Caleb Sterling and Vantrel Reed of the Warren Central baseball team were selected to travel all the way to Kansas City, Missouri as two of the 60 attendees of the Breakthrough Series development event.

The series will be held at the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy and will feature former MLB players, coaches and executives as instructors as the players train and play in games all weekend.

The amateur development camp also serves as a showcase for professional scouts and collegiate recruiters, as twenty-five alumni of the previous Breakthrough Series and other similar camps, were selected in the 2018 MLB Draft.

Sterling said it was amazing to get to go and a great feeling to be selected as one of the 60 participants. He also said it was even more special to get to with Reed.

“It’s amazing,” Sterling said. “We’ve been buddies since we played together in little league at like eight-years-old. We’ve known each other ever since and we’ve tried to play together as long as we could.”

Reed is a veteran of the camp, attending last year, and said he learned a lot in that weekend.

“It’s fun, you get to meet great baseball players and compete every day,” Reed said. “We play games every day. You get to learn fundamentals, so it’ll help me become a better player for sure.”

Reed said that getting advice from the players last year not only helped him to be a smarter player, but also to be a better person. 

This year, former pros like three-time All-Star Tom “Flash” Gordon, two-time All-Stars Marquis Grissom, Dmitri Young and Charles Johnson and former All-Star Junior Spivey will be at the camp to pass on their knowledge of the game.

“They’ve been through it all already, so they’re going to help us out a lot,” Sterling said.

“You get to talk to former major leaguers about everything, about whatever you want to ask them about,” Sterling continued. “It’s something you can’t express.”

Del Matthews, the senior director of baseball development with Major League Baseball, couldn’t stress the importance of the camp enough.

“I think it’s really important because it’s an opportunity for kids of color and kids who often don’t get a chance to go to showcase events to have the opportunity to come, and in a setting with former major leaguers who want nothing more than to give the game back to the next generation of players, and these players have exhibited a talent level that allows them to be there,” Matthews said.

“The information that is given to them is first hand, it’s coming from the coaches, from guys like Marquis Grissom, Flash Gordon, LaTroy Hawkins, Junior Spivey,” Matthews continued. “These guys give them information that they’ve learned as major league and minor league players. Development information that they’ve learned and that they’re giving back to the kids. They’re showing the kids what they know, and then they’re talking about the pro and college experiences.”

Matthews felt this training could be invaluable for the players moving forward.

“The info comes first hand, it’s inspiring for the kids and it’s an opportunity to be around other kids that are from areas similar to theirs,” Matthews continued.. “All these kids have aspirations beyond playing in high school, so we’re there to encourage them to continue to play, to continue to develop and hone their skills, and work hard.”

In addition to the training and games, the weekend will also include a trip to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and a visit to the Kansas City Royals’ Kauffman Stadium to catch batting practice and a game, which will be Sterling’s first ever time seeing a major league game baseball.

“Really, it’s important because we’re molding and motivating a next generation of players,” Matthews said. “If we can have an impact with those kids and they become better and they learn something at the camp that they can take with them, and that helps them get to where they want to go, then we’ve done our job.

“Ultimately if more kids have an opportunity to go to college and go on and play pro ball at some point, then they’ll be that much better for it,” Matthews explained. “It’s a wholesale development opportunity to impact the lives of the next generation that loves our game of baseball.”