PHOTOS: Top Tier Las Vegas baseball program wraps inaugural season in Arizona
SURPRISE, ARIZ. — One chapter of summer baseball drew to a sweaty end following a week-long hard-fought battle in the unforgiving Arizona sun last week.
Watching this group of young men this summer, one word immediately comes to mind: scrappy.
Leaving it all on the Cleveland Guardians spring training diamond in their final game of the season last Friday in Surprise, Arizona, the Las Vegas Top Tier baseball program showed West Coast scouts a glimpse of what to look forward to in the near future.
Head coach Patrick Flowers said following the end of the Perfect Game 17U WWBA West National Championship tournament that despite the week’s results, he was still extremely pleased with the boys in their inaugural season representing the Las Vegas area.
“It was a learning process for a lot of these guys,” Flowers said. “This is what the best high school baseball in the country looks like. We had a lot of younger guys and underclassmen on the spectrum here, so this week especially was a huge eye-opener for them.”
The week came as a huge leap for players’ individual development as the team in five games got to compete on three different MLB complexes, giving them all a firsthand taste at the next level following college.
Playing up as a younger squad in a 17-years-old and under tournament didn’t come the easiest, as most of the competition they faced during the week were already seniors going into their last year of high school baseball.
But to be the best, you have to play the best.
“The majority of the week we were seeing 85 to 90 miles an hour from opposing pitchers, which is something that some of these guys have never seen before,” Flowers said. “It was also extremely hot. After the first game, we had a rough day and as a team we went to the local batting cages and hit the reset button.”
The boys faced seriously stiff competition, including some of the best pitching in the high school circuit. As a result, the Top Tier program was outscored 18-60 while dropping all five games played Tuesday to Friday.
Although on paper the team’s record in the week wasn’t eye-catching, Top Tier did go to battle in a couple of tightly-fought contests against the Florida Pokers Upperclass National powered by Nike and Elite National West, losing both games by less than three runs.
“You know the deck was stacked against us when we came out here with the group that we had playing up. Being one of 38 teams in that age group invited; to be out here is not easy,” Flowers said. “But it was a necessary step for these guys in their development so they could see where they want to be in the next year or two.”
Following his last outing on Friday, Top Tier starting pitcher Cody Fried said playing with the organization this summer has been a big step in his game, allowing him to see specifically where to improve.
“What I loved the most was if we had a tough loss or a big win, we were still able to come together at the hotel and have a good time after, which is what I will cherish the most,” Fried said. “Playing with Top Tier has been a big step up in competition faced, allowing me to fully experience what is out there.”
Shortstop Tony Whitney continued to flash the leather as the captain of the infield looked solid on the base paths. With the help of his brother Vinny, this class of 2027 graduate is looking to lead the Pahrump Valley High School baseball team back to the playoffs next year.
Battling a nagging elbow injury since an outing against Moapa Valley in the Nevada 3A South Regional playoffs, Whitney looked like his old self once again, throwing with more velocity and hitting his spots.
“My favorite memory this season was being with the boys all summer and getting better, but my favorite thing about this summer was that I was able to get back to pitching and improve my velocity game by game,” Whitney said. “I’m taking with me this best version of myself into fall ball to further prepare for the high school season.”
Vinny Whitney was spotted behind the plate Friday doing a masterclass job of keeping the ball in front of him for the tag out at home, an unusual spot for him.
Vinny said one of his biggest focuses during this summer was figuring out how to approach each play or at-bat with a purpose.
“I’m taking a lot more confidence with me into the next high school season from playing at a high level this summer. I really focused on the fundamentals; whether it was swing mechanics, pitch selection or just defensive footwork,” Vinny said. “The coaches were great about giving constructive feedback and I made sure to take advantage of that.”
Incoming PVHS senior pitcher/infielder Dominik Wilson was back to driving in runs and scoring a few himself during the week. He also saw some innings on the bump during the week.
“This summer season I really tried to improve my batting average. I went from batting .158 during high school to .358 at the end of the summer,” Wilson said. “I’m definitely going to take this new approach at the plate with me during next season.”
CJ Nelson was also hot at the plate. The incoming PVHS sophomore reminded folks why he’s heading to Kansas City, Missouri next month to compete in the Prep Baseball World Series.
The team is gearing up to enjoy some well-deserved time off for a few weeks. Workouts are set to resume in August.
“It’s that resiliency that this team has developed that a five-run deficit was nothing to them. We just keep reminding them compete, compete, compete. And they did. They found it. They turned the switch on, and they could get back into any ball game,” Flowers said. “This could have very easily been a week where we curled up and crumbled because the competition was extremely stiff, but we stuck together.”
Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@pvtimes.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.
