Some teammates are together for a season. Others share a championship run.

For six participants of USA Baseball’s 2026 16U/17U National Team Development Program (NTDP), the journey has stretched across nearly half their lives.

Colin Anderson, Anthony Frausto III, Tristin Gaines, Levi Kerr, Mateo Mier, and Trent O’Malley first wore U-S-A across their chests as members of the 2022 12U National Team. Since then, they’ve continued through USA Baseball’s 13U/14U Athlete Development Program (ADP), reunited on the 2025 15U National Team, and now find themselves back together once again at the NTDP.

Along the way, they’ve grown from young prospects into some of the nation’s top high school players while forming friendships that have lasted far beyond the field.

“It’s been pretty cool,” Anderson said. “Those guys have been good buddies since that first time we won. We kept going from there, and now we’re here at NTDP. I hope we get to play together next year on the 18U National Team and win our third gold medal before we get out of high school.”

The years they’ve spent together have produced far more than gold medals.

“Over the years, we've built a relationship with each other on and off the field,” Frausto III said. “Team chemistry is a big part when you’re playing in big games and big moments.”

Kerr believes those relationships directly translate to success on the field.

“Those are your boys,” Kerr said. “You’re going to play better because you are playing for them. You already have that bond from year to year.”

For Gaines, those friendships are what make this reunion especially meaningful.

“Playing with the same group of guys for both gold medals is special,” Gaines said. “A lot of people don’t get to experience that. The relationships we built throughout those years are pretty awesome.”

The group’s journey began with the 2022 12U National Team that went undefeated and captured gold at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Taiwan. Three years later, all six reunited on the 2025 15U National Team and helped Team USA take home another gold medal at the WBSC U-15 Pan-American Championship in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

For Frausto, representing the United States on baseball’s biggest international stages is a responsibility that has stayed with him.

“Playing in Taiwan, winning the gold medal,” Frausto said. “We were held to a standard, and the standard is winning a gold medal. We met the standard.”

But ask the group about their favorite memories, and many have little to do with the final score.

Instead, they remember victory laps carrying the American flag, long bus rides, hotel rooms, rain delays, and the countless moments in between that transformed teammates into lifelong friends.

“After we won the game to win it all, we did a lap around the field together,” Kerr said. “It was so cool because everyone was cheering for us.”

Gaines still remembers celebrating with the American flag after the championship and laughs when he thinks back to teammate Trent O’Malley getting startled by the postgame fireworks. Hotel stays, late-night conversations, and team meals became just as memorable as the championships themselves.

O’Malley remembers the atmosphere surrounding the U-12 World Cup just as vividly.

“It was just really good vibes and good music,” he said. “Everyone was just always working hard.”

For Anderson, one memory ties both championship runs together.

“Both of our gold medal games in 12U and 15U had rain delays,” Anderson said. “We were sitting in the locker room talking, getting ready for the game, and then we went out there and won both of them. That was pretty cool because I got to spend more time with those guys before the last game.”

For Mier, simply getting the opportunity to compete alongside the group in 2025 made the tournament especially meaningful. After missing the 12U World Cup because of COVID-19, the 15U National Team gave him the chance to fully experience representing Team USA with many of the same teammates he had developed alongside for years.

“That 15U experience was special for me,” Mier said. “Actually playing with those guys was really, really cool.”

Now reunited in Cary, the familiarity has made settling into another USA Baseball event almost effortless.

“I text them all the time,” Anderson said. “When I saw they were all coming, I thought, ‘It’s going to be another good week hanging out with these guys.’ “

O’Malley echoed that same excitement, saying he reached out to several teammates as soon as the roster was announced.

While the friendships have been a defining piece of their journey, the lessons learned through their years in the red, white, and blue have shaped each player individually.

Frausto credits the coaching staff and USA Baseball environment for helping him mature.

“The coaching staff and everybody around USA Baseball teaches you how to be a young man, to be mature on and off the field,” Frausto said.

Gaines points to his growth as a leader.

“My leadership skills have grown the most,” Gaines said. “The coaches tell me to speak up, when I’m in the infield or wherever, [and] to just be a better teammate overall.”

Mier said the experience has changed the way he approaches baseball every day.

“I’ve grown mentally,” Mier said. “Play like someone’s watching, even when no one is.”

For Anderson, he believes the biggest lesson has come away from the game itself.

“Personality is probably where I’ve grown the most,” Anderson said. “Here at USA Baseball, you learn from different people, you stay with different kids, and you grow as a person.”

Even as each player’s path begins to branch toward college baseball and future professional aspirations, their friendships have remained constant. They still text one another, reconnect at tournaments across the country, and celebrate each other’s accomplishments from afar.

“Once you build a friendship with someone in baseball, you’re brothers for life,” Frausto said.

This week’s NTDP is an opportunity for Anderson, Frausto, Gaines, Kerr, Mier, and O’Malley to continue developing as players, but it is also another chance to reunite with the teammates who have shared nearly every step of their USA Baseball journey.

They have shared championship moments, countless memories, and years of growth together.

And if Anderson gets his wish, their story in a U-S-A uniform still has another chapter to write.