corey.davis@gaflnews.com

TALLAHASSEE-Having grown up in the Big Bend area their entire life, former high school baseball players Ryan Robinson and Brandon Reichert saw the huge need for an area all-star game.

“Their was nothing like this for a while, their hasn’t been been one in 10-12 years,” the former Florida High player and Milwaukee Brewers scout Robinson said. “We wanted to start it back up.”

Robinson and Reichert teamed up to start Next Level Baseball, a baseball training facility in Tallahassee that gets kids ready for college and professional ball. Robinson, the owner of the facility, started Next Level eight years ago and has brought on several former collegiate and professional players on staff, including Reichert.    

Reichert echoed those statements as well.   

“The owners for years have been wanting to do this around the Big Bend area and surrounding areas,” said Reichert, who is in his third year with Next Level. “The area was lacking a all-star game and this helps the pro and college scouts see the players all at one time. I wish we had something like this when I was in high school,

 “Anybody would want to play in this, it’s an honor and hopefully some of these kids will play professionally or in college and this is the first step towards doing that.”  

With the help of several former players and coaches in the area including Suwannee head coach Ronnie Gray, the dream became a reality as  Next Level debuts its First Annual Future’s All-Star game this weekend in Tallahassee.

Thanks to the hard work of Robinson and the entire staff of Next Level, 36 area players including: Matt Pennington, Stuart Brown, Ryan daSilva and Blake Swann from Suwannee and Wayne Atwell from Lafayette, were invited to play in the inaugural game this Saturday at Tallahassee Community College.

The weekend begins Friday at 7 p.m. with a banquet at the Next Level indoor baseball facility (1460 Market Street) and will feature guest speakers former MLB player Dean Palmer and NFL player Corey Simon.

Palmer played in the big leagues for 14 seasons and was an all-star selection with the Detroit Tigers in 1988, while Simon was a former football star at Florida State and played in the NFL for eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans.

Next Level will also present awards to the North Florida Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year at the banquet.

The weekend continues with a showcase at 11 a.m. Saturday featuring a 60-yard dash, pro infield and outfield and batting practice, followed by a 14-inning All-Star game at 1 p.m. at Tallahassee Community College.   

The All Star game will be divided into two teams: a Tallahassee team, coached by North Florida Christian’s Mike Posey and a small town team, coached by Gray.

“I’m glad to be getting this game off the ground, it’s great exposure for our kids in this area,” Gray said. “Most coaches in the area were estatic and jumped on it, couldn’t wait to be apart of it. Hopefully kids from this area will be in it every year.”    

Each team will consist of 18 players. Several college and professional scouts will be on hand to watch the workout and game, especially with potential first round draft pick pitcher Roman Quinn (FSU signee) on the roster.

The Small Town team will be coached by Gray and be assisted by Hal Dixon (Holmes County), Phillip Hurst (Suwannee) and Matt Tate (Holmes County).

The team will feature players from Suwannee, Taylor County, Baker County, Keystone Heights, Columbia, Fort White, Marianna and Port St Joe. Two of Wakulla’s players were invited to be on the Small Town team but had to cancel after the War Eagles made the Class 4A Final Four.  

The Big Town team, was supposed to be coached by Posey (who is at the Class 2A Final Four), but instead will be coached by coaches from Lincoln and Florida High.  

The team will feature players from Lincoln, Leon, Godby, Rickards, NFC, Maclay, Florida High, Chiles and FAMU.  

Each player will wear their high school jersey during the game and wear a specially designed game hat for their team. Each team will carry seven pitchers and each will be guaranteed a maximum of two innings of work.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the game. For more information, please contact Next Level Baseball at 850-765-0364.

What: Future’s All-Star baseball game

When: Saturday, 1 p.m.

Where: Tallahassee

Community College

Format: 14-innings

At stake: College

and pro scouts

will be on hand

Tickets: $5 at the gate