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Tournaments | Story | 10/2/2021

MLB Series makes WWBA return

Jeff Dahn

Photo: David Hogg II (Perfect Game)

FORT MYERS, Fla. – In the middle of the last decade, Major League Baseball established its Youth Development and the Breakthrough Series programs with the aim of creating enhanced baseball opportunities for youngsters from underserved communities all across the country.

In October 2016, Perfect Game welcomed one of the first MLB Breakthrough Series teams to the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship and a partnership was formed that has resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship that has continued into this new decade.

The MLB Breakthrough Series 2023 are part of the 208-team field at this weekend’s 20^th annual PG WWBA Underclass World Championship making it five of the last six years an MLB Series team has been at the event; there was not an entrant in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Covid is still an issue nationwide but it didn’t keep MLB from sending a team here this weekend, and that’s good for everyone. The Breakthrough Series teams bring a real MLB flavor to every tournament they attend – in particular the WWBA Under World in Fort Myers and the WWBA World a week later in Jupiter, Fla. – and this year is no exception.

The teams are coached by former MLB players and managers and their rosters are built with predominantly African-American prospects, most of whom are highly regarded. They are here for the same reason just about every other kid is here, and that’s to be developed and draw the attention of college coaches and recruiters. And, of course, attempt to win one of the most competitive PG national championship tournaments in the calendar year.

Former big-leaguer Lou Collier got involved with the MLB Youth Development Program and the Breakthrough Series at the invitation of former AL Manager of the Year Jerry Manual five years ago because Collier was already running a youth program of his own in Chicago. Lou Collier is serving as the manager/head coach of the MLB Breakthrough Series 2023 this weekend.

“It has grown tremendously from the standpoint of touching more kids in underserved areas and also with the development of the kids from those areas,” Collier told PG on Friday, speaking from the main practice field quad at the JetBlue Park Player Development Complex.

“In the beginning we were just trying to find our way and get kids in the program and it was tough because they didn’t know what it was or what it was about,” he continued. “Once we kind of established our program and our system and were able to reach more kids, what started to happen is kids came in and worked real hard with some of the best coaches. … It’s grown tremendously and I’m just happy to be a part of it.”

The coaches working alongside Collier with the Breakthrough Series 2023 club include the aforementioned Manual and former big-leaguers Ty Waller, Antonio Grissom and Sergio Santos.

The players invited to join the team are not unlike their predecessors in that they have temporarily left their regular travel ball teams to enjoy this one week diversion and soak in as much as they can from the experience.

The MLB Breakthrough Series 2023 roster includes a nice mix of highly regarded 2023s and 2024s from across the country. Antonio Anderson, a switch-hitting middle-infielder out of Atlanta, headlines the 2023s as a Georgia Tech commit ranked No. 10 overall nationally.

“This is a great experience; it’s great competition,” Anderson told PG on Friday. “Having known these boys for a while it’s just a great experience overall, really. I’m just going with the flow but I already knew some of these boys so I’m coming out here to have fun and just try to win.”

Other top rostered prospects from the class of 2023 include Connecticut right-hander/corner-infielder Hiro Wyatt (No. 60, Duke), Illinois outfielders Dillon Head (No. 201, Michigan) and Adison Worthman (No. 259, uncommitted) and Texas outfielder Kendall George (No. 287, Arkansas).

There’s also Nevada right-hander/first baseman LJ Mercurius (No. 356, uncommitted), Maryland catcher/corner-infielder George Baker (No. 358, Louisville), Georgia catcher/infielder Clarence Callaway (No. 482, uncommitted) and outfielder Kyle Johnson (t-500, Duke).

The class of 2024 is ably represented by a couple of the country’s notable sophomores out of Texas with the likes of right-hander/corner-infielder Tristan Bristow (No. 19, uncommitted) and middle-infielder David Hogg II (No. 47, Oklahoma).

Two games into this thing, George, Hogg and Baker were among the team’s top hitters, along with ’23 corner-infielder Isaac Hawthrone (No. 446, Santa Clara) and ’24 outfielder Isaiah Shivers (FOL, Southern U). They also got some solid innings off the mound from ’23 righties Kalani Santos and Bryson Graves, and the ’24 righty Bristow.

“This is a special deal; it’s a special accomplishment,” Shivers said. “You always dream about wearing MLB (gear) and being around the top guys in the nation. Being around the top guys and the top coaching is really a blessing and an honor.”

Added his fellow 2024, the Texas infielder Hogg: “It’s really special because it allows us to bond together on a higher level than just baseball,” he said. “I feel like the connections you make will last a lifetime. I feel like being selected to a team like this you have to put your ego to the side and do what’s best for the team and win at all costs. It’s important to just bond together and just try to win.”

There can be significant challenges facing a team like the MLB Breakthrough Series 2023 at an event like the PG WWBA Underclass World Championship brought upon by no other reason than the way the roster is constructed. This is basically an All-Star team, as are many of the “Scout Teams” that are put together for the purpose of gaining optimum exposure.

These players aren’t strangers by any means – they’ve been playing with or against each other at prominent PG tournaments and showcases for a couple of years now – but they also aren’t necessarily neighbors or fulltime teammates during the summer months.

Collier and the other coaches talk to their guys about that reality every chance they get in an effort to build that chemistry as quickly as possible while determining which piece bests fits where; it can be a puzzle, to be sure.

It helps that these MLB veterans have been doing this for a while now and with their major league experiences they’re able to recognize a player’s attributes rather quickly, which speeds the process along. But when facing an opponent whose players have been teammates for two or three years, things can become difficult.

“So what we try to do is have a workout with them and every day we’re just trying to get better,” Collier said, repeating a mantra used by coaches of every team at every level out there. “We want to get to know those guys better, get the kids comfortable with us and our system and usually it works.”

And with that, Collier said there is really never any problem with getting these top prospects – young players who have been told time and again just how special and talented they are – to check their egos at the door. They understand there’s a sense of privilege involved with being put in this enviable position and they embrace it and work hard to make the most of an opportunity any other kid would love to have.

“They’re super athletic, they’re hard workers and they’re sponges. They listen; they want to get better,” Collier said. “And they’re good kids. You can look at them and they’re locking into the game, they’re listening to instruction; they play hard.

“That’s what stands out to me especially when you’ve got kids who are pretty good. Sometimes you’ll get some guys who feel like they’ve got it all and they know it all but none of these kids are that way.”

Of course there are times when the coaches have to deal with a younger player who might not quite understand why he’s sitting instead of playing but who eventually will come to understand a single moment is not everybody’s moment.

“Any competitor wants to be on the field and that’s OK with me; that’s what I want,” Collier said. “I just try to remind them to be ready when your name’s called. You’re here for a reason and I know what you can do, and when the situation presents itself your name will be called; be prepared to go. The blessing is anybody can interchange with anybody else. The curse is there’s only nine spots out there and we’ve got a really good team.”

Lou Collier is the father of 2021 PG All-American Cam Collier, a third baseman and Louisville commit ranked No. 21 overall nationally in the class of 2022 after reclassifying from the 2023 class early in the summer.

Cam Collier played with MLB Breakthrough Series teams at WWBA World championship tournaments in both 2018 and 2019 and is rostered with the Breakthrough Series 2022 club at next week’s WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla.

The players who spoke with PG on Friday don’t necessarily agree that they are facing circumstances any more challenging than those faced by other players on other teams. They might not know all their teammates’ nuances like those on some of the other clubs but it’s just baseball, a game they know and love and also happen to be very skilled at playing.

“There are no challenges, really,” Shivers said with a shrug. “From the first day everybody just made friends, everybody was laughing and joking with each other; it was like we’ve known each other for 10 years. So I felt like we had chemistry already the way everybody was laughing and joking in the dugout. This has been a really fun experience.”

Hogg agreed: “We have friends in the dugout so we can get off-task a couple of times but staying locked-into the game the whole time, that allows us to continue to play our best baseball at all times. Then we can go have fun after (the game); baseball is all about having fun.”

The MLB Breakthrough Series 2023 opened play here on Thursday with a 10-4 win over the Ohio-based Athletix 2023/2024 but then lost to New York’s Next Level Showcase, 3-2, on Friday. The loss hurts their playoff chances but definitely doesn’t doom them because 16 wild card teams advance to bracket-play in addition to the pool champions.

It is noteworthy, however, that the previous four MLB Series teams at this event all went unbeaten in pool-play. The 2016 finished 4-1-0 after a loss in the second-round of the playoffs; it was 7-1-0 after a loss in the semis in 2017; 4-1-0 following a second-round loss in 2018; and 6-1-0 after another semifinal appearance in 2019. But don’t expect these guys to go hide in a corner when pool-play resumes Saturday.

“They’ve been in these tournaments plenty of times with their travel teams so they know what this is; these kids want to win,” Collier said. “There’s some jitters, there’s some anxiety before every game and there should be. But they’re talented enough and they trust their ability enough to overcome those things and go out and just play baseball.”

Count Shivers as all-in: “Development comes first but winning the championship is going to be big. A lot of the people here are under the radar – nobody knows about them – so winning this would be a great accomplishment and that’s what we want to do; we want to be No. 1.”

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