In 2018 they were part of a Dream Team. A group of immensely talented teenagers who took home the gold medal for Team USA at the COPABE U-18 Pan-American Championships.

Tuesday night in Arlington, Washington’s CJ Abrams, Detroit’s Riley Greene and Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. will be reunited as All-Stars at the 94th Midsummer Classic.

“It’s special,” Witt said. “That team we had in 2018 was incredible.”

Besides this trio of first-time All-Stars, the 2018 Pan-Am lineup included 2023 All-Star and NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll, 2023 AL Gold Glove Award winner Anthony Volpe and future first-round draft picks Dylan Crews, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Drew Romo. The winning pitcher in the gold medal game was another future first-round pick, Jack Leiter.

“It was just a team of really, really good players, one after the other,” Greene said.

So good that they went undefeated en route to the gold, going 9-0 and outscoring their opponents 131-27. That means their average margin of victory was double digits. Collectively they slashed .407/.517/.683.

In the 17-2 win over host Panama in the championship game, Witt hit for the cycle. He won tournament MVP honors, batting. .576 with 3 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, and 18 RBIs with a 1.736 OPS in 9 games.

“Everyone wanted to win,” Witt said. “That's the thing I remember most. It was a lot of fun.”

The team was so deep and talented up the middle that they had to move natural shortstops Abrams and Volpe to center field and second base, respectively.

“I don't think we realized [how good of a team we had] until we started playing together and we were like, 'Oh my gosh, we're really good,’” Greene said.

One man who knew how good they were -- and how good they would become -- was their manager, Jack Leggett.

“I honestly saw this coming when these kids were playing for us in Panama,” said Leggett, the longtime Clemson head coach. “They were such good athletes, really good people, I just saw really good things ahead of them.”

Leggett texted all three of his All-Star pupils when news of their selections was announced.

“I just wanted to tell the guys how proud I am of them,,” says Leggett, a three-time ACC Coach of the Year who led Clemson to six College World Series appearances. “I saw these things coming. I just want them to keep working hard and keep grinding.”

To Leggett, the three All-Stars all showed clear signs of their talent and maturity as teenagers in their short time together in 2018.

“CJ was willing to give up playing shortstop for us,” Leggett said. “He was a table-setter for us. He was laid back, but always had a smile on his face, a good teammate.

“Riley was as polished a hitter as I’ve ever seen at that age. He hit a home run to left-center field and I remember thinking, 'Man, he just snapped his hands.' And this was all with wooden bats. Not many hitters like him at 17-18 years old.

“I can’t say enough good things about Bobby. Tremendously hard worker, loves being around the baseball field, great person. He’s got the arm, he can run, has power, has instincts on the bases, really good defensive skills. I could see him being the face of a franchise. The Royals are lucky to have him.”

All three are still young -- Witt, who turned 24 in June, is the oldest -- and it’s amusing to hear what they remember about their three weeks together in late 2018. Witt recalls taking ground balls in a parking lot in Panama. Abrams remembers Carroll, his roommate, doing homework in the hotel. Never mind that Carroll batted .500 in the tournament and was 9-for-10 on stolen-base attempts.

But, of course, winning the gold medal is the strongest memory of all.

“That was probably the highest thing that I was able to accomplish,” Greene said. “Because you're able to play for your country, and I can't imagine anything being better than that, really. That was one of the coolest moments for me, being able to play for Team USA.”

Abrams agrees: “Winning the gold medal was obviously the best memory for sure.”

“It was a lot of fun being able to do that with the guys and enjoy it, make memories that last a lifetime,” Witt said. “To see us all here at this level is special.”

This level -- the Major Leagues -- is now taken to the next level with a few of them being All-Stars.

“I’ll be watching the game, and it will be a sense of pride to see these kids are making their mark on the biggest stage of baseball in the world,” said Leggett, who makes his home in Greenville, S.C.

“It’s big,” Abrams said. “We put in the work. I could see it whenever we were there. Even the ones you named that aren’t there right now, they’ll be there at some point, for sure.”

Greene has one extra thing on his first All-Star experience checklist after a request via text message from Leggett.

“He wanted me, Bobby and CJ to all get a picture [together] and send it to him," Greene said. "Gonna have to get it done for him."