SURPRISE, Ariz. – It’s repeated as legend that the late Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks would often arrive at Wrigley Field back in the day, take a long look around and with a broad smile overtaking the whole of his face exclaim, “What a beautiful day for a ballgame. Hey, let’s play two!”
And at this weekend’s Perfect Game WWBA West Memorial Day Classic being played in beautiful summertime-like conditions in the west Phoenix suburbs, at least a half-dozen prospects wearing the uniform of the 3D Gold program, are enthusiastically living out that age-old mantra.
3D Gold owner/general manager/head coach Dominic Robinson has competitive teams entered in both the WMDC 17u and 18u tournaments and is relying on a core group of prospects from the classes of 2022 and 2023 to carry the banner for both teams.
Eli Small is among them. He is a top 500-ranked 2023 catcher/infielder and a Kentucky commit who, like his 3D Gold class-of-2022 teammates Brayden Smith and Braden Sweet, hails from Omaha, Neb., the home of the College World Series.
“I’ve really been looking forward to playing in the nice weather – it’s like 50 (degrees) in Nebraska right now,” Small told PG late Saturday morning, speaking from the Royals’ side of the Surprise Spring Training Complex. “So I was looking forward to coming down, play in the heat, play on these nice fields, play with a good team; I’m just really glad to be here...
“You only get to play one game a day if you’re playing with just the 17u or the 18u but now I get to play two games a day,” he was quick to add. “That’s six pool-play games plus bracket-play so hopefully I’ll be playing 10-plus games while I’m down here, which makes it worth coming down.”
It is a feeling shared by many of his 3D Gold teammates on hand this weekend, and after the first two days of pool play, both upperclass teams still have the playoffs in their sights. The 18u 3D Gold are 2-0-0 after victories by a combined count of 19-2; the 17u 3D Gold stand 1-0-1 after winning Friday and rallying with a four-run sixth to tie LVR, 6-6, on Saturday.
2022 outfielder/left-hander Jaron Nevarez from California (No. 292-ranked, San Diego State commit), ’22 left-hander/first baseman Mario Bejarano from Tucson (t-500), the ’22 Omaha outfielder Smith and 2023 Phoenix catcher/infielder Isaac Macias joined Small in playing the field in all four pool-play games Friday and Saturday.
Nevarez wrapped up his spring season at San Ramon Valley High School about two weeks ago so he had a little down time before traveling here for the WWBA WMDC. Needless to say, he’d been looking forward to getting back out on the field and he hasn’t missed a beat.
Of the players who have batted in all four games, Nevarez has been the most effective hitting from the leading off spot for both teams. He’s a combined 3-for-10 (.300) with a double and has walked four times giving him an on-base percentage of .500; he’s scored six runs and driven in two.
“Anytime I get an opportunity like this I’m willing to come out and play every day,” Nevarez said. “Dominic (Robinson) has reached out to me a few times over the past few years asking me to play for him and whenever I had some time I just came out and played. He’s treated me like I’m family to him so I feel welcome here at 3D.”
Other top guys like ’23 outfielder/right-hander Duce Robinson (No. 60) and ’23 outfielder/third baseman Juan Carlos Kalemera (t-1000) played in at least one game for both teams the last two days.
The 3D Gold 17u team also received excellent pitching performances from 2023 right-hander Andrew Grenert and ’23 lefty Cayne Killion (t-1000, UC Santa Barbara) in a combined two-hit shutout of the AZ Thunder 2022 on Friday: Grenert allowed one hit and struck out seven in his four innings of work, Killion just one hit with six Ks in his three innings.
Dominic Robinson is the Founder/Director of 3D Sports Performance and 3D Gold Athletics in Phoenix which sponsors these teams. He was a baseball and football standout at Florida State in the late 2000s, playing for a pair of legendary coaches in Mike Martin and Bobby Bowden, and he called being here at this major PG event with this solid group of guys who only want to get out and play “incredibly exciting.”
“I look forward to this tournament really more than any other one just because it’s my first time seeing (the players),” since they completed their high school seasons, Robinson told PG on Saturday. “I’ve been watching them, I’ve been following them, I’ve been getting messages from them all year and talking to them...and now we all get to come together for the next eight to 10 weeks; this is the genesis of it all.
“I’ve looked forward to this tournament ever since I moved here to Phoenix and I absolutely love it; it’s very exciting.”
The most high-profile athlete on these two 3D Gold rosters is Dominic Robinson’s oldest son, Duce Robinson. He is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound outfielder/right-hander who is ranked No. 60 overall (No. 11 outfielder) in the class of 2023.
Duce Robinson is also a 4-star tight end prospect at Phoenix Pinnacle High School who is drawing tons of college interest on the gridiron. After playing in both 17u and 18u games for 3D Gold on Friday, he was honoring an obligation to participate in a 7-on-7 football camp on Saturday so was not in attendance at the Surprise STC.
Although it wasn’t able to happen on Saturday, Dominic Robinson has enjoyed coaching Duce on baseball fields across the country ever since the younger Robinson picked up a ball and a bat as a youngster and quickly began to excel at the game.
“Honestly, it’s a dream come true,” Robinson said. “You never really know how things are going to shake-out, but you do have an idea though; he’s always been very talented. He was a baseball player very early and always had to play up, so you think that projects to what he’s become now but you never know.”
Dominic Robinson previously spent time coaching in the Midwestern states of Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota and saw how those young players found their playing time restricted by snow and cold weather – they simply couldn’t get outside.
So, naturally, when the weather warmed-up he would see those same kids chomping at the bit to get after it and they’d jump at every opportunity to play multiple games on the same day; it just was never an issue.
The warm weather kids, on the other hand, are spoiled to an extent. They can play as much as they want whenever they want so the opportunity to play two or three games a day might not be that exciting to them. But don’t rush to judgement – not with this group, anyway.
“Usually, the type of kid that we have is the type of kid that can never get enough baseball and that’s what 3D is,” Robinson said. “It’s a bunch of like-minded people that can’t get enough. We love to learn, we love to teach, we love to grow together and that’s why ‘We Are 3D’ is across our chest because it’s a ‘we’ thing; we are all growing in this thing together.
“It’s not just about ‘me’, it’s not just about one individual...it’s about us. We are all looking to grow together and that’s what’s fun about this,” he added. “Playing multiple games on multiple teams, they love that, they relish the opportunity and rarely, if ever, do any of them turn it down.”
Moving forward into “Separation Sunday” when pool champions will be crowned and the playoffs will begin in all six WWBA WMDC age divisions, no one with the 3D Gold program will be back on their heels. There’s simply too much to gain and, conversely, too much to leave at the table. They’ll be ready play even if they may not know what’s exactly in front of them.
An odd aspect of the 2021 PG West Memorial Day Classic, Robinson noted, is that everyone is in kind of different place as far as their high school seasons are concerned.
Some of these players were at schools that played a full slate of games, others experienced partial seasons. Some have had two or three weeks off now because their team didn’t make the state playoffs, others may have played as recently as recently as early in the week. It can be a tricky stream to navigate.
“This is a very unique Memorial Day because without the Southern California kids, that makes this look a lot different, and the Colorado kids also are not here because they’re still in their season,” Robinson said. “So it’s hard to even tell what we need to have because our opponents will all be in different places.”
But, as always, baseball is all about playing catch and then when you see good pitches to hit, getting the barrel on them and putting the ball in play. Go out and do that and it shouldn’t matter how many games these players have gotten under their belts before the Memorial Day holiday.
Robinson feels like both of his 3D Gold teams will be ready to make the ultimate playoff push on Sunday. He speaks about the “high-character people” associated with the program in regard to both his players and their parents.
These are groups on both the 17u and 18u levels that know how to put the time in, know how to communicate with one another as individuals and teammates and know how to win. They also, without apology, know how to have fun.
“We laugh and we joke but we play hard. We get on and off the field with energy and enthusiasm so I’m always very excited,” Robinson said. “Because they’re character people, the scoreboard will always take care of itself.”
Character alone can’t put runs up on the board, of course, a fact not lost on the players: “We still need to keep playing together,” Small said. “Pitchers need to throw strikes; hitters need to have good approaches and we need to play the same game from there.”
Or, as Nevarez pointed out: “Everyone is talented and it’s good to be a part of a team when everyone is also good and they can help you out, as well. It’s good to play with them all because you can really get to know everybody and start to build a bond with the team.”
Hey Ernie, let’s play two!