Broncos’ Mitchell step closer to wearing USA jersey

Standing in right field, Calvin Mitchell was with 108 other baseball players who had just completed a week-long Tournament of Stars for the best players 18-and-under in the nation.

They all want to be on the 25-man team that will eventually represent the USA in the COPABE Pan Am “AA’’ Championships down Monterrey, Mexico in late September.

“That’s the highest honor I could achieve as an amateur,’’ said Mitchell, who will be a senior at Rancho Bernardo High in the fall. “None of this seems real just yet.

“It would be a nice feeling to represent my country against the best players in the world.’’

But as they announced the players who were among the final 40 players who will advance to a final trial in Houston just before the tournament in alphabetical order, Mitchell kept telling himself he was still in the hunt as each lucky player was named.

His stress level raised a bit as five players whose names started with “M’’ like Mitchell were ticked off.

Finally, Calvin Mitchell was called.

“The whole thing was televised, so I had to stay cool,’’ said Mitchell, who verbally committed to USD. “My family back home was watching and they went crazy, as crazy as I was on the inside.

“It’s tough to learn how to not let the pressure get to you. You have to stay composed.

“When I’m on the field playing, no one behind the fence exists. They aren’t even there.’’

In his third varsity season with the Broncos this spring, Mitchell served notice that he is among the top players in the nation.

A .267 hitter with 14 RBIs in 2014 as a freshman, the 6-foot-1 slugger pushed his average to .333 with six home runs and 31 RBIs as Rancho Bernardo captured the San Diego Section Open Division championship.

This past season he was even better, batting .371 with 12 homers and 41 RBIs to earn first-team All-CIF honors.

Mitchell’s attention now is on the Perfect Game Tournament in Georgia before he shifts his eyesight to the prestigious Area Code Game in August in Long Beach.

A week later, senior year begins but Mitchell will be in Houston trying to take the final step to representing the USA.

“To represent my country and miss a week of school playing baseball, I’m really OK with that,’’ Mitchell said. “When I fall asleep at night after a bad game now you wonder if that’s going to get you sent home. They’ve sent home first-round draft picks in the past.

“I’ve learned over the years to just let that bad at-bat or that bad game go.

“If I don’t do that, I won’t make any money at the major league level.’’

That dream is certainly not coming from left or right field.

Monahan is a freelance writer.