Coaches with a pro baseball team recently raved about a pair of Caymanian ball players.
Three instructors with the BullSox Training Academy, the youth development side of Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox, had high marks for Tyler Lee, 17, and Dequan Bennett, 16.
For hitting/defence instructor James Nash, 28, the boys can get a shot at Minor League Baseball.
“Tyler and Dequan are the two stars here,” Nash said. “To me, they are a couple of solid players. If they continue to progress and develop, they can have a chance to get to the minors.
“It is also great that they are helping the younger ones. They should know the game as much as any of us.”
Nash, who played professionally in Europe, joined pitching instructor/scout Larry Owens, hitting/fielding instructor Sam Zagorac (who came here last November with pitching guru Marty Kobernus) and minor league instructor Devon White (a three-time World Series winner with the Toronto Blue Jays and Florida Marlins).
The quartet were at the Spring 2012 Cayman Islands Little League White Sox camp this month. The Field of Dreams facility in George Town attracted hundreds of youngsters aged 5-18, including 16-year-old teenagers Alex Pascal and Mark Chisholm.
After working with many local kids, Zagorac, 37, feels Lee and Bennett are the role models for Little League baseball here.
“I hope this is a partnership that allows Cayman’s youth to use us as a conduit to get to the States for an education,” Zagorac said. “Tyler and Dequan are going through that process now and they will play in the States next year. They will set the pace for the other kids. The development seen by us and the Cayman Little League will only get better.”
Lee and Bennett, who were born in George Town, have been going through the college recruitment process. They were slated to attend Floridian showcase camps in Fort Myers and Altamonte Springs over the past two months in the hopes of being offered US scholarships to play college baseball.
Interestingly, the idea of trying out for foreign coaches is not completely new. Lee (who lives in George Town) and Bennett (who lives in Prospect) took part in a clinic last October at US Cellular Field, the home of the White Sox. There they were scrutinized by scouts from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, II and III schools.
Whether or not the young men make it, the White Sox coaches are eager to come down here and discover new talent.
“I was born and raised in Chicago and this is my third time here,” Nash said. “It’s amazing as a young man having that younger relationship/connection with the kids. It feels like they can learn to progress as people and it’s such a positive thing. I feel like I can have a conversation with them outside of baseball, about life lessons.”
“This is my fourth time here and we will be back in May,” Zagorac said. “The Cayman association has been first class with us. After the T-Ball session, I couldn’t help but think these are the best T-Ball group of kids I’ve seen in the last four years. They are much better today than four years ago.
“The fact that the Cayman players are better is a credit to the staff here. You will see better players here as a result.”
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