With elite talent abound at the National Team Championships Arizona, the result of any one game is often a roll of the dice. Winning a championship after a grueling week of travel and baseball is the ultimate jackpot, and GBG Vegas hopes a gold medal is in the cards in the near future.
“It’s a unique experience for our kids,” GBG Vegas head coach Ed McCann said. “They’ve never played in an event as big as this.”
Garciaparra Baseball Group (GBG) is no stranger to the National Team Championships Arizona. The program is a tournament staple and sends numerous teams to the event at each of its four age groups every year. The Las Vegas branch, however, is a newcomer, and the program had eyes on a deep run in its inaugural showing.
“What’s been good about (launching the Las Vegas branch of GBG) is that it’s pretty structured,” McCann said. “It’s a consistent approach from one group of kids to the others. We run a good system and that’s where we’re at as a group.”
Five players on GBG Vegas’ 15U roster attend Bishop Gorman High School, a famed, three-time national champion football powerhouse whose baseball program deserves national recognition, as well. The Gaels have won eight state championships and the varsity and junior varsity baseball squads posted a combined 27-2 mark throughout the spring season. Daniel Gostanian, a left-handed pitcher/outfielder who earned the start and helped GBG Vegas to a 6-4 win against Chico Aces in its tournament opener, expected the same level of success to translate to the fields in Arizona. The growing talent pool in Las Vegas prepared him for the moment.
“I faced a lot of good pitching (at Bishop Gorman), so that’ll help me here, too,” Gostanian, whose brother Michael also plays for GBG Vegas, said. “It helped build my confidence.”
McCann, who coached within the college baseball ranks for 40-plus years at a plethora of schools, including Stanford, Cal Poly, Alabama A&M, and Centenary College, echoed the sentiment.
“I’ll tell you what … Las Vegas has some really good talent,” McCann said. “When I was in recruiting, I’d come specifically to Vegas because it was kind of a well-kept secret at the time.”
But secrets are meant to be told at some point, and it’s no different with the growth of baseball in the “Entertainment Capital of the World.” Six-time All-Star and past National Team Championships Arizona participant Bryce Harper is a Las Vegas native, as is USA Baseball alum and 2016 National League MVP Kris Bryant.
Dylan Franco, a 5-foot-11 right-hander for GBG Vegas who was clocked at 89 mph in a recent showcase, hopes to be next in line and thinks the National Team Championships Arizona can help him advance his career.
“I want to go to college and play ball,” Franco said. “Hopefully what I show up here pitching and playing third base will help me get to the next level.”
Franco’s already taken a solid first step toward catching the eye of scouts. He doubled home a pair of runs and scored once in GBG Vegas’ first game of the event, and followed with two more hits and another RBI in Game No. 2.
With players such as Franco and Gostanian, GBG Vegas has the makeup of a potential future contender — the pedigree, the determination and the talent. And who knows? Maybe even an ace up the sleeve.
Be sure to follow along with all the action from Phoenix on GameChanger, and by following @USABaseball and @USABChamps_AZ on Twitter.
