Families spend a lot on camps, but few players are told the truth. Scouting starts in warm ups. My son learned that at a Coastal Carolina camp. I've watched coaches walk up to him while he was stretching and playing catch. How you warm up is your first impression.

"The standard creates the culture." @ChristianYelich

When coaches enforce it, it's a rule.
When players own it, it's a standard.
When everyone lives it, it's a culture.
Culture isn't built by what you preach.
It's built by what you practice.

WATCH: "To be able to come through in a spot like that felt good."

#Rays infielder Ben Williamson delivered the game-winning hit in Game 4 of the #WorldSeries in the 12th inning.

However, he says he was ready to roll in the 4th inning.

Video courtesy of Chris Tilley.

The Fairfax, VA native was the CAA DPOY in 2022. He was the CAA POTY in 2023 for @WMTribeBaseball

Drafted 57th overall in the 2nd round

Tonight he becomes a Tampa legend

THE FIRST EVER WORLD SERIES WALK-OFF BY A TRIBE ALUM WAS GLORIOUS

#RaysUp | @benwilliamson_9

Didn’t need a home run. Just needed to do his job in the biggest moment on the biggest stage! I’d say that was a QPA!

The Rays are the fourth team in World Series history with an extra-inning comeback to stave off elimination.

The other three all went on to win the series (1912 Red Sox, 1986 Mets, 2011 Cardinals).

"We'll see you later tonight!"

15 years to the day after David Freese's walk-off while facing elimination, Ben Williamson delivers one of his own!

RT @nextlevelbb: The Brewers are being celebrated like they invented baseball.
They are doing things that have become unusual.
They have an…

Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt came to the podium together tonight.

Frelick made sure to point out how resilient Pratt was tonight after a rough error in the 1st inning.

“This is a rookie, people forget. He’s our shortstop, this is a rookie. And we trust him.”

“There are standards here. There’s a way that we play.”

Cooper Pratt credits Sal Frelick, Christian Yelich, and Brice Turang for helping guide him through his rookie season. 💛

He is five foot eight.

He has hit 21 home runs in his entire Major League career.

Tonight he hit one to tie a World Series game.

His name is Sal Frelick and he plays right field for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Start with the sport he gave up.

At Lexington High School in quarterback. As a senior he threw for 1,940 yards and 30 touchdowns, and ran for another 1,779 yards and 20 more.

That is 50 touchdowns in one high school season. He was named the Gatorade player of the year for the whole state. In football.

Steve Addazio offered him a football scholarship to Boston College. Once word got around that he would listen, more offers came in.

Here is the part that decided his life.

Boston College was the only school in the country that wanted him for baseball.

And the baseball coach there, Mike Gambino, told him exactly what that meant.

"If you're coming here, you're just playing baseball."

He thought about leaving for somewhere that would let him do both. Gambino asked him a question instead. Was he looking past college.

He realized he was not.

"My degree was the main reason I went to BC."

Boston College Magazine wrote all this down last year. He graduated in December of 2021, after summer classes and an overloaded final semester, while he was already riding minor league buses.

The Brewers had taken him 15th overall that July.

In 2024 he won a Gold Glove in right field and led every outfielder in the National League in defensive runs saved.

He grew up a Red Sox fan copying Dustin Pedroia, another small infielder who played like he was being chased.

His mother Patty calls him scooch. It is Italian slang for a pain in the neck, and she has called him that since he was a toddler who would not stay where she put him.

He hugs her after games.

Be honest about this season, because it was not a good one. He hit .230. In July he went on the injured list with a torn labrum in his right shoulder and did not play again for more than a month. He has never been a home run hitter and he is not one now.

And his team has never won a World Series. They have been to exactly one, in 1982, and they lost it.

They are up two games to none in this one. They need two more.

But a five foot eight outfielder who was a better football player than a baseball player, who got one baseball offer in the entire country, who hit .230 this year on a shoulder he is still playing through, tied Game 2 with one swing, and his team is up two games to none.

This week his hometown renamed a road after him.

When did you last pick the harder thing on purpose.

We're seeing a lot of decommitments in college baseball. I think it's important to understand WHY.

This didn't happen overnight.

Follow the dominoes. 👇

2020: COVID.

The NCAA grants spring athletes an additional year of eligibility. Players stay in college longer. Rosters get older. Opportunities for incoming freshmen become more competitive.

Then the professional pipeline changes.

MLB cuts its draft from 40 rounds to 20.

Affiliated minor league teams shrink from 162 to 120.

Fewer traditional opportunities to enter professional baseball.

Now look at the roster math.

Before COVID, D1 baseball operated with a 35-man roster limit.

During the eligibility crunch, temporary allowances eventually expanded rosters to 40 players.

Beginning in 2025-26, programs participating in the House settlement moved to a 34-man roster limit, with exceptions for certain players.

That's SIX fewer standard roster spots compared to the temporary 40-man allowance.

Now add the transfer portal.

Nearly 2,700 D1 baseball players entered the portal during the June 2026 window alone.

Programs have access to thousands of experienced college players competing for opportunities.

Throw in NIL, revenue sharing, and the shift from the old 11.7-scholarship model to the possibility of funding scholarships across all 34 roster spots at participating programs.

And now the NCAA's new age-based eligibility model can allow qualifying athletes up to FIVE years of competition within a continuous five-year window, replacing the traditional four-seasons-in-five-years model.

Think about what all of this means.

A college coach can genuinely believe in a high school prospect when he commits. But by the time that player arrives on campus, the roster, budget, available transfer talent, and immediate needs of the program could look completely different.

College baseball has become an increasingly competitive roster-management business.

And the pressure to WIN NOW is real.

Does that excuse every decommitment? Absolutely not.

But I also don't believe every decommitment represents a lack of loyalty.

Here's what concerns me most.

We're asking teenagers and their families to make decisions about their futures in a system that can change dramatically before they ever step foot on campus.

The rules changed. The economics changed. The roster math changed.

But the hopes and dreams of those kids haven't.

And somewhere in the middle of all this change, we cannot lose sight of the people affected by it.

@prepbaseball

Simpson steals 2B. Note “directional drop step” to create a positive shin angle & put his upper & lower body in sync. He runs 3.17 from Henderson’s 1st move till he touches 2B. Hendersons time to HP is 1.58 & Contreras “rakes” a glove side pitch to maintain his momentum & alignment towardl caught well in front of 2B) The total elapsed time( 3.57) gives them no chance to throw out Simpson. It’s a basic math problem.

You can’t time this vault steal any better than Taylor Walls does. Pitchers ARE creatures of habit.

“Run your Race!” Ben Williamson was a great high school player, but nobody thought he’d be D1 scholarship guy. And then once he was in college, nobody thought he would be a MLB Draft Guy. But now, he’s starting in the World Series! 🎤

Alum Ben Williamson 😎👇

Jacob Misiorowski splits this season:

Vs RHH: .209/.268/.314

Vs LHH: .114/.189/.189

This could be the reason Williamson is starting over Palacios. Martinez being a guy who allows a lot of balls in play is another potential reason why, considering Williamson is such a good defender.

Great, now I think we’re screwed! We’re listed in the top 10 this year.
Last year we won the regular season, district tournament, & 1 game/win from the State Tournament…. And all done under the radar, all season.
Now, we’re getting a shout out in October for the spring season!!
Oh boy…. Please no Wheaties box curse.😜