GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Sunday was moving day at the 14u Perfect Game WWBA West Memorial Classic – and at the 18u and 16u PG WWBA WMDCs, as well – when teams hoped to wrap-up pool-play on positive notes and advance into the playoffs later in the afternoon (the No. 1-seed in the 14u event got a bye and moved right into Monday’s semifinal-round).
Two teams from Southern California came into the day with everything on the line. The Long Beach-based West Coast Braves Red and the Temecula-based California Select had both won their first two pool-play games on Friday and Saturday, so it was a winner-take-all when the two met late morning on the Cincinnati Reds side of the Goodyear Ballpark spring training complex. The showdown provided a playoff atmosphere a couple of hours before the playoffs even began.
These teams provided snapshots of what 14-and-under teams will look like in the summer of 2017: every player on both rosters is in the high school graduating class of 2021, meaning they had just completed their eighth-grade year in middle-school. In other words, they will not start their high school careers until next fall.
But they can obviously play ball at a high level, and earned their shots at a playoff berth doing everything necessary to dispose of the same two opponents en route to this meeting.
The Alan Dykstra-managed Cal Select outscored the Dona Ana, N.M.-based Red Devils and the Surprise, Ariz.-based AZ Attack by a combined 11-0; the Dylan Braggioti-managed WC Braves Red did the same by a combined 15-5. The Select came into the game with a shot at securing the playoffs’ No. 1 seed if they could post a third straight shutout.
“This group of boys has been pretty close to the top-tier in their age bracket growing up, and there’s a pretty good core of kids that have been together for a while; we just added a couple of pieces,” Dykstra told PG pregame.
“They’re really here to showcase themselves, and they’re really determined to move on to the next level. … The whole purpose of me taking over and coming in was to take them to the next level and get them focused and get them prepared to come to events like this one.”
In that respect, the two teams that have their bases of operation located about 85 miles from one another are very similar. Dykstra’s words were echoed by Braggioti in a separate conversation.
“For us, it’s not about the trophies, it’s not about that at all,” he said. “What it’s about is getting the exposure for our players. Our whole program is built on getting guys to college, letting them extend their careers after high school.
“It’s at events like this when they can play in front of scouts and they can let (the scouts) know what their names are. That’s way more important than any wins, any championships, any banners, anything like that.”
The West Coast Braves organization is only a couple of years old, but they’re looking to be a force not only in Southern California but nationally as well. There are two 15u West Coast Braves teams – Navy and White – playing-up at this weekend’s 16u PG WWBA West Memorial Day Classic.
The Braves Red team has been playing together since January 2016 and has continued to mature and, most importantly, get better. Although everyone on the roster is in the class of 2021, some of the young players are still 13 years old, and this team played at the 14u level in 2016 when they were 12 and 13 years old. That experience is paying off this spring.
“This year they’re able to play in their own age-group so they’re feeling a little better about themselves,” Braggioti said. “Their confidence is high because they’ve been here, they’ve done it and they’ve seen everything (at the 14u level) that they’re going to see.”
The same can be said about the Cal Select. The core of this 12-man roster has played together for a little over a year, with Dykstra taking the program over about three months ago. That’s enough time for the players to gain a sense of “team” – a sense of uniformity, really – and that’s important as far as having them all working toward the same goal.
Dykstra – a first-round pick of the San Diego Padres out of Wake Forest in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft who played 13 games in the big leagues for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015 – firmly believes that having everyone pulling in the same direction can provide a powerful advantage. And he’s also noticed how much more “worldly” a 14-year-old has become in the two short years since he was a sixth-grader.
“When you’re 11 and 12, you can be a very good baseball player but not really have a concept of what’s around you,” he said. “You can be the best player in your little area or in your town, and what’s starting to happen at this age-group is you come to these bigger tournaments and you see other players.
“What I’ve been noticing is that they’re really hungry for information; they’re really hungry to want to get to the next level, and they’re starting to grasp the concept that they’re competing against players countrywide and not just in their town anymore.”
Braggioti has noticed many of the same things:
“These guys can dial it in pretty good,” he said of his young players’ ability to stay focused. “… There are times when they slip a little bit just because of their age, but for the most part it’s a mature group and they police themselves. We have leaders on the team that help reign them in and bring them together, and this is a true ‘team’ that sticks together.
“We’re not an organization that goes out and hires guns,” he continued. “The guys that are at practice every day are the guys that play every game; that is just who we are. They have a good way of keeping each other on track … and if they slip up the teammates will say, hey, let’s get back dialed-in.”
Cal Select led the game 3-1 after three innings of play; it scored its three runs (one earned) on the strength of two hits and seven walks over those three frames. The WC Braves Red narrowed the gap with a single run in the fourth, tied it with another lone tally in the fifth and then won it by plating four runs in the top of the seventh; the Braves won by a final count of 7-4.
Jonathan Hernandez was 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored; Edgar Rosales went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Matthew Polk was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. 2021 right-hander Xander Orozco was strong in relief, allowing just one earned run on three hits in 4 2/3 innings of work.
Cal Select managed only five hits, and Andruw Householder had two of those while driving in a run and scoring another. 2021 right-hander Joseph Acosta turned in a strong start, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out four without a walk in four innings.
“For us, the biggest thing is just keeping the game as simple as possible,” Braggioti said. “… We try to just stay within ourselves and not think about the big picture, just think about each small sequence at a time. And by doing that, that’s where we get these wins from.”
While they came into the game with a shot at securing the No. 1 seed in the 14u WMDC playoffs and left it with a consolation game remaining, this was not a lost weekend for Dykstra and his Cal Select team.
“I’ve preached since the beginning that my job here is not to win the tournaments. Obviously winning a tournament is the byproduct of good players, good coaching and good performance,” he said. “My goal has always been to get these kids exposure and get them to play at the next level. …
“Really the goal is to get all my kids to play in college or professional ball, and if I do my job correctly winning should be a byproduct of that.”
The West Coast Braves Red, on the other hand, moved from the Goodyear Ballpark Complex over to the Camelback Ranch spring training complex in Glendale to play its first-round bracket-play game as the playoffs’ No. 4 seed. Winning that game would mean a spot in Monday morning’s semifinals opposite No. 1-seeded LVR out of Las Vegas, Nev.
“This is the perfect event to kick the summer off with,” Braggioti concluded. “We look forward to this event; this is the one that’s on the calendar with a big circle on it and it gets us going. … This primes us up, and from here we’ll go to the (PG) WWBA (national championships in Emerson, Ga.).”
14u, 16u, 18u PG WWBA West MDC semifinal pairings set
First-round playoff games concluded at the 14u, 16u and 18u PG West Memorial Day Classics Sunday night, officially setting Monday’s semifinal-round pairings, which have a decided Las Vegas, Nev., flavor.
At the 14u tournament, the No. 2-seeded Banditos (4-0-0) based in Norfolk, Calif., will face No. 3 Hard 90 Baseball (4-0-0) from Eldorado Hills, Calif., in one semifinal, while No. 5 Game7 Prime (3-0-1) out of Chino Hills, Calif., will face No. 1 Las Vegas-based LVR (3-0-0) in the other; LVR earned a bye into the semifinals due to its No. 1 seed. The 14u semifinals will be played on the Dodgers side of the Camelback Ranch complex at 8 a.m.
LVR (3-0-0), the defending 14u PG WWBA WMDC champion, also earned the No. 1 seed in the 16u tournament, and will face the SoCal Tribe (4-0-0) from Lakewood, Calif., in one semifinal. Defending 16u champion Phenom Signature (4-0-0) – the No. 2 seed out of Moreno Valley, Calif. – takes on No. 6 National 16u Blue (4-0-0) from Goodyear, Ariz., in the other semi. The 16u semis will be played on the White Sox Side of Camelback, also at 8 a.m.
The 18u semifinals match No. 1 Wilson Sandlot AZ (3-0-0) from Chandler, Ariz., against No. 5 Phenom Elite (3-1-0) from Riverside, Calif., and No. 2 Warriors Baseball Academy (3-0-0) from Glendale, Ariz., against Team Majestic 18u (3-0-0) out of Las Vegas. The 18u semis will be played at 8:30 a.m., also on the White Sox side of Camelback Ranch.