Teams from the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex, Presented by Toyota, are set to hit the road again this weekend, bound for Austin to participate in the RBI Southwest Regionals from Friday, July 19 through Sunday, July 21**.**
Made up of All-Stars from the Academy¡¯s RBI league, the squads will compete in the 18U Baseball Division, 15U Baseball Division, and Softball Division. All-Stars were nominated by their regular season RBI coaches, then evaluated by Academy coaches and staff during pro style workouts.
Elyjah Anderson is among those who will be making the trip.
The pitcher and middle infielder just finished his first season of playing in the Academy¡¯s RBI league and didn¡¯t even know there was an All-Star team until being selected to try out.
¡°I was pretty excited. I thought, ¡®oh, this is pretty cool,¡¯¡± Anderson said. (Video of Anderson discussing the RBI Southwest Regionals and his time at the Academy is available here.
Anderson, who also threw out a first pitch for RBI Day at Globe Life Park on Sunday, July 14, has been using his time at the Academy this summer to get ready for his freshman year at Hillcrest High School. The way he sees it, the more time he spends at all the positions now, the more chance he¡¯ll have of making his high school team and earning a starting spot.
In the meantime, he has some goals for the regionals.
¡°Personally, I just want to perform well and play to my best ability,¡± Anderson said.
The tournament will include squads from El Paso RBI, Houston Astros RBI, New Orleans RBI, and RBI Austin.?Winners in each division will advance to the RBI World Series played in Florida in August.
Regional pool play games will be held Friday and Saturday at Concordia University and St. Edward¡¯s University. The baseball championship game will be held at Dell Diamond. Concordia University will host the softball championship contest.
Schedule and rosters are below:?
RBI Southwest Regionals Rangers Schedule
Showcase summer continues
Colin Moore (2024, Rogers Middle School) and Austin Philips (2024, Young Men¡¯s Leadership Academy) are set to attend the re-branded Hank Aaron Invitational, formerly known as the Elite Development Invitational, from July 21 to 25 in Vero Beach, Florida.
¡°It¡¯s going to be pretty cool. I¡¯m going to be able to make connections with the coaches, meet new players, and just overall get to play the game I love,¡± Phillips said of the experience.
Video of Phillips discussing the opportunity is available here.
Moore also has some specific baseball goals in mind.
¡°Defensively, coming in from the outfield, playing third, first, pitching a little bit. And offensively, just getting more aggressive.¡±
Video of Colin Moore discussing the opportunity is available here.
The unique amateur development event is a youth-oriented, on-field diversity initiative aiming to help high school-age players from diverse backgrounds to the next levels of the game.
Joey Gallo's Academy Athletes of the Month
June and July winners of the Joey Gallo¡¯s Academy Athletes of the Month award, Enrique Ojeda, Kathleen Gutierrez, Christian Ugalde, and Charity Speed, were honored at Globe Life Park on July 13. The group attended batting practice, met Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo, and were honored on the field prior to the game.?
Ojeda (10, Eduardo Mata Elementary) finished first in the 9/10 year old division of the team Pitch, Hit, and Run Championship at Globe Life Park on June 8.
At just 12 years old, Gutierrez (Dallas Environmental Science Academy) displayed exceptional talent that helped her advance to one of the 18U softball teams in the Rangers Academy programming.
Ugalde (11, Elliot Elementary) is a member of the Academy¡¯s 12U Baseball Tournament Team that has competed twice at the Youth Ballpark in Arlington.
Speed (11, A.W. Brown) is a frequent participant of summer workouts in the Academy¡¯s 12U softball division.
Each month from May through August, Academy coaches are selecting one female 12U participant and one male 12U participant who stood out, demonstrating great sportsmanship and character. The Joey Gallo Academy Athletes of the Month will meet Gallo during batting practice and receive a Joey Gallo Academy Athlete t-shirt and an autographed baseball.?
Summer camps
Session B of the Academy¡¯s Summer Training Program begins July 23 and runs through Aug. 16.
Programming is Tuesday through Friday mornings from 9:30 a.m. until 12 p.m.
Registration is available at: https://texasrangersya.leagueapps.com/camps.