Girls expand their skillsets at Breakthrough Series

VERO BEACH, Fla. – The legendary Jackie Robinson Training Complex was founded on many strong principles and values over decades of standing up for what is right.

Dating back to its days as the Spring Training home of both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, the facility -- historic Holman Stadium, the well-kept practice fields and the famed bungalows that housed players and family members -– crafted a foundation that was the finest for its players.

It also set standards, such as bursting through the racial barrier with players like Robinson and Roy Campanella and creating a closeness of families, that were among the loftiest in baseball.

This weekend, two of the JRTC’s best values –- diversity and opportunity –- were on full display at the softball Breakthrough Series, which is designed to promote softball as a viable collegiate option for youth from underrepresented and underserved communities. The event is completely cost-free for participants, who are selected by invitation only. The program focuses on developing players on and off the field through seminars, mentorship, gameplay, scout evaluations, video coverage and the highest level of instruction. In all, 60 participants are selected from all over the country through league nominations. Selected athletes have the opportunity to work with U.S. Olympians, former National Team members and coaches for three days of on- and off-field instructions and scrimmages.

Maddie Tse and Maggie Foxx have jumped at the chance to be a part of the event’s action and development.

On the diversity front, Tse and Foxx’s difference from everyone else is evident in the hats they wear.

Both girls, who will be starting their senior year of high school very soon, wear USA Baseball caps –- the only two players in camp who do, making them easily distinguishable. The rest of the players either wear a visor or no headwear whatsoever.

The two Northeastern girls are baseball players first, who sling the ball around 90-foot basepaths and face pitchers at 60 feet, 6 inches, but who want to expand their softball skillset in order to have more opportunities to advance their playing careers in college and get a good education in the process.

Both are very new to softball, and the duo explained there is a distinct learning curve in playing on a diamond with only 60 feet between the bags and a shorter distance from the pitcher’s circle to home plate.

The 16-year-old Tse, a center fielder, said the shortness of the bases creates issues defensively because of the ease of a speedy batter turning what would be a single on a baseball field into a standup double in softball.

And then there’s the ball.

“It’s a lot different reading the bigger ball off the bat and how it acts in the air,” said Tse, a native of upstate New York’s city of Glenville. “I’ve learned that it’s a little slower and hangs in the air a little longer.

“Hitting has also been a big difference in reading the underhand pitch as opposed to overhand and how [the softball] reacts and how it moves. I’m just not used to it.”

Tse, who will be a senior at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School when it starts next month, has been at the JRTC twice for baseball events, but she said the opportunity is at hand to play softball at the collegiate level.

“I think this is a good chance to expand my skills if college baseball doesn’t work out,” Tse said. “I’ll have the chance to play softball. I’ll have some experience, and it’ll be a little easier transition hopefully.”

Last year, Tse found the Elite Development Invitational through MLBDevelops’ Instagram. She then decided to apply and was accepted.

In June, she started contemplating the notion of learning softball as well and has learned plenty so far from coach Alex Hugo, who coaches baseball and is one of the instructors in camp.

A former softball standout at the University of Georgia, Hugo advises the girls to just keep playing.

“I don’t think you have to pick [between the two]. … I think they need to continue to develop as athletes,” said Hugo, who played second base for the Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference. “They need to play any sport possible, especially in the high-school setting, to make them a better athlete in the long run.

“They have to have confidence to come here on the softball side, which is maybe an avenue they can go for educational purposes -– trying to get a scholarship and further their athletic career.

“I think it’s awesome to see that they can work both sides of sports that are so similar.”

Foxx, a catcher from Bedford, N.H, spent the better portion of Saturday morning learning the technical side of being a softball backstop from coach Aubree Munro, an Olympic silver medalist in softball.

“She was teaching me my throwdowns," said the 17-year-old Foxx. "In baseball, you throw from your feet probably more than 90 percent of the time. In softball, the bases are so short, so she was teaching me the steps of making the transfer and how to throw from my knees properly.

“[Softball] definitely moves a lot faster. It’s super fun to be able to up my game to the level of the girls who are playing here and just figure out the little intricacies of baseball vs. softball so I can get to a higher level.”

Tse said Hugo preaches the chance the girls have to choose their paths.

“Coach Hugo shows girls that they can do whatever they want to do -– whether it’s playing baseball or softball or [both],” Tse said. “And if you want to change careers, go ahead.”

Tse and Foxx are becoming more diverse in their skills by adding softball to their repertoire, and the likelihood exists the two prep athletes could get the opportunity to play in college in the future after they grow and hone their skills in both softball and baseball.

The principles of diversity and opportunity, with a sprinkling of expansion thrown in for good measure.

That’s a solid chunk of the recipe the JRTC was seasoned with.