In the summer of 2012, Sam Marsonek and several former MLB players started a ministry for amateur players to compete on travel teams throughout the summer and fall under the umbrella of SCORE Baseball. Typically one team per class from 14u-17u were based out of Tampa, Florida and players brought in from Latin America, Bahamas and Canada as well as around the state of Florida. Since the inaugural year, over 100 players has gone on to play collegiate baseball with nearly 50 signing professional contracts. In the summer of 2018 the transition was made to Baseball Country here in Jena and the name has since changed to Baseball Country Developmental Teams. The opportunity provided by BC is not only for players to compete at all the national events in Al, Ga and Florida but also to train year round at our facility both physically and most importantly spiritually. Throughout the summers, housing/meals are provided as well as transportation/hotels to and from events. Below is a list of notable names that have played for Sam:
2012
OF Jacob Wright – Univ of Pittsburgh
OF Sam Machonis – Florida Southern/Detroit Tigers
C Austin Leeney – Elon
INF Mike Korte – Lipscomb
RHP Chris Williams – Saint Leo
OF Hayden Kelley – South Florida
RHP Jordan Doyle – Flagler
INF Nolan Schrenker – Newsome
LHP TJ Peterson – Florida Gulf Coast
LHP Matt Mullins – Eckerd
2013
RHP Nick Eicholtz – Univ of Alabama
RHP/C Brandon Brosher – Oral Roberts/NY Mets (AA)
OF Jacob Cordero – Arizona Diamondbacks (A)
OF Eloy Jimenez – Chicago White Sox (MLB)
RHP Yenssy Diaz – Toronto Blue Jays (MLB)
RHP Jose Pupo – Polk State
2014
RHP Alex Faedo – Univ of Florida/Detroit Tigers (AA)
INF Kevin Merrell – Univ of South Florida/Oakland A’s (AA)
OF Pedro Gonzalez – Texas Rangers (A)
RHP Carlos Espinal – New York Yankees (A)
OF Levi Gilcrease – Baylor University
OF Diamond Johnson – Florida Atlantic
RHP Cole Gordon – Mississippi State/NY Mets (A)
LHP Matt Meyer – Jacksonville
RHP Tyler Carr – South Alabama/Philadelphia Phillies (A)
2015
Ben Pelletier – Philadelphia Phillies (A)
Blake Hodgens – Penn State
Carson Ragsdale – Univ of South Florida
Reeves Martin – Univ of New Orleans/Seattle Mariners (A)
Nate Pearson – Toronto Blue Jays (1st Rd)
Gilberto Celestino – Minnesota Twins (A)
Ronnie Brito – LA Dodgers (A)
2016
C Saul Torres – New York Yankees (A)
LHP Michael Sandborn – Vanderbilt
RHP Andrew Belcik – Notre Dame
OF Ryan Mejia – Florida State
RHP Travis MacGregor – Clemson/Pittsburgh Pirates (A)
OF Chavez Young – Toronto Blue Jays (A)
OF Nick Ortega – Butler
RHP Shameko Smith – Polk State/Colorado Rockies (A)
OF Gabe Montenegro – Southern Miss
RHP Christian James – Florida International/NY Mets (A)
2017
SS Spencer Myers – Notre Dame
!B PK Morris – Florida Atlantic University/Toronto Blue Jays (A)
RHP Tommy Mace – Univ of Florida
OF Duncan Hunter – Jacksonville Univ
RHP CJ Van Eyk – Florida State
INF Dalton Wingo – Univ of Central Florida
OF Pablo Abreu – Milwaukee Brewers (A)
INF Albert Suarez – LA Dodgers (A)
LHP Spencer Bodanza – Miami
OF Jose Cadenas – Tampa
RHP Luke Drummond – Birmingham Southern
RHP Jeffrey Hakanson – Univ of Central Florida
RHP Tristan Harvin – Birmingham Southern
C Dillon Morton – Winthrop
2018
INF Jamarcus Lyons – Univ of Central Florida
INF/RHP Duncan Pastore – Nova Southeastern
INF Jacob Phelps – Columbia
RHP Franco Aleman – Florida International
OF Cameron Diaz – Wagner
RHP Will Ohme – North Florida
LHP Preston Perez – Hamilton
OF Justice Thompson NW Florida State College
2019
RHP Michael Dominguez – Florida State/Toronto Blue Jays
C Jakob Hines – Polk State
INF Dayro Perez – NY Yankees
INF Christian Gonzalez – St Louis Cardinals
OF Alexander Ramirez – Texas Rangers
2020
INF Brandon Moore – Montevallo
RHP Caleb Junkin – Merrian Military
OF Tyson Mickie – Middle Tennessee
3B/RHP Daniel McCary – Alabama – Huntsville
RHP Cade Whitley – Delta State
2021
INF Mayes White – Florida State
RHP Bryce Cunningham – Vanderbilt
OF Houston Evans – Florida State