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Tournaments  | All-Tournament Team | 12/19/2019

Mack Proving Tough To Beat

Blake Dowson
Photo: Joe Mack (Perfect Game)

2019 16u PG Tournament All-American Team

It was in a Little League game when he was about 10 years old when Joe Mack strapped on the catching gear for the first time.

He had always just pitched and played third base. Those were two spots where his rocket for a right arm were best suited for success. Mack can’t remember exactly what made him ask his coach if he could play behind the plate, but understands now how magnetic that position can be.

“It was probably just the thrill of being able to catch the ball every time and if a runner steals, you throw him out,” Mack said. “Blocking was part of it, and that’s fun.”

The rest, as the cliché goes, is history. Mack, now a high school junior, hasn’t taken the shin guards off since. He is now the No. 4 catcher in the 2021 class, and the No. 22 player overall, thanks to that big arm behind the plate and the powerful lefthanded swing he possesses at the plate.

The catching gig might have stuck because of Joe’s brother. Charles Mack, three years older than his little brother Joe, did a little catching when he was a prep prospect.

Charles ended up being the No. 1 shortstop prospect in the state of New York in the 2018 class, and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the sixth round of that year’s draft.

Joe has looked up to his brother throughout the entire process, even committing to Clemson, where Charles was committed before deciding to sign with the Twins.

“My number one mentor is my brother,” Joe said. “We’ve been playing baseball since we were little kids, like three years old. He’s always been pushing me to be better and challenging me. He keeps telling me, ‘Come on Joe, let’s go hit and work out.’ He’s a great person…I ask him quite a few questions about what [the process] is like, how it all happens, what’s going on and everything. It’s awesome having him, because he can tell me everything that happens and I’m so close with him. It’s really nice having him there, just to tell me what’s going on and what I should do.”

Charles played in two WWBA World Championships in Jupiter, Fla. Joe played in his second World Championship this fall.

His performance in Jupiter sealed his claim as the Perfect Game Player of the Year for the 2021 class. Mack, playing for the Padres Scout Team/East Cobb, hit .400 across eight games at the World Championship, including six RBI, five free passes, and a pair of stolen bases.

He did all of that at the plate, while also commanding a pitching staff from behind the plate that gave up a grand total of 17 runs over the eight games they played.

“Heading into Jupiter, I knew I was prepared because I was grinding a lot before I went down there,” Mack said. “So I knew I was prepared to face all those pitchers and that I was ready to put in a good performance and do well.”

His performance landed him on the Elite All-Tournament Team. Mack likes to think of that as a team honor, though.

“It felt good,” he said. “I’m just one player though, it was a team effort. So it felt good leading the team there, but everyone did their part. It was just a huge thrill.”

Jupiter was just the finishing touch on what was the most impressive summer put together by any player in the 2021 class, however.

Mack played in seven Perfect Game events this year, including Jupiter, and was named to the All-Tournament Team at six of those events. In 43 PG games this year, Mack hit .379 with eight doubles, two triples, and five home runs, which led the 2021 class. He also scored 30 runs, drove in an additional 35 runs, and walked 34 times in those 43 games.

At four of his 2019 events, Mack hit at least .400, all while playing one of the most demanding positions on the field, and playing it as well as anyone.

“My mentality heading into tournaments is just to play the game,” Mack said. “Do as much as I can to help my team win. I’m not looking to go in there and be a hot shot and try to hit home runs every time I’m at the plate. I’m just up there focused and trying to help my team win as much as possible.”

Win, they did – a lot – as the East Cobb teams he played for this summer won 41 games while he was on the roster.

Mack has stayed level-headed through all of it. From his selection to the 2017 14u Select Festival to his current No. 22 ranking in the 2021 class and All-Tournament performance in Jupiter, he has put together quite the resume.

An impressive resume is worth about as much as the piece of paper you would print it on to Mack, though. It doesn’t change anything for him.

“The ranking doesn’t affect how I play at all,” he said. “It doesn’t really affect how the other pitchers pitch to me, and it doesn’t affect how baserunners run against me. It’s just a number really.”

Same goes for the Player of the Year honor.

It’s a great way to stop for a second and appreciate everything he did this summer and into the fall. Hard work shouldn’t go unnoticed.

But he doesn’t want to stop for more than a second, he said. This award isn’t the finish line, after all. Mack has other goals he’s running toward now.

“I feel really happy and accomplished knowing all my hard work has paid off,” he said. “I’m not going to stop since I was named Player of the Year, though. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to keep working hard and try to win it the next year, too.”
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