Two years ago, they helped the United States capture gold in Panama City as teenagers. This summer, they arrived in Cary as collegiate standouts, carrying with them a bond only they could understand.<\/p>\n
Five members of USA Baseball\u2019s 2024 18U National Team \u2014 Ethin Bingaman, Trent Grindlinger, Brayden Jaksa, Nico Partida, and Aiden Stillman \u2014 are among the select group of athletes currently competing at this year’s Collegiate National Team Training Camp. <\/p>\n
Since helping the United States capture gold at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U-18 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier, each has continued their path at the collegiate level. Bingaman completed his breakout freshman season at Auburn, Grindlinger earned 2026 SEC All-Freshman Team honors during his first year at Tennessee, Jaksa made an immediate impact at Oregon, Partida starred at Texas A&M, and Stillman made eight appearances with four starts on the mound in his freshman campaign at Vanderbilt. <\/p>\n
While much has changed since their championship run in Panama, the opportunity to reunite in a Team USA uniform has brought back memories of one of the most meaningful experiences of their baseball careers. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt kind of just brought me back to when I first found out I was going to have the chance to play on Team USA,\u201d Stillman said. \u201cHow honored I am and how excited I am to even get that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
For many of the players, putting on the red, white, and blue again serves as a reminder of their first experiences with a national team. <\/p>\n
\u201cHearing the national anthem in that uniform for the first time is something that will always stick with me,\u201d Stillman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get a lot of chances to put it on,\u201d Bingaman added. \u201cIf you get the chance to wear those colors, I think you should always take it. It\u2019s just a blessing.\u201d <\/p>\n
For Partida, returning to a USA Baseball environment was something he had hoped for throughout his freshman season at Texas A&M. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still probably the most fun I\u2019ve ever had playing baseball,\u201d Partida said. \u201cJust the opportunity to be able to do it again is unreal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The excitement was shared throughout the group. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing better than wearing U-S-A across your chest,\u201d Jaksa said.<\/p>\n
As invitations rolled out, players immediately reached out to one another, looking forward to reconnecting and eager for another opportunity to share the field together. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just texted them all,\u201d Grindlinger said. \u201cI was super happy to be able to play with them again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reunion comes two years after the group helped Team USA capture its seventh consecutive WBSC U-18 World Cup Americas Qualifier title. The United States finished the tournament with a perfect 8-0 record, defeating Panama 4-2 in the gold-medal game. <\/p>\n
\u201cNothing\u2019s better than dogpiling on that field in Panama,\u201d Jaksa said. \u201cI felt like at some points during that tournament, they were all against us. We just battled and were able to come through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet when the players look back on that summer, many of their favorite memories have little to do with baseball itself. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the memories were made off the field,\u201d Stillman said. \u201cI think it was just a group of guys that would have loved to hang out regardless of baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
From poolside hangouts and bus ride karaoke sessions to games of Mafia during rain delays and go-karting, the team formed friendships that have lasted well beyond the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are still my best friends to this day,\u201d Partida said. \u201cI had never met them before USA Baseball, and now I still have a really tight bond with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The close-knit nature of the group also played a significant role in the team\u2019s success. While the roster featured some of the nation\u2019s top high school talent, the athletes have consistently pointed to the team\u2019s character and selflessness as the foundation for its gold-medal run.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was everyone\u2019s mentality,\u201d Bingaman said. \u201cEveryone wanted to win, and everyone was willing to do whatever it took to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one cared about themselves,\u201d Jaksa said. \u201cEveryone was selfless and we were striving for the other person\u2019s success. If anyone did anything well, we would all be super excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partida credited the culture established by manager Rick Eckstein and the coaching staff for helping create an environment where individual accomplishments took a back seat to team goals. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo one\u2019s egos were too high,\u201d Partida said. \u201cWe all bought into the same mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eckstein is among the coaches at 2026 Collegiate National Team Training Camp, managing the Stripes team and serving as a familiar face for many of the athletes, including the five members of the 2024 18U National Team. <\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Eckstein did a great job of bringing us all together,\u201d Grindlinger said. \u201cThe bond we had was super special.\u201d <\/p>\n
The experience of competing for Team USA also provided valuable lessons that extended beyond the tournament itself. For many players, representing something larger than themselves helped prepare them for the transition to college baseball. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt allowed me to play for something one hundred times bigger than myself,\u201d Partida said. \u201cHonestly, it made me more of a better person than a better player.\u201d<\/p>\n
For these players, the structure and expectations of representing the United States served as an early introduction to the responsibilities that come with college athletics. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverything USA Baseball asks of you is a lot like college baseball,\u201d Bingaman said. \u201cIt helped prepare me for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe high-pressure moments,\u201d Jaksa said. \u201cObviously, you\u2019re representing your country. That\u2019s the most stressful it gets. So, taking those experiences into college helped a ton.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since their gold-medal run, the members of the 2024 team have continued to develop at the collegiate and professional levels. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to see how much success everybody has had,\u201d Grindlinger said. <\/p>\n
Partida feels the same way. \u201cIt brings me joy to see that they didn\u2019t stop after USA Baseball,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s great seeing all of them succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Training Camp continues in Cary, the five alumni once again have the opportunity to compete alongside one another. While it has been some time since they celebrated gold in Panama, the friendships and memories that defined the 2024 team remain as strong as ever. <\/p>\n
For a group that still keeps in touch and cherishes the experiences they shared, putting on a Team USA uniform together again feels less like a reunion and more like picking up where they left off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two years ago, they helped the United States capture gold in Panama City as teenagers. This summer, they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-727514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}