USA Baseball Unveils New Digs With TOS
Multi-million dollar complex debuts with 15th-annual Tournament of Stars
| By Alan Matthews |
| June 21, 2007 |
CARY, N.C.--USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars is one of the best arenas for summer high school baseball in the country, and now that the event has a first-class venue as its new home, it is elevated to a must-attend event for players, fans, coaches and scouts.
For more than a decade, 144 of the top 18-and-under players gathered for seven days in Joplin, Mo., where eight teams vied for the tournament championship and the top 32 players were invited to tryout for a spot on the junior national team later in the summer.
Joplin's role has changed, as it will host this year's trials in August, opening the door for USA Baseball to unveil its brand new $11 million complex in suburban Raleigh, and Tuesday's grand opening was a huge hit.
With three immaculately-groomed practice fields flanking a 2,000-seat main stadium, the complex is among the best of its kind, comparing favorably to major league spring training complexes and upstaging similar amateur facilities.
The tournament's structure remains the same--AABC (American Amateur Baseball Congress), American League Baseball, Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, NABF (National Amateur Baseball Federation), PONY Baseball and RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) are the seven sanctioned organizations that pull together a team of players from across the country that compete in the event, along with an at-large team sponsored by USA Baseball.
A pair of diminutive Californians might have taken the first steps toward securing a spot on the preliminary junior roster Tuesday, as Anthony Gose and Dimiti De La Fuente both continued strong starts to the summer.
Gose struck out the side in a one-two-three ninth inning, picking up the save in the first game of the tournament, a 4-2 win for RBI against Pony. He's a high-energy athlete with a quick arm delivery, a fastball that sits at 90 mph and intriguing skills in center field, most notably 6.6-second speed in the 60-yard-dash.
"I like him as a lefthanded pitcher," said an American League crosschecker in attendance.
"I think he's going to be a prospect as an outfielder," said a second AL crosschecker, summing up the wide range of opinion on the rising senior from Bellflower (Calif.) High, who is listed at 6-feet, 170-pounds. Gose was a high school teammate of Reggie Williams, an outfielder who became the first product of MLB's Urban Youth Development program to be drafted when he was selected in the fourth round this year by the Twins. With Gose's interesting two-way upside, he could be taken in the same range, if not higher, unless he elects to go to college, where he could certainly impact both sides of the game.
De La Fuente flashed a low-90s fastball at last week's MLB Scouting Bureau-organized showcase in Compton, Calif., and again Saturday night in Cincinnati at Perfect Game's National Showcase. He was his league's MVP as a wide receiver last fall as a junior on the South Hills High (Covina, Calif.) football team, and does everything easily on the diamond.
He squared up the ball twice in three at-bats for Babe Ruth in its 16-1 loss to USA Stars in Tuesday's second game. He's a tick slower than Gose, turning in 6.9-second 60-yard times, but he has a better approach at the plate and shows solid-average defensive skills in the infield.
Versatility is always one of the first things national teams look for when selecting their roster--that and experience--which is another check mark in De La Fuente's favor.
He batted .429 last August for the youth national team, which won a gold medal in Venezuela, going undefeated in the Pan-Am Championship. But the 6-foot-1, 185-pound third baseman/righthander appeared in just four games, finding himself backing up the more physical Harold Martinez (Braddock High, Miami), who again is vying for the third base job with De La Fuente here in Cary.
"I know what they're looking for, so I think that is the biggest difference from last year to this," said De La Fuente of his mindset this week during the TOS. "They look for a leader, someone who's going to be able to play as well as they can lead their teammates."
Martinez, meanwhile, made an error, doubled and scored a run for AABC in its game against Dixie Tuesday night. He was selected as an Aflac all-American this year, and while De La Fuente is more versatile and plays with more energy, Martinez' bat could fit nicely into the middle of the junior lineup. He batted .364 (12-for-33) with two doubles and six RBIs last year in Venezuela.
Stars And Stripes
• Not even Martinez' tools match those of Long Beach's Aaron Hicks, though the outfielder/righthander won't be able to show off his well-above-average arm strength this week for RBI. Hicks had to leave his pitching performance abruptly Saturday in Cincinnati at the PG National after experiencing discomfort in his throwing shoulder. "It was a tweak," Hicks said after going 1-for-3 with a deep sacrifice fly and a strikeout Tuesday as a DH in RBI's lineup. Hicks said he had seen a doctor, and would not resume throwing for "about a month."
• While Eric Hosmer continued to show why he's among the best pure hitters in the high school class with an RBI double off the right-center field wall in his first at-bat of the tournament, he had his hands full when Dixie went to its bullpen and summoned 5-foot-8, 155-pound lefty Nolan Belcher. The rising senior from Greenbrier High (Evans, Ga.) pitched at 87 mph with a 71-76 mph curveball that has tight rotation and tied up plenty of hitters, including a punch out and tapper back to the mound in two battles with the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Hosmer.