The Sir Pizza Selective Recruiting Invitational was held March 14th – 19th in Miami, bringing South Florida’s top high school baseball athletes together for a week of intense competition. 16 schools from Miami- Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties – 5 of which are ranked in THE Top 100 nationally – faced off at eight different venues around Miami. The Invitational culminated in a Championship Game between American Heritage High School and Jupiter High School on Saturday, March 19th at the University of Miami. American Heritage walked away with the win 6-1, and Brandon Lopez, a Junior and early UM commit, was named Most Outstanding Player.
THE 16 COMPETING SCHOOLS WERE:
American High School; American Heritage High School; Archbishop McCarthy; Belen; Columbus; Coral Springs Christian; Doral Academy; Jupiter High School; Mater Academy; North Broward High School; Pace; Reagan High School; South Dade High School; St. Brendan; West Broward High School; and Westminster Christian.
“Selective Recruiting started in 2006 as showcase for our top high school athletes so they could be seen and evaluated by college coaches,” said Lazaro Llanes, Director of Selective Recruiting. “Our purpose was to help students earn athletic scholarships.”
The event attracted over a dozen college coaches. “We had several top Division 1 NCAA schools, including the University of Miami, Florida State University and Virginia Tech,” reported Mr. Llanes. “The excellent turnout proves that we are achieving our goal.”
Since the Invitational was established, over 100 South Florida players have been placed or verbally committed to colleges across the country.
In addition to the Championship win by American Heritage, 33 players were named to the Sir Pizza Selective Recruiting All Tournament Team. Nine more were Honorable Mentions. Players were chosen based on their performance during the Invitational.
SELECTIVE RECRUITING ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:
• Pitchers: Louie Collazo – Columbus-Jr; Andres De La Torre – Reagan-Jr; Kevin Fagan – N. Broward-Jr; Alex Fernandez – McCarthy- SR; Calvin Greener – Jupiter-SR.; Ryan Harris – Jupiter-SR; Josean Lazaro – N. Broward-SR; Andres Medina – Columbus-SR; Jimmy Nesselt – Am. Heritage-SR; Alex Seibold – Heritage-Jr
• Catchers: Oscar Aguirre – S. Dade-SR; Mario Amaral – Reagan-SR; Brandon Sedell – Heritage-SR
• First Basemen: Stefan Leal – S. Dade-Jr; Julian Loret De Mola – Westminster-SR; Brian Muniz – Reagan-SR
• Second Basemen: Jose Carrera – St. Brendan-So; Mike Obregon – Columbus-Jr; Manuel Pazos – Pace-So
• Shortstops: Miguel Ceballos – St. Brendan-So; Brandon Lopez – Am. Heritage- Jr; David Thompson – Westminster-Jr
• Third Base: Jose Brizuela – McCarty- SR; Anthony Gonzalez – Westminster-Jr.
• Left Fielders: Jean Acevedo – Doral-SR; David Lugo – S. Dade-Jr; Ivan Santos – McCarthy-SR
• Center Fielders: JJ Crespo – Jupiter-SR; Demetrius Moore – S.Dade-Jr; Kyle Prats – Columbus-SR
• Right Fielders: Justin Bailey – Jupiter- SR; Andy Padron – S. Dade-SR; Julien Plana – Columbus-SR
Honorable Mention: Billy Atkins – Coral Springs-Jr; Gio Ayala – Belen-SR; Robert Baroniel – Belen-SR; Dayan Cubas – St. Brendan-Jr; Victor Gonzalez – Jupiter-Jr; Heber Mendez – Mater-SR; Chris Perez – Columbus-So; Gio Ruiz – W. Broward-SR; Danny Salamon – Doral-Jr.
For information about Selective Recruiting, visit www.thesrbaseball.com.
ABOUT SIR PIZZA
Sir Pizza strives to provide the best pizza eating experience in town. The original restaurant opened on Key Biscayne, and the concept expanded, with locations now in Coral Gables, Pinecrest, Sunset, West Kendall, West Dade and Coral Springs. Sir Pizza is known for its signature “square” cut pieces topped with high-quality, fresh ingredients. Beer and wine is served at every location. Takeout and delivery are also offered. For details, visit our website at www.sirpizzarestaurants.com.
