In the fall of 2017, Tommy DeMartini took his 14U Tidewater Drillers travel baseball team to Georgia for a tournament.
The team did well as it reached the finals of the Triple Crown World Series.
But when the team returned to Hampton Roads, DeMartini decided to take his players to another coach.
For many coaches, they would never do this. DeMartini didn’t let his ego get in the way.
He contacted Lee Banks, who has been a prominent figure in elite showcase baseball in Hampton Roads for more than 25 years.
He’s coached many of the elite baseball players who have come through Hampton Roads and helped produce many college and Major League Baseball draft picks, including Michael Cuddyer, Jason Dubois, David Wright, BJ Upton, Justin Upton, Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Reynolds.
“I knew I had a special group on my hands, and that’s why I took them to Lee,” DeMartini said about Banks, who also is an assistant baseball coach at Grassfield High. “I trusted Lee. I knew the group of guys that I was bringing to Lee, that he was going to have their best interest at heart.”
DeMartini was right as that team enjoyed much success, including finishing runner-up at the 2020 PBR World Series.
Many of those players, including DeMartini’s son, Carson, went on to play Division I baseball.
And this weekend, some of those same players, including Carson, could hear their name called when the Major League Baseball draft begins Sunday night and ends Tuesday.
“That three-year run of that Tidewater Orioles team had 15 Division I players, and a slew of Division III players,” Tommy DeMartini said. “I think off that team, you’re going to probably have five players get drafted.”
DeMartini remembers that special group of players with Cuddyer (ninth overall pick in 1997, two-time All-Star), Wright (first round in 2001, seven-time All-Star), BJ Upton (second overall pick in 2002), Reynolds (16th round in 2004), Justin Upton (first overall pick in 2005, four-time All-Star) and Zimmerman (fourth overall pick in 2005, two-time All-Star)
“I was fairly new in the coaching scene with coach (Pete) Zell at Salem High School during those years,” he said. “We coached against David and the Uptons, and Zimmerman, and all of those guys. It was a very impressive group of ballplayers back in that time. And it was fun to watch and to follow their careers.”
He thinks this year’s group could be special, too.
“I feel like this is a similar-looking group,” he said. “And it’s going to be interesting to see how these guys pan out as opposed to that group, who were major league All-Stars and had incredible careers. You have a very talented group coming through again.”
Carson DeMartini is rated the No. 93 prospect by MLB.com. The former Ocean Lakes star went to Virginia Tech, and scouts like his power as a “compact and strong left-handed hitter.”
He showed his power during one week this season, when he blasted seven home runs with 11 RBIs and 10 runs. He was named ACC Player of the Week and National Player of the Week by D1Baseball.
For the season, he batted .269 with 21 homers, 57 RBIs and 62 runs.
Tommy DeMartini has prepared his son for this moment, both on the field and off.
“I’ve been heavily involved in his development and watching him grow throughout the years. It’s getting to the point where reality is setting in,” he said. “But I’ve told him now it’s out of his control. The hay is in the barn, as they might say. Regardless of where he lands in the draft, the next big thing is how he performs. It’s about to be a lifetime achievement of his, to become a professional baseball player.”
Ethan Anderson, who starred at Cox High and Virginia, is rated the No. 78 prospect by MLB.com. A switch-hitting catcher and first baseman, he hit .331 this season for the Cavaliers with eight home runs, 40 RBIs and 67 runs.
Outfielder Harrison Didawick is rated the No. 125 prospect by MLB.com. The former Western Branch High star tied Virginia’s single-season record for home runs with 23. He also batted .292 with 68 RBIs and 78 runs.
Other locals who could hear their name called are infielder/outfielder Fenwick Trimble (Cox/James Madison), outfielder Kennedy Jones (Maury/UNC Greensboro/South Carolina), outfielder Cameron Pittman (Nansemond River/Radford/Virginia Tech), pitcher Ethan Firoved (First Colonial/Pittsburgh), pitcher Nathan Hawley (Cox/Virginia Military Institute) and pitcher Dawson Newman (Great Bridge/Coastal Carolina).
Another player from that Tidewater Orioles team who already got drafted was pitcher Blake Dickerson. The former Ocean Lakes standout was a 12th-round selection of the San Diego Padres last year. Earlier this year, the Padres traded him to the Detroit Tigers. He is currently pitching with the Florida Complex League Tigers, who are a rookie-level affiliate for Detroit.
The DeMartinis anxiously await Carson’s fate, hoping he will be drafted on the first day.
“It’s a little bit nostalgic and a little bit emotional just knowing that all of his hard work is about to pay off,” his father said. “He and his mother and I will be watching the draft Sunday night. Hopefully, we don’t have to watch it on Monday.”
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com
