Same Goal, Different Paths

USA Baseball provides a multitude of paths that all lead to a every athlete’s ultimate goal: earning a spot on a USA Baseball national team. For athletes like Hunter Haas and Cody Schrier, the journey to success has been long, but worth every second.

The two have participated in multiple USA Baseball events throughout their young careers, including the National Team Championships and the National Team Identification Series (NTIS) Champions Cup.

The USA Baseball NTIS is a comprehensive player identification program that launched in 2009. This program utilizes a six-region system (Midwest, South, Southeast, Northwest and Southwest) to provide athletes from all across the United States the opportunity to compete for a spot on a USA Baseball national team. Haas, who has participated in the NTIS Champions Cup multiple times, knows what a great experience it can be.

“I first went when I was 12 years old and just playing on the little fields then going over to watch all the bigger kids on the big fields; I looked up to them,” Haas said. “Then that was me when I was 14.”

The NTIS process begins by participating in camps and tryouts that are held in their designated region. Every region names 32 athletes from 11U, 12U and 13U age groups and 36 athletes from 14U, 15U and 16U age groups. These athletes are them split into two All-Region teams. The teams participate in the NTIS Champions Cup at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.

At the Champions Cup, athletes participate in workouts and a championship-style tournament while they are being evaluated by national team coaches and scouts. From there, USA Baseball invites a minimum of 72 players to either national team tryouts or an NTDP for the next calendar year.

Haas participated in the NTIS program at both the 12-and-under and 14-and-under age groups, and while he was not selected for a team, his motivation just grew stronger.

“I would come back from that just knowing what I had to do to work to get my game to what it needed to be to be one of the top 40 for the NTDP,” Haas said.

The NTIS Champions Cup offers experiences that cannot be compared to just any tournament. They receive individual skills testing, one-on-one interaction with USA Baseball task force members, competition and camaraderie with some of the best players in the country, all while getting chances to play in front of collegiate and professional coaches and scouts.

“The best thing for me was confidence. Just to be around some of the top players in the country, even when we’re not playing, and knowing that they’re just normal people, knowing that I could be one of those guys was really cool for me,” Haas said about the NTIS atmosphere.

Even though Haas was not selected for a team through NTIS, that motivated him to compete harder when he attended USA Baseball’s National Team Championships, where he was ultimately selected for the 16U NTDP.

Haas credits his experience at the NTIS Champions Cup for playing a large role in helping him feel comfortable and excited at the National Team Championships.

“From the NTIS, I was used to playing in front of scouts,” Haas said. “Playing with my team was awesome - I got to play with my high school team in such a big tournament.”

Schrier’s USA Baseball career began when he tried out for Team USA through the NTIS and was eventually selected for following year’s USA Baseball 12U National Team Trials. After earning the spot on the roster in 2015, he proved his abilities as he helped the 12U National Team to a gold medal at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-12 Baseball World Cup.

“It was a bit of a shock for me at the time,” said Schrier, “But going to Taiwan and playing with a group of guys who became my brothers was a great experience.”

Three years and countless USA Baseball events later, Schrier continued his dominance on the international stage after leading the USA Baseball 15U National Team to its first-ever gold medal at the 2018 WBSC U-15 Baseball World Cup, where he earned Tournament MVP honors.

Schrier is heading back to Arizona for the 17U National Team Championships in 2019, where he hopes to garner a spot at the 17U National Team Development Program (NTDP) and eventually play on the USA Baseball 18U National Team.

Both athletes are poised to have a great future in baseball. Regardless of the path any player takes on the USA Baseball roadmap, it is designed to be an all-encompassing experience for young athletes that will teach them skills they can carry with them into their future baseball careers. ♦