Mark DeRosa has developed a unique relationship with USA Baseball throughout his career. Years before he took the reins as Team USA’s manager for the 2023 and 2026 World Baseball Classics, he represented the stars and stripes on the field.

As a member of the 2009 World Baseball Classic squad, DeRosa helped lead Team USA to its first ever semifinals appearance in the event. In six games, he batted .316 and led the team in RBIs with nine while playing multiple positions on defense.

Then, 14 years later, DeRosa got the opportunity to manage that same team that had such an incredible impact on not just his career — but his life.

“It’s ultra special to represent your country,” DeRosa said. “I got an opportunity to manage the 2023 and the 2026 team in the WBC and it’s some of the greatest joys of my life. There is always something real special about putting [U-S-A] across your chest and representing your country.”

Now, just a few months removed from managing Team USA under the brightest lights on the biggest stage, DeRosa is back where it all began, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. And sometimes baseball has a remarkable way of bringing everything full circle.

This week, rather than standing on the steps of a dugout filled with multi-million dollar professionals, he is in a dugout with the Atlanta Braves Scout Team, as a coach and a dad.

This trip for the DeRosa’s isn’t about adding to the legacy of his name, instead it’s for his son, Brooks, to continue building his own. For Brooks, these fields aren’t just a place where his father made history, they also serve as a stomping ground for his hopeful baseball journey.

Brooks understands that it’s no easy path to the pros, but there is no better place to play than the National Team Championships tournaments in front of coaches and scouts, full of driven teams and top players across the country. The goal is to win, but having fun in the process is the plan.

“This [tournament] is one of my favorites that we play every year. I love being out here and competing for the gold,” Brooks said. “We had a good run at it last year, we came out here and had a bunch of fun playing the best guys in the country. I’m just glad to be back out here again with all of the guys and we’re gonna try to make a run at this thing.”

The pursuit of gold in a tournament like Champs requires more than having the strongest arms or the hottest bats. In a tournament composed of the best players in the country, it requires a deeper understanding of the game, and that is where Mark comes in. By diverting their attention from the scouts in the stands or the scoreboard, he focuses on the individual growth of each player.

While the scenery and the stakes have shifted dramatically from the world stage to a youth tournament, Mark’s perspective in the dugout hasn't changed. Whether it’s 16-year-olds or future Hall of Famers, Mark’s approach to baseball remains the same.

“When the game starts, I don’t treat it any differently whether I have Aaron Judge at the plate or Ryland Jenkins or my son,” Mark said. “I really don’t because baseball is baseball once the game starts.”

The value of this experience isn't lost on someone who has managed at baseball's highest level. For Mark, coaching 16U players is all about focusing on growth and nailing down the developmental side of the game.

“I’m trying to get them to understand the why’s. What the pitcher’s attempting to do, the strategy of the game, the mental side of the game,” Mark explained. “These guys are all talented. They are or they wouldn’t be here. The best teams in the country get invited to this so it’s more about understanding at this level that it’ll be the little things that’ll separate you.”

While the DeRosa’s and their team have their eyes set on the prize this week in Cary, Brooks knows there is something bigger ahead and an opportunity unlike any other on his list — playing for Team USA.

“I would love to play for the 18U [National] Team,” Brooks said. “Watching those guys have that on their chest, it’s something special and I would love to be a part of it later on.”

Balancing future dreams with current execution is a challenge for any young player, but Brooks is intent on staying grounded in the present. He is focused on the small, winning plays that define a great teammate, all while quietly appreciating the week's most meaningful reward which is time spent alongside his dad in the dugout.

After all, something that makes life so beautiful is sharing moments and creating memories with family. And baseball has been nothing short of a bottomless fountain of memories for the DeRosa’s. For Mark, having the ability to coach his son and continue making lasting memories is what it’s all about.

“It’s one of the joys of my life, man. I’m so proud of them and I love being out on the field, I enjoy the heck out of it,” Mark said. “The relationship I had with my dad, we had a special bond over the game of baseball, and I feel the same way about me and my son.”