Winds Of Change Sweeping Through Broward Summer Baseball

The Elite Squad, Huskies, Pokers & Breakers are teams that have been heating up the past few summers in Broward County, Florida, but the landscape is ever-changing, and not too long ago a different baseball mentality ruled the county.

Thirty years back it was Legion that reigned supreme. Teams would gear up to make a run through the Legion playoffs, and eventually a champion would be crowned. Legion then gave way to Big League in the late 80s and early 90s. Big League gave local players the opportunity to compete against each other during the season. In the post-season Broward’s Big League All-Star squad would compete on a global scale in the Big League World Series.

The Big League World Series was held in Broward County back then, and being the host site, they were always given a complimentary entry in the Tournament, which drew teams from the U.S. and across the world. Broward’s All-Star squad represented itself well each year, by winning the U.S. bracket several times, by defeating international All-Star teams such as Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Canada, and by winning several World Championships.

Eventually, the Big League World Series relocated outside of Broward County, again opening the door for change within the summer baseball scene. At the time, high school coaches started to see the advantages of having their team practice and play together year round, and for a 10-year run, summer leagues built to develop high school programs were the main draw.

This summer, hundreds of Broward players were hand plucked by the new wave of summer baseball — travel tournament programs.

South Florida has some of the top talent in the state, and the travel programs have increased exposure for these players while at the same time offering them an opportunity to play top competition through the summer.

One of the teams that operates each summer is the Huskies. Steve DeMatties, who runs the Huskies, has seen all different forms of summer baseball, and he understands that there are many different factors that go into selecting a team and some of those factors are part of the potential problem of the new system. One in particular — the price — has coaches and program organizers worried.

“The parents are paying a high price for their kids to play in these summer programs, and then we ask them to travel all over the state and even out of state,” DeMatties said. “This can get very pricey for some families. The public-school kids are definitely getting hit hardest from this and are losing the opportunity to play because of the almighty dollar.”

DeMatties also understands that summer baseball is a business, and in business, you cannot please everyone.

“I am trying to run this business so that customers are happy and get their money’s worth. We operate at 85-90 percent effective rate. I will take those percentages.”

South Broward head coach Joe Giummule sees a similar problem, but this one comes from the coaching end.

“With summer ball, you obviously go over rules and expectations, but let’s face it, they ‘pay to play,'” said Giummule, who coached with the Elite baseball program this past summer.

DeMatties claims that the Huskies is one of the cheaper summer programs for players to join in the county, but that does not mean the players are of a lesser caliber or that the coaching is not there. Like many of the other programs, during the summer, the Huskies employ high school coaches, many of whom are head coaches at their schools. Among those who coached for the Huskies this summer were Coral Springs’ Frank Bumbales, Zion Lutheran’s Jose Piedra, Deerfield’s Scott Bragg and Craig Sheets, and defending state champion West Boca’s Nick Siano.

The Huskies have five teams, all in different age groups. This summer, the college team finished 31-7 and played in the championship of the Sunshine State League. The two 16-and-under teams, 17/18 squad and 18-and-under team had successful summers, and DeMatties expects that to continue in the coming years.

College coaches also get into the act with these summer programs. The Breakers are run by Broward College assistant Ben Bizier. The program started in 2010 with just one team and grew to four teams this past summer. The teams are based out of the Central campus at Broward College in Davie. For Bizier, the summer is more about finding players who want to work hard than those looking to just pass the time they have off between the school year.

“I’m looking for kids and parents who get it,” Bizier said. “I would rather have a player who is less talented but committed to getting better and coming to all events, than a player who is skilled but not fully with the program. Too many young players like the ‘idea’ of being good at baseball but don’t like the reality of the work it takes in order to consistently succeed.”

Several local players had that drive Bizier was looking for, and also had stellar summers individually. Max Balter from Western, Tyler Robinson from St. Thomas and Kyle Pangello from Nova were three players who Bizier pointed out, although he did make a point to stress that he does not like speaking about individual players because he believes baseball is the ultimate team sport.

Tomorrow, we will explore the exposure the players receive from college and pro scouts at these summer tournaments. As well, we will feature two more summer programs, Elite Squad and the Pokers.

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