Podcast: Sounds from the Kelly Rodman Summer Rivalry Classic

The Summer Rivalry Classic was Aug. 25 at Dunkin' Donuts Park. (Kyle Prudhomme/NEBJ)

The latest edition of The Base Path Podcast takes a trip out of the studio and out to Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn., for the 14th annual Kelly Rodman Summer Rivalry Classic.

The podcast includes a collection of interviews from the Summer Rivalry Classic, which served as the summer’s final scouting event for 2023 MLB Draft prospects at the high school and college levels.

Organized by New York Yankees regional scouting director Matt Hyde and Boston Red Sox regional scouting director Ray Fagnant, the Summer Rivalry Classic pays tribute to Kelly Rodman, one of only three female major league scouts at the time of her death in 2020. Rodman started as a Northeast amateur scout for the Yankees in 2017 and was the only female on the draft floor at the 2019 MLB Draft. She died after a battle with cancer at the age of 44.

“She was the best,” Hyde said. “She was a difference-maker. She was a person who left an incredible legacy. And we never forget her and her saying, ‘Be great today.’ Her memory lives on. And I think that’s such a cool thing because games are named after people pass. But honestly, we all felt Kelley Rodman today. We felt that she was here.”

Hyde also expressed gratitude for the number of top prospects that played in the game, particularly reigning Cape League MVP Matt Shaw (Maryland) and fellow Cape League All-Star Ryan Lasko (Rutgers).

“The fact that we had Matt Shaw and Ryan Lasko, who both are fairly prominent names in the Northeast, I think it speaks to their love of the game and their love of competing,” Hyde said. “It’s very easy for players these days to duck out of opportunities to compete. We had the Cape League MVP in Matt Shaw (Worcester Academy alumnus). I think it speaks volumes about his love for the game, and that’s kind of what we’re trying to find out a little bit.”

Hyde’s Yankees scout team fell short in the 12-inning exhibition as Fagnant’s Red Sox squad pieced together solid pitching from New England prospects, including Worcester Academy ’24 Mavrick Rizy, who earned the start.

“Part of it is that the high school kids are typically more prepared because they’re just coming off the Area Codes,” Fagnant said. “So, I know Mavrick could give us two innings. I knew that he would not be intimidated. Nobody would be intimidated.”

Rizy was one of five high school prospects to eclipse the 90-mph mark in his appearance in the Summer Rivalry Classic. The others included Jack Cropper (Norwood High), Boston Flannery (Brunswick School), James Raidt (King School) and Hagan Ward (St. Sebastian’s School). Cropper had the high-velocity mark at 95 mph, capping a breakout summer in which he starred in the Area Code Games and East Coast Pro Showcase.

“It was all a great experience,” Cropper said. “The Area Codes was a bunch of the best players in the country. They’re all studs. It’s great competing out there. The East Coast Pro Showcase was the same thing. It’s a bunch of kids from all over the Northeast competing every single game. You go out to win, and when you’re out there, you try to keep winning.”

Listen to the entire podcast.

The New England Baseball Journal podcast is brought to you by the University of Nebraska High School.

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