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Young Tropics catcher proving to be a boost to an already talented squad
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Southeast Tropics catcher Jayquan Bogan readies for the next pitch in a recent game against the Cardinals Legacy Perfectos 19U squad at Kelly High School.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
The Southeast Tropics’ reputation will precede them as the summer baseball program visits Tuscaloosa, Ala. over the next four days for the Alabama Wood Bat Tournament. Being the reigning Babe Ruth World Series champion will cause that to be the case.
“A lot of this is chemistry,” veteran Tropics manager Dustin Schwartz said. “We’ve got so many guys from last year, and the new guys who we brought in, they are really clicking for the team. They are buying in.
“We are really good. We have the talent (and) now we have to go out and do something with it.”
The Tropics have won 14 of their 18 games this month and were riding toward the championship of last weekend’s Big Nuts Classic in Charleston before flooded fields canceled that game. However, Schwartz’s team has been rolling both offensively and with its pitching.
The Tropics can win games in a variety of ways, as the Big Nuts Classic demonstrated.
Southeast opened the tournament with an 11-2 rout of the host Aycorp Media Charleston Fighting Squirrels, followed by a 3-0 win over a team from Moberly.
The following day, the Tropics got past Paragould (Ark.) 3-1, a squad that had beaten the Tropics twice earlier this summer, before closing the event with a hard-fought 14-12 win over the Missouri Marlins 17U team.
Managing the strong pitching staff has been the combination of veteran Trey Benthal, and young catcher Jay Bogan, who Schwartz has been really pleased with.
“Jay (short for Jayquan),” Schwartz said, “for a junior going to be a senior, he has been awesome in handling some of these college arms.”
Bogan has been a key component in the recent success at Portageville High School, which has won 95 games and advanced to a pair of MSHSAA State Finals in the three seasons that Bogan has been a Bulldog.
The Tropics’ pitching staff has been spectacular through this summer.
Schwartz has gotten great outings from recent Portageville grad Beau-Hunter Warren, Kolten Payne, who threw this spring at St. Charles Community College, Benthal, who will be a sophomore at Three Rivers College in the fall, recent Kelly High grad and Three Rivers signee Dalton Forck, Kelly High senior-to-be Ross Peters, and Mineral Area College commit Mason Adams.
“One of the things that we had to work with Jay on,” Schwartz said, “was these (pitchers) have awesome stuff. These guys aren’t throwers. They can pitch and they can throw a lot of pitches for strikes.
“Early on, Jay was trying to get them to throw too many (different) pitches.”
With the experience of the Tropics’ pitching staff, Schwartz gave the athletes the free reign to “call their own game,” and Bogan needed to learn to trust them with their decisions.
“I told Jay to work the fastballs,” Schwartz said, “and don’t try to do too much with those breaking balls. They will come.”
That philosophy has worked so far for the Tropics, which has the depth and talent to make another run for a World Series championship in August.
Schwartz praised Bogan for his toughness, as well.
“He blocks so well behind the plate,” Schwartz said. “He works his butt off back there blocking pitches. The kid is a wall.”
Bogan has a “very good arm for the high school level,” according to Schwartz, and he is working with him to elevate that aspect of play for his (very bright) future.
“He is working on getting a quicker release,” Schwartz said, “and I have already seen improvement there.”
Schwartz has credited former Tropics player, and Crowley’s Ridge College catcher, Phoenix Beal, for his work with Bogan this summer.
“He has done a great job of working with Jay,” Schwartz said. “I give a lot of credit to Phoenix and Jay.”
Following the trip to Alabama, the Tropics will return home for a game with the Fighting Squirrels on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Kelly High School.