Baseball in Italy- Odessa boys in international tourney

Summer league with the Moses Lake SunDevils wrapped up for Odessa High School sophomores, Brad Johnston and Chance Messer on July 17. The duo played a pick-up tournament with a team from the Puget Sound area the weekend of July 25, as they prepared to take their game international by traveling with the Northwest Elite baseball organization.

Brad first became involved with Northwest Elite in 2012 when he participated in a camp held in Wenatchee. "Rhett Parker, an associate scout for the Baltimore Orioles and director of Northwest Elite, was in attendance along with other coaching staff in his program which is based out of the Seattle area," explained Brad. "In early 2013, Rhett offered me a position on the 15-year-old team. Knowing that I would be on the younger end of the roster, I would have to work even harder for play time, but it would be a great opportunity to travel and play with players from across the northwest." He attended the workouts and saved money from helping a family with landscaping, then traveled to play in the Las Vegas Nationals last September, placing third against teams from Montana, Nevada and California.

After returning, Brad knew it would be a couple of months before the invite letters would be sent for 2014. "Honestly, I did not think I was going to get the letter because I was a small-town kid, and it could be seen as a hassle to get me over to Puyallup for practices," he said. "The thing is, you never know when an opportunity is going to show up. This time it came in the form of an invite to play at an international tournament in Italy. I couldn't believe it!"

According to the program's website, part of the philosophy of the Northwest Elite program is to build relationships, inspire personal growth, and extend opportunities for exposure and college placement through the sport of baseball. "As many of my coaches have told me, you have to be disciplined to work hard, not just on the field, but in the classroom if you want to play college ball," Brad said. Traveling is part of the college playing experience, and travel teams provide an earlier exposure to this for younger players interested in playing past high school.

Brad explained that workouts for 2014 started when coach asked team members to let him know of consistent players who could pitch and infield that he might look at for a tryout. "Immediately my brain went to my friend and classmate, Chance Messer. Chance and I have been playing baseball together practically from when we could both hold a bat, so when this tryout came up I thought no one else deserved it but Chance." The two headed over for the next workout and shortly thereafter, Chance also received an invite to join the team.

The time had arrived, and the two boys and their fathers left for Nettuno, Italy on August 3 to play in the Mondial Hit International Tournament. Nettuno is located on the coastline 45 minutes south of Rome. "Many people have supported us in preparing for this journey, whether it was coaching us on our game at one time or another or through donations, work opportunities, fundraising, and prayer. It is all very much appreciated," explained Brad.

Nettuno, Italy is known as "the City of Baseball" which is odd considering the popular Italian sport of futbol (soccer). During World War II the U.S. military landed in Nettuno in January of 1944, and during their free time the troops would play baseball, thus introducing baseball to the townspeople of Nettuno where it continues to be popular today. As a tribute to fallen U.S. soldiers who died in the Sicilian campaign, an American Military Cemetery is located in Nettuno. While the opportunity came about through the love of the game, it is really about learning beyond the dugout and diamond, experiencing different cultures, food and lifestyles in a little medieval town south of Rome – actual experiences rather than a textbook account.

Brad's mother Jackie Johnston supplied the information for this article, and the cell-phone picture was sent from Italy.