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Scout Day Spotlight: Miami Valley Prospects

DAYTON - The expansion of the Miami Valley Prospects baseball organization has been phenomenal. What began in 2014 with two teams has now reached 10 for the 2019 season.

“It starts with the enjoyment our kids have playing summer baseball,” Jordan Kopp explained about the increase in numbers since year one. “We have a reputation of treating kids well and developing them.”

What was once a program with players on 15-18U teams, has now reached down as far as 10U.

“This is our first year of expanding to the younger kids,” noted Kopp, who started out as a coach in the organization in 2014 but now oversees the program. “We had a lot of requests from parents that have kids playing with us or that played in the past. They may have a son 15 and another 10 and they’re looking for a place for the younger one to play. Now they have options with us.”

The goals of the Miami Valley Prospects are simple.

“The number one thing is development,” Kopp said. “We try to give as many opportunities and resources as we can provide to get better. Our two main things are developing kids and treating kids the best we can. We take a lot of pride in that and in kids not jumping organizations.”

While winning the Midland Tournament in the first year as a program in 2014 is a highlight of the Miami Valley Prospects, there is more to the organization than winning and losing.

“We put more of our success on getting kids better and in good places in college,” Kopp said. “If they’re not Division I kids, we try to get them to a place where it is a best fit for them.”

A solid group of coaches plays a huge part in the accomplishments made by the organization.

“Darren Himsworth is our player development guy,’ Kopp said of his most experienced coach with MVP, now in his fifth year. “He’s a great resource for our kids.”

Ben Mangan and Cam Dickens are entering their fourth year in the organization with Kopp “in the process of filling other roles.” after the departure of Eddie Meyers, who played a big part of development and insight over the past three years  

JT Brubaker, a Tecumseh grad who was recently put on the 40-man roster of the Pirates, is helping in the winter with pitching while Louis Bolivar, manager of the Dayton Dragons Class A team, is helping out Himsworth with hitting until February.

One former Miami Valley Prospect, Cameron Aldrich from Cincinnati Country Day, was recently drafted by the Pirates while other ex-MVP players are at D-I schools Dayton (Ben Hughes), Ohio State (Aaron Hughes) and Alabama (Jeremy Randolph).

“We’re extremely proud of those guys, they’re extremely hard workers,” Kopp said. “They put in a lot of time in summer baseball committed to getting better. But I’m also proud of the guys that went to places like Capital. What excites us is when a kid finds a good fit. Then it’s great when they come back to us and train.”

PBR plays a big role in helping find the right fit, with the upcoming Miami Valley Prospects Scout Day set for Jan. 21.

“This will be our fourth Scout Day,” Kopp pointed out. “It’s always Martin Luther King Day and we have a great turnout. PBR puts on a well-organized and run event. I invite some local D-II and D-III coaches to come and seven or eight are able to come and watch. Our kids look forward to that.

“We’re excited to partner up with PBR for the event. Their videos are great and our kids are able to utilize that. They also spotlight some of our guys and we get that on twitter and publish that out to colleges. What PBR does for high school players is really good. The one common thing we both have is putting kids first and what is best for them.”

Come summer, MVP teams will play mostly in the midwest.

“Our philosophy for traveling is to try to keep them around here,” Kopp said. “The big majority of our kids want to stay three to five hours from home when they go off to college, so we’ll go to Grand Park, Cleveland, Tennessee and Columbus.”