The 2020 baseball season was difficult to navigate as Covid-19 impacted communities across America. “Above all else, we had the paramount responsibility to ensure the safety of all of our players, their families and those in the community,” stated New York Nine President Ian Millman. “There were many difficult decisions to make, and player health was paramount over winning games, championships and the overall loss of revenue. It wasn’t even a discussion worth having.”
The Nine changed their format for this past season and were able to help get their players better, and exposure to the proper professional and collegiate personnel, while limiting player risk or exposure to the Covid-19 virus. “We had a very talented group set to not only defend our NABF national title, but really had a chance to repeat as back-to-back champions,” added Millman. “Then the world changed our plans and like we teach the kids, we had to adapt.”
The Nine employed a strict training model under the watchful eyes of our coaching staff. Coach Cayenne led all facets of our offensive training as Coach Millman supervised and improved our pitchers. The staff worked with players individually in small group settings in a variety of aspects, including but not limited to strength and conditioning, game situations, individual mental approach and general understanding of all things baseball. The overall environment resembled that of a professional instructs camp. Seeing how well this worked, we extended this model into the fall. Should the situation in the world remain similar to what it is now, will will plan to follow the same model in 2021.
We were able to have both professional scouts and collegiate head coaches/recruiting coordinators view the boys as the year progressed, which is more than most trophy chasing organizations were able to do. “While other organizations charged families a fortune offering kids the ‘hope of being seen’, we got it done”, emphatically added Millman. “We didn’t pocket thousands of dollars then play dumb to families when the NCAA didn’t allow coaches out, instead suggesting families inundate college coaches with emails that had edited videos attached. That model doesn’t generally work unless the coach is specifically alerted about a player from a trusted source.”
The Nine worked with partner organizations so the players could participate in select events that were beneficial for them at the time they were held and not just farming out every single player to other organizations just to show off.
Said Millman, “Sticking to this roadmap, we had players at the PG WWBA National Championship with Team Georgia Baseball Academy in Fort Myers, the Underclass National Championships with Sticks Baseball – two of the top ranked programs in the entire country. This allowed us to keep our individual player costs at a minimum and make sure that those who needed to be in certain places were able to do so. We had National Crosscheckers and Area Supervisors on guys and didn’t want our players to miss their opportunities based on the pandemic…and they didn’t.”
Another First Round Alumni:
When Aaron Sabato was selected in the first round, 27th overall by the Minnesota Twins, he marked the third New York Nine Alumni selected in the first round of the MLB First Year Player Draft. After honing his craft with the Nine during the formative years of his amateur career, the powerful Sabato rewrote the offensive books at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There’s no doubt that the Rye Brook, New York resident will achieve tremendous success at the professional level.
2020/21 Commitment Alerts:
The Nine was able to get commitments for multiple players to division one schools, including one for an incoming freshman who hadn’t stepped foot in high school, when Class of 2024 outfielder Isaiah Shivers committed to Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Corner Infielder Michael Edwards committed to Coppin State in Baltimore, Maryland. Outfielder Henry Garcia also committed to Southern University. Outfielder Menra Mapfumo committed to D2 Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina as RHP Ray Winter committed to D2 Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, PA. RHP Brayden Martino committed to D1 Hofstra University in Uniondale, New York. RHP Claudio Rodriguez committed to D1 JUCO powerhouse Monroe College in New Rochelle, NY and RHP Hixson Street committed to national top 10 D1 JUCO Odessa College. Every college eligible high school graduate we had for the 2020-2021 season has been situated to continue their academic and athletic career at the next level.
