New Balance Future Stars Series. Main Event
The Main Event and Class of 26’ from this last weekend’s FSS event
Full of D1 commits and top talent the white and green squads were filled to the brim with great ballplayers who were geared up to put on a great weekend series in North Texas.
Just as I mentioned with the Underclass, the main event squads weren’t off to a hot start on Friday afternoon in the Texas heat. However as stated before that gives the players time to reflect, recoup, and come out better for having learned what they need to work on and that’s what they did.
On Saturday they brought out 4 separate Juco’s for them to face. Green would take on Mountain View and Alvin, while White faced off against Eastfield and Wharton.
With the teams out out there on Saturday it wasn’t the best day offensively for either squad but gave them looks at speeds and a higher level than they have seen, plus they’d be taking on teams that had been together for a good while, when most of these guys were playing together for the first or second times.
The Three players from Saturday I truly want to highlight are RHP Bradley Anderson, SS David Dagnino, and RHP/SS Sebastion Dimitroff.
To start things off, Bradley Anderson came on in relief in the first game of the day where he threw 3 innings, 62 pitches, 6 Strikeouts, 2 Walks and no runs allowed. He stayed steady on his FB which sat between 90-93, while using his Curve effectively keeping the Mountain View Squad at bay.
In the same game David Dagnino has an excellent day at the plate vs Mountain View. Dagnino would get a 4 pitch walk to begin his morning followed by a 2 hit day in which he singled, doubled and even swiped a bag. Another thing to note is that both hits came off of 2 strike counts which showcased his ability to stay composed and remain in control despite being behind the count.
In the 3rd Main Event game of the day. RHP Sebastian Dimitroff was the starter and matched the Alvin Baseball pitching throwing 3 innings, allowing 1 walk, 1 Hit, 0 Runs, and punching out 4. The former FSS MVP really had it working with an upper 80’s FB, mid 70’s Curve and a nasty Low to Mid 80’s cutter that kept the offense on their toes his entire outing.
There were truly some bright spots on the day especially in the pitching and fielding department. It was all set for a star studded Final game on Sunday as we were set to see the absolute best matchups of the weekend.
The big event would get started off with Mississippi State Commit Landon Brown facing off against Vanderbilt commit RJ Cope. This pitching matchup at all the means for an absolutely electric day at the ballpark.
Things would get going swiftly as both pitchers worked vastly quick 1st with the highlight being RJ Cope taking on Texas Commit Easton Autrey. Cope would win round 1 getting Autrey to chase on a Splitter but that wouldn’t be the last we hear from those 2.
Cole Prosek(Won the FSS Outstanding Hitter) would step up to the plate with 1 on and down by one in the second and absolutely crush a Fastball from Brown into the home bullpen marking the first Home Run of the weekend and giving his team a 2-1 lead in the top of the 3rd. He had an outstanding weekend from his approach at the plate, one of the few players to really show good poise vs the JUCO squads Saturday when he laced a double and then of coarse hitting a go ahead shot the next day. He truly had a beautiful swing and will be a treat to watch him develop even more.
However, in the bottom half of the Inning it would be round 2 of Cope vs Autrey and this time Autrey simple would not miss. In a Lefty on Lefty crime, he took a high heater and sent it 12-15 rows back into the right field seats showcasing why he’s one, if not the best Left Handed hitter in the State of Texas. It would give team green a 3-2 lead.
There would be plenty more fantastic plays on Sunday. Such as 3B Isaac Torres was absolute magician at the hot corner making great sliding plays to his glove side and turning big time double plays with 2 on and 1 out. Another defensive gem was RJ Cope when he would take over at 1st base, after a potential double plays got broke up and then ball sailed just a little bit, the runner would attempt to get an extra base and ran to 2nd, however RJ had other plans as he barehanded the ball and with all his weight and momentum going to the other way still fired an absolute strike to nail the runner and stop a big momentum swing. The defense was one of the huge reasons team White stayed in top of the game and came out victorious in the end.
The last one to mention will be USC Commit, Catcher and FSS MVP Christian-Rey Oliveras. He commanded the games very well behind the plate from managing all the pitchers, to hosing runners out on the base paths and even a nice back pick play vs Mountain View. Pair all that up with 3 solid days at the plate filled with hard contact and great approach he was awarded the MVP. Catchers can truly control a game second only to the pitchers and even then it’s up to them to know al the tendencies and the best ways to keep their pitchers on sight and to perform the best they can. He truly deserved the honor and commanded respect from his teammates and peers this weekend.
These Young men have such a high celling in this sport and each one of them got better from the experiences and knowledge passed to them from this weekend. It will be amazing to follow each of their paths as I’m sure we will see future Collegiate all Conference teams, All Americans, top 7-8 round picks and even future big league players. What a special weekend for some special players and it was a marvelous time getting to watch it from up close.