How Josiah Caceres found competition, camaraderie during All-American experience
CAMDEN, N.J. — It was an opportunity of a lifetime for Josiah Caceres, who participated in the Minority Baseball Prospects All-American game during MLB All-Star Weekend.
The East Stroudsburg North rising senior competed against some of the best Black baseball prospects in the 2027 recruiting class while also enjoying two days’ worth of festivities, from getting brand new gear for the game, a photoshoot, an Adidas Activation event where they did reaction and velocity testing, to the youth clinic, home run derby and the game played under the Ben Franklin Bridge.
“It’s a blessing,” Caceres said about the experience. “All I can do is thank the man above for everything he’s done for me so far because there’s nothing like this.”
Caceres and the other players had a chance to meet some notable names as well, including Adidas North America president John Miller and former pro ball player-turned-YouTuber Eric Sim.
While the game and festivities provided their own excitement, it was also a chance for Caceres to play the game he loves with people that look like him.
Baseball is a sport that brings people from many different backgrounds together. Within that, however, it can be isolating when you are the only Black player on the team, like Caceres was, and like many of his MBP teammates are, either on their high school teams, their travel teams or both.
The dynamic exists even in cities known for a robust Black community, including Atlanta, where MBP was founded, so one can only imagine what it’s like outside those communities like northeast Pennsylvania.
For Caceres to have the opportunity to play on a team of talented Black players who love baseball just as much as him, it’ll be something he’ll remember for years to come.
“It was like a welcome home,” Caceres said. “I didn’t have to be insecure; I could just be myself around them.”
It was equally enjoyable for his parents, his father Enrique and mother Christa, the latter of whom is the first Black Pike County commissioner, as they watched him compete against other talented Black players.
“I believe this was a great experience for him to be surrounded with so many talented kids,” Enrique said. “Every single player on the field was in excellent condition. Everybody there was a high-level player. You are forced to elevate your skills and your character as a baseball player.”
There was no shortage of talent with the MBP All-American game: Joseph Webb and Justice Morrison are both committed to Vanderbilt; Chace Blackmon to North Carolina A&T; Malcom Blaqman to Rutgers; and Mac Morris and Anderson Lambert to Alabama, among others.
How did Caceres get to share the field will these elite prospects? He earned it with his play.
“Josiah was a scout-recommended kid, but we also checked the social media and watched him dominate all summer,” MBP Founder and CEO Alexander Wyche said. “We wanted to award him for what he’s been doing with some of the best players in the country.”
Caceres was also named the starting pitcher for his team, and he did not disappoint — in two innings pitched, he only allowed one earned run and one walk while recording four strikeouts, including one where he powered three consecutive fastballs by Webb to end the first inning.
His performance was a major step in his baseball journey as he proved to others, and to himself, that he can hold his own against the nation’s best, while also making new friends that share the same passion, experiences and backgrounds, along the way.
“Some of the best players in the country, I can now call my brothers,” Caceres said.
It’s fitting that while Caceres was performing on the mound in Camden, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker was 16 minutes away at Citizens Bank Park, winning the MLB home run derby in dramatic fashion, and used his victory to advocate for more Black kids in baseball.
“I know a lot of them are playing basketball, football route, but I want them to know the baseball route is open to them too. And I want to see them do it,” Walker said after winning the derby.
Walker, Jazz Chisolm and Michael Harris II are some of the (very) few Black pro baseball players, but organizations like MBP are, among other things, showing young Black men that they aren’t alone in their baseball pursuits. And with young players like Blaqman, Webb and Caceres, the future of representation on the diamond is in good hands.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: How Josiah Caceres found competition, camaraderie during All-American experience
