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Scout Day Spotlight: Aces Elite

MASSILLON - For the second year in a row, Aces Elite took part in a PBR Scout Day.

Pat Swain, a newcomer to the program, sees a lot of benefits for the organization.

“We really rely on PBR’s publicity and getting numbers out for our kids,” noted Swain, whois helping change the future of the Aces Elite. “Once we did the event our kids wanted to get better. The numbers actually push them instead of being deterrent. We know we can now send them to another event, make the numbers higher and the ceiling goes up, so PBR actually has a role in their development.

“We also like how PBR shows the way professionals do it.”

Derek Miller is president of Aces Elite and plays an important role.

“He loves baseball beyond belief,” Swain said of Miller. “He has the resources to create a non-profit baseball organization. He built a building and the main focus is to take care of the organization and building to help support ourselves as a business. He basically oversees the operation.”

There are goals in place according to Swain.

“When I stepped in one of our goals was to have a few national teams and also local travel teams and we are there,” Swain said. “Our 12U team will travel 3,000 miles this summer.

“Our other goal is to promote our kids as much as we can. It’s important to get these kids looks for college.”

Swain understands how kids are dealt with plays an important part of the end result.

“I came from a Division I high school in Akron,” Swain reflected. “It makes a difference how you treat kids.”

While in the early stages of changes since Swain recently came aboard, the organization is making strides.

“It’s now getting to the point we have (college) prospects,” Swain said. “Colleges are getting ahold of us. We’re seeing a lot in the last three or four months. While that’s good, it’s not where we want to be.”

It all started five years ago when the Aces Elite 24,000 square foot training facility went up.

“We started out with 20 teams,” Swain noted. “It wasn’t necessarily about quality then. We decided to cut it down and it seems to be working well now. We have 12 teams (8U-17U).”

There are a number of key people that have benefitted the Aces Elite.

“There are not a lot of dads in the organization, just some that know the game in the lower level,” Swain said.

Teddy Guscott, who coached Swain in high school and is now an associate scout with the Texas Rangers, heads up the 16U national team. Joe Perretto runs the 15U team while Dennis Wade is an important coach leading the 10U boys.

“He’s unbelievable,” Swain said of Wade. “He does a great job with the younger kids.”

With 150 players in the organization, Swain and company are doing their best to help them move onto the next level.

“We have the kids to go to college but we haven’t produced a lot of them yet,” Swain said. “But now my phone is ringing off the hook. Things have turned around tremendously. From now on I believe that we’ll have multiple kids go on to college every year. We’re relying on PBR to help get their names out. While our success rate has not been high, it’s on it’s way. We’re excited that things are going to get a whole lot better.”

The Aces Elite currently have three national team, one at 10U, 12U and 16U.

“Those are our three best teams,” noted Swain, who is in charge of the 12U team. “They’ll play in Columbus, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Grand Park, the Border Wars and Grand Rapids.”