Every summer, the best players from the 13-and 14-and-under age groups assemble in Cary, North Carolina, for a weekend of training with a group of elite coaches at USA Baseball’s Athlete Development Program (ADP). Fifty players are invited and split into two teams, Team Navy and Team Red, and compete in a series of games as well as skill workouts and player development testing.
The program serves as an opportunity for players to show off their skills and put themselves on the radar of coaches and scouts, and for some, it’s the chance to show how they’ve developed over the last couple of years. Seventeen of the players in attendance competed on the 12U National Team in 2024 or 2025, while 10 of this year's participants attended last year’s ADP. Now, they’re back at the National Training Complex a year older and stronger, with new skills to show off.
After attending in 2025, Wyatt Peabody came into this weekend feeling more confident than he was the year prior.
“Last year I was way more nervous because the kids were older and they were throwing harder,” Peabody said. “But yesterday, I thought it was easier.”
Over the past year, Peabody said he’s worked on his mental game. This year, he’s more mature and has learned how to handle certain situations better as well.
For Joshua Pierre, the past year has been about growth – literally.
“Last year I felt undersized, like one of the smaller ones. Now [I’ve grown] and I fit in with everybody,” Pierre said. Last year we were playing against older [kids.] Now I'm the older kid playing against the younger kids. So it's a little bit easier this year.”
In addition to last year’s ADP, Pierre has represented the stars and stripes as a member of the 12U National Team that brought home a gold medal at the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier. He said the coaching at these events, especially from 2024 12U assistant coach Josh Ellison, who has returned to Cary as Team Red’s Manager this year, has played a key role in his development as a player.
“The coaches, they're very encouraging, and they have a lot of knowledge, especially Coach Jelli. I was with him when I was on the 12U team,” said Pierre. “He's always been encouraging me, giving me small improvements, and he’s just helped me a lot.”
When he’s not at the National Training Complex, Pierre still has access to a wealth of baseball knowledge as his dad, Juan, spent 14 years in the majors and won a World Series title with the Marlins in 2003. He said he looks up to his dad and appreciates how much he’s taught him and helped with his young career.
Jack Mattingly, who was also a member of the 2024 gold-winning team, said that he’s always learning something new from the USA Baseball coaches, no matter the circumstance. During the first game of the weekend, he said he even learned something new on the base paths. In addition to the improvements in his on the field performance, the coaches have also helped him grow off the field.
“They’ve [taught] me to be a better young man,” Mattingly said.
At USA Baseball, the way a player represents themself off the field is just as important as who they are on the field. The Athlete Development Program and the 16/17U National Team Development Program (NTDP) both serve as another stage for player evaluations, both on and off the field, as a way to identify players to potentially invite to 15U and 18U National Team Training Camps, respectively. But earning an invite to any program or training camp is not easy as 2024 12U alum Cooper Hutton knows.
“You’ve got to stand out. If you want to earn a spot, you have to stand out,” Hutton said. “So find something that separates you from the bunch, and just work really hard.”
Regardless of the outcome, earning an invitation to a USA Baseball developmental program is an incredible accomplishment in itself, as only the best players from around the country are invited.
