FORT MYERS, Fla. – The boys from Georgia and the kids from Iowa arrived at the Lee County Player Development Complex late Thursday morning with bounces in their steps and eagerness in their eyes.
And not long after their entrance, the first of what would become a literal throng of college coaches and recruiting coordinators – by one estimate, the number easily grew to more than 70 just at this one venue – followed in the teams’ footsteps, and they were also toting along a sense of anticipation.
The occasion was opening day at the 17th annual Perfect Game WWBA Underclass World Championship, and the players, coaches and families from the Marietta, Ga.-based 643 DP Cougars Pralgo and the Waukee, Iowa-based Iowa Sticks Scout 2020 were among the teams playing in the first time slot on Thursday.
Reid Robertson, a top-1,000 nationally ranked and uncommitted 2020 left-hander from Marietta, was handed the ball to make the start for the 643 DP Cougars. He told PG on Thursday that the WWBA Underclass World Championship – he was here last year with the 643 DP Cougars Sterling – is an event he and his teammates have had circled on their calendar since the conclusion of last year’s tournament.
“We get to gel down here as a team, we get together and it’s just a lot of fun; it’s all good,” Robertson said. “It’s good to get out here and get seen (by college coaches). I like talking to those guys and see what they’ve got … and I’m always able to stay focused.”
This PG national championship underclass tournament has become must-see for college recruiters at every level, from all three NCAA divisions right through NAIA and the junior college ranks. The prospects the colleges recruit have become younger with each passing year but there are still plenty of high school juniors, sophomores and freshman here this weekend that are still looking for their dream college, the proverbial perfect fit.
643 DP Cougars Pralgo 2020 middle-infielder/outfielder Wyatt Castoe, a top-500 prospect nationally, has committed to the College of Charleston and is the only prospect on this Cougars roster who has made his commitment. That didn’t necessarily happen by accident.
Team manager/head coach Danny Pralgo told PG Thursday that several other players who might normally play with this group but have already committed to the colleges of their choice decided to sit out this weekend so they didn’t miss as many as five more days of school.
“It’s such a great event that PG puts on because it puts these guys on a stage where there’s a ton of college coaches looking at them,” Pralgo said. “It’s just an amazing event going up against great competition and kind of seeing where (these uncommitted) guys are at and what we need to work on.
“We’re one of those organizations that loves to practice, so coming down here and going up against the best-of-the-best … and see what we need to keep working on so these guys can go on and play at the next level. … This is a great avenue to get them in front of college coaches.”
Jackson Brown, a 2020 catcher/first baseman from Marietta and a classmate/teammate of Robertson’s at Pope High School, is another uncommitted top-500 national prospect who is here for a second straight year. The list goes on-and-on and these guys are doing their best to show these colleges what they have to offer.
The Cougars downed the Sticks, 2-1, in Thursday afternoon’s action and a trio of their top prospects shined bright, starting with Robertson. He allowed the one earned run on just one hit while striking out 10 and walking three in four innings of work.
Robertson pitched for the 643 17u Cougs/Pralgo at last weekend’s PG WWBA National Qualifier at PG Park-LakePoint in Emerson, Ga., and wasn’t at all pleased with the way he performed. His outing here on Thursday was a like a breath of fresh air.
“It was rough last weekend so it just felt good to get back out there today,” he said. “I just didn’t have a real good feel for my curveball last weekend but it came back today and felt really good.”
Brown drove in both of 643 DP’s runs, the first with a double in the top of the fourth and the second with a single in the top of the seventh at broke a 1-1 tie. Ty Floyd, a 2020, play-me-anywhere type of guy from Rockmart, Ga., singled and scored in front of Brown in the fourth and tripled and scored in front of him in the seventh; he also pitched three innings in relief and didn’t allow an earned run on two hits while striking out four.
The Sticks’ Nicholas Crandell, an uncommitted 2020 from Johnston, Iowa, tripled and drove in his team’s only run with a fielder’s choice groundout in the fifth. 2020 outfielder/left-hander Alec Nigut is a University of Iowa commit who both played in the field and pitched against the Cougars on Thursday; he threw three innings in relief and gave up a run on two hits, striking out seven and walking one.
“This is something we really set our goals on, having been down here last year for the first time,” Iowa Sticks head coach Evan Ramanchuk told PG on Thursday. “We have a really strong 2020 class so this something that we feel we can really compete at.”
Only the 49 pool champions advance to the 49-team playoffs at this PG national championship tournament, so the Sticks will have to hope each of the other three teams in their pool stubs their toe at least once in order to get back into the playoff conversation.
The players that make up the nucleus of the roster have been playing together since they were 12 years old and they know each other extremely well since the majority attend high schools that are members of the powerhouse Central Iowa Metro League, the state’s largest big-school conference.
“It’s kind of exciting to see this group grow and starting to get the attention that they are getting,” Ramanchuk said. “This is it. This event is what they get ready for all year knowing how many college coaches are going to be here … and who are going to decide, ‘Is this kid right for our program?’ It’s something we definitely gear up for all year.
“We talk about is just not being successful at this level but doing things right to be successful at the next level in college,” he continued. “… We’re trying to give them tools to win now but also to be ready for the next level.”
Before Pralgo brings a team to a high-end tournament like this, his message to the players is a simple one. He tells them to go out and just do the same things they do in practice where execution and attention to detail – doing the little things right – take precedence over all else.
He and his other coaches talk about “good outs” and, yes, there is such a thing. If a hitter can move a runner along while making an out or building a pitcher’s pitch-count by working deep into a two-strike count, that all for the better.
“All of that can lead to something successful later on when the game is coming to a head,” Pralgo said. “We’re going to grind and we’re going to try to do as many little things right as possible and live with that result. If it means it’s a win, we’ll take it, and if it means we have to tip a hat, then we’ll tip a hat to the opposing team.”
The 643 DP Cougars’ Pralgo only have one pool-play game a day scheduled on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, although they could end up playing two games on Saturday with first-round playoffs games starting up. Pralgo likes the fact that the schedule kind of gives his players a little room to breathe.
“It actually allows us to play a game, talk about it, go over some stuff, and if we do need to hook up just to work on some things, it gives us that time,” he said. “Plus, these guys are missing school … and they come down here with books in hand, so they can get some of their schoolwork done, too.
“If they get that work done and then get the baseball done, it allows them some free time just to be teenagers and hang out with their buddies; I think it works our really well.”