for GBG Marucci 2020, which finished 10-1-0 after a loss to eventual champion East Coast Sox Select in the tournament’s semifinals; he hit .391 with two home runs at the event.
“Even Riggio’s outs were loud as he barrels up the ball on a regular basis and has an advanced understanding of how to hit and use the entire field. He’s able to generate plenty of whip to his barrel through the zone and is able to maximize his strength on every swing. Riggio is also a strong runner and an advanced defender in the outfield, able to play any of the three positions at a high level -- Jheremy Brown, PG National Crosschecker
The 5-foot-9, 160-pound right-handed swinging Rodriguez played soccer as a youngster but has since narrowed his athletic interests to baseball and football. He enjoys playing baseball more than any other sport simply because it’s such a difficult game to master, and he isn’t one to back away from a challenge.
Beginning about two years ago as a 12 or 13-year-old, Rodriguez – he also plays in the GBG organization – began working especially hard in order to transform himself into an elite level baseball prospect, and the hard work is paying dividends. It was his standout performance at the PG 14u National Showcase that grabbed the attention of PG scouts and resulted in his invitation to the PG Select Baseball Festival.
“Rodriguez … displayed an impressive skill-set that stood out immediately. Defensively he displays smooth action up the middle of the infield with plenty of quickness and balance to his footwork. He also shows some of the faster hands you will find at this age, picking the ball extremely well to either side. In the batter’s box, he does a nice job of staying short to the ball with quickness to his hands and whip to his barrel through the zone.” -- Jheremy Brown, PG National Crosschecker
Both of these California prospects just started their freshman year in high school, Riggio at Chaminade College Preparatory and Rodriguez at Murrieta Valley HS. Neither one of them has played an inning of high school baseball yet, but they have already shown they should be able to stand tall during the rigors of a CIF Section schedule.
Rodriguez is quick to credit his dad, Jerry Rodriguez, for his progression as a ballplayer. The elder Rodriguez was in attendance at Friday morning’s Festival practice session and he told PG that he and his son have worked together for many years already to help Isaac achieve his goals. There have been morning workouts for as long as either can remember, starting with his son’s Little League and Pony League experiences.
“With all the hard work we’ve put in, to have the opportunity to come here and have people recognize his skills and talents (is special),” Jerry Rodriguez said. “It hasn’t come natural to him – he’s had to work really hard – and it’s just a complete blessing to come out here and showcase his abilities against some of the best players in the United States; I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Riggio described his dad, Jamie Riggio, as a “baseball dude” who built a batting cage in the family’s backyard for himself to use even before Roc was born.
“I got brought into it and I started loving the game, so this is what I do now, carrying on what he did,” Riggio said. “He’s had one of the biggest impacts on me not just on the field, but off the field, too. He’s my dad and my role model and I look up to him every day.”
When he first received the invitation to the PG Select Baseball Festival, Riggio considered it not only a major accomplishment but also a stepping stone to even bigger things to come. He has the goal of one day being invited to other signature PG showcase events, including the prestigious PG National Showcase and the PG All-American Classic in the summer of 2020; he also wants to attend the Area Code Games in another couple of years.
“This is totally a learning experience because we all come from different places, different cultures, different ways of working out, different ways of getting our minds ready,” Riggio said. “You want to pick the other kids’ brains, pick the pitchers’ brains and see how they work so you can work the same way or add something to your routine.”
Friday’s Festival schedule consisted of the jetBlue practice session – infield/outfield and batting practice – and a visit to the event’s beneficiary, Golisano Children’s Hospital. That was followed by about 6 hours of free time when the players were fed dinner and could also compete in a ping-pong tournament put on by one of PG’s partners, G-Form. Another primary partner, Rawlings, has an extended presence at the event and loaded up the prospects with plenty of gear they can take home with them.
Just watching the players interact during the practice session alone was enough to make Jerry Rodriguez smile, knowing that his young son is learning first-hand just how important friendships, teammates and teamwork are and is.
“From this point forward, the baseball community is going to start getting smaller for these kids and I believe the relationships that are built are going to continue throughout their high school years,” he said. “Most of these kids are freshmen and it’s going to be great for (their) future as far as networking with the baseball community. …
“You never know what the future holds and you’ve got to grind every day, and I think (Isaac) being involved with these other kids and knowing them throughout the future is really going to help him.”
Saturday’s schedule includes another practice session, complete with a scrimmage game and the preliminary round of the Home Run Challenge in the morning. The afternoon features a lot more built-in free time so the players and their families can relax and enjoy themselves before Saturday night’s PG Select Baseball Festival Awards Banquet at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs.
The Festival Game itself is scheduled to begin on Sunday at 7 p.m. EDT at jetBlue Park, the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox. And the two California kids are going to be ready to go.
“You can’t approach this game any differently than you’d approach any other game or you’re going to get off your game, off your mindset,” Riggio said. “I’m going to come in here approach it as, ‘I’m just going to play my game, do my thing and work the way I work, and then whether you succeed or you don’t succeed, you have fun and you learn from it.”
Added Rodriguez: “I want to take this all in at once because this is going go by really fast. I want to take it all in and have a lot of fun at the same time.”