Elite Baseball gives underclassmen their day in the sun

IRVINE - They sat in the dugout at UC Irvine, their bats at their feet as some staticky old rock music played on the PA system in the distance.

If not for the occassional guitar riff, Anteater Ballpark would have been completely silent.

A VIP was at the diamond on Thursday afternoon, there to give them the lowdown on what it's like to be a professional and what will be expected of them if they move up the ranks to college or the minor leagues.

It's not every day that 15- and 16-year-old kids get to take a master class from a big league scout. So needless to say, Jason Smith, who works in the Cleveland Indians organization, had the teens' undivided attention.

"He gave us some tips and stuff that we can use throughout this experience, not only this experience, though, but other stuff that we go through on our way to playing in college or even in the pros," said Mater Dei infielder and Elite Baseball Series invitee Derek Campbell.

"He was telling us how it is to play every single day and how tiring that can really be," added Cypress infielder Trent Zaks as he sat next to Campbell in the Anteaters clubhouse.

Campbell and Zaks were among the elite group of players from Southern California and Arizona who had been chosen by Elite Baseball President Joe DeMarco to participate in this showcase for freshman and sophomore players.

The goal was to give these kids a chance to get a feel for what it's like to play three-game series in a nice stadium with fancy clubhouses, things that aren't usually a part of a beginning high school career. Before the series moved to UCI, UCLA's Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium played host to the fledgling series.

Mission Viejo's Willie Kuhl, a right-hand pitcher for Elite's Blue squad, used his curveball and change up to shut down the White team, which went on to score eight runs after Kuhl was taken out of the opening game at UCLA.

In the final, Marina third baseman Chad Lewis went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI to help the Blue team complete the three-game series sweep.

Jake Medina (Mater Dei) batted .667 during the series while Ben Wylly (Woodbridge) scored two runs and stole three bases.

"I would hope that maybe 70-80 percent of these players would be able to move on (to college or professional baseball). This is a good, talented group that we have here," said DeMarco, who was on the coaching staff when baseball returned to UCI in 2002. "This group is the 90th percentile. It is an advanced, physical group for kids this age."

DeMarco said the goal is to get these kids into college, but so far there has been some pro scouts in attendance, too. And DeMarco said he has been getting good feedback from all of them afterward, which is why he thinks such a high number of his players have a chance at moving on to bigger and better things.

Representatives from Stanford and Cal have asked DeMarco if they could play host to his series in the future.

"When you have good players, the word is going to get out and the guys are going to come and watch," DeMarco said. "Hopefully, this is going to grow and we will be at every major college on the West Coast. We will just have to see where this takes us."

When DeMarco left college baseball, he started working with 13- and 14-year-old players, but he really had a desire to help get young high school players ready for college. So he sat down with some of the coaches he knew to come up with an alternative to the Junior Olympics held yearly in Arizona. And the Elite Baseball Series is what they came up with. Currently, the roster is made up of players from Southern California and Arizona, but one day he would like to see his program evolve into a national showcase for young up-and-coming talent.

"We want to get to where we are talked about in the same breath as the Area Code Games. A scout came up to me and asked if it would be OK if he put together a team and brought it to Southern California to play against one of my teams," DeMarco said. "I said, 'Absolutely.' I want to be able to brand this and go to different universities across the country and provide the same service for kids there."

Zaks thinks DeMarco is definitely on to something good.

"I'd give the experience a 10 out of 10," Zaks said as Campbell nodded in agreement.

"Yep... 10 out of 10," Campbell added.

Contact the writer: ddottore@ocregister.com