Mantle World Series: FTB Arecibo (winner of Puerto Rico Region)
Pool 1
Watsonville Aggies
Watsonville, Calif.
Aggies Baseball started in 1969 as a Babe Ruth team. “We are focused on building players that are capable of moving on to the next level,” said coach Ryan Capozza. The program currently has close to 40 players competing at the collegiate level or playing in college next year.
FTB Arecibo
Arecibo, Puerto Rico
The team comes in with 8-6 record. Manager Frankie Rodriguez said its strengths are defense and speed. It is a community-based team playing in its first World Series.
Knights Baseball
Founded in 2002 to provide elite summer baseball program in Nashville, Tenn.
Pool 2
Bercovich 24 – Athan
San Francisco
A Headfirst baseball academy, the team is the West Regional champ with a 27-3-1 record. Runner-up in the 2015 Mantle Series in McKinney, Texas, this is a travel baseball academy for players ages 7 through college, and the largest academy in northern California. Nine alumni were selected in the 2016 baseball draft, and more than 100 players have played Division I college baseball.
D-Bat Elite Gowins
Dallas
The prep baseball academy represents the South Plains region. The team is all 15-year-olds, but already has seven players who are Division I commits and four players ranked in the top 100 in the nation for class of 2019. The program has competed in the Connie Mack World Series the last two years.
Midland Tribe
Cincinnati, Ohio
Midland is the Southwest Ohio region representative and a perennial in World Series competitions. This is the same team that brought Ken Griffey Jr. to Waterbury. The team has a 35-13 record and is made up of 14- and 15-year-olds. Alumni include Griffey, Barry Larkin, Eric Hosmer, Cameron Maybin and Matt Harvey. Nineteen active major-leaguers came through the program.
Mountain West Baseball
A baseball academy located in South Jordan, Utah
Pool 3
Headfirst Danville Blackhawks
Danville, Calif.
A second team from the Headfirst program, it draws most of its players from one high school, Monte Vista, and qualified as the Northern California state champions.
Akadema Razorbacks
Hanover, Mass.
These players have been together since age 9, although the Razorbacks program first came into existence in 2014. A travel academy, this team has played in seven states this season, and coach Rob Brown said, “We still have three more to go.” Akadema is ranked 72nd in the country for the Mantle age group.
Michigan Red Sox
Birmingham, Mich.
Founded in 1999, the Red Sox are the North Central representative. The most famous alumni is D.J. LeMahieu, a National League All-Star. “We’ve had 12 kids go on to play professionally, and 70 percent go on to play collegiately,” said coach Mark Sackett.
South Troy Dodgers
Troy, N.Y.
The Dodgers are the North Atlantic representative. The program dates to 1971, and has won more than 30 North Atlantic championships at all age levels. This is the team’s second trip to the Mantle World Series. The Dodgers are 32-10-1 this season and have more than 10 alumni playing professionally.