West Chicago ballplayer part of USA Baseball's National Team
A local baseball player started on a journey a year ago when he traveled to Cary, N.C. to play in the national tourney and to try out for a spot on the USA Baseball National Team. Tyler Halas of West Chicago, at the time an eighth-grader at Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin, headed to North Carolina with the Great Lakes Regional Baseball Team to compete in the 2010 National Team Identification Series. Every fall USA Baseball will play host to the National Team Identification Series at its baseball training complex. The event serves as USA Baseball's most comprehensive player evaluation tool at the 13U, 15U and 17U levels.
Each year, the event features 756 players, all of whom will be competing for a chance to be selected by a USA Baseball National Team program and represent their country.
Last year, Halas competed for the Great Lakes 13U team in the 2010 NTIS and was selected from the event to compete in the 2011 14U National Team Trials. Halas said his experience was invaluable, both in terms of competing against the top competition in his age group, but also in regards to the opportunity to showcase his talents in front of USA Baseball evaluators and scouts.
“My experience at last year's NTIS was just the start of what I hoped would be a long relationship and journey in the USA Baseball program,” Halas said. “After being selected last fall through the NTIS program, I continued to work for hours each day to better my baseball skills and increase my chances of making the 14U National Team.”
He made his return to North Carolina Aug. 1 for the 2011 National Team Trials. Forty elite players selected through the NTIS and the USA Baseball 14U Championships were on hand to compete for one of 18 final roster spots on the 2011 USA Baseball 14U National Team.
Halas was ultimately selected to the final 14U National Team roster. He's the first player from Illinois to make a USA National Team. He practiced with the team in Cary before leaving with the USA 14U National Team departed for San Felipe, Venezuela to compete in this year's 2011 COPABE A/14U Pan-American Championships. Halas was a key contributor in the outfield and on the mound to his team's run to a gold medal. Halas finished with a .400 batting average for the tournament while hitting two home runs in the team's undefeated 8-0 tournament record. Halas would later go 2 for 2 at the plate and was hit by a pitch in the USA 12-2 victory over the host Venezuela in the championship game.
He says it's a memory he'll never forget. “It's an awesome feeling to wear USA across your chest and an honor to represent my country and be part of the USA Baseball family! It's something I hope to be part of for years to come!”
Halas, who recently started his freshman year at St. Rita High School in Chicago, was invited and returned to North Carolina Sept. 10 to tryout for the 2012 16U National Team. Tyler was one of four players from this year's 14U National Team invited to participate in this year's 15U NTIS. The 14-year-old also played on the USA Stars 15U team that weekend for a shot at making the 2012 16U National Team Trials. Either way, Tyler will return next September at the NTIS when it will be his age group again. He will also try out for the 2013 16U National Team and another run at the gold medal.