Building Relationships, Winning Championships

Left Image: (left) Mike Colangelo, (center) Rich Wallace, (right) Coach Sal 

Right Image: (left) John McCormack, (center) Jason Jackson, (right) Coach Sal

There are lots of reasons why the Big Train has been able to win eleven Cal Ripken Sr. League Championships. Shirley Povich Field is one of the most fan friendly venues in all of summer college baseball. Our Big Train fans pack the ballpark and support the club with generous financial donations. Our players love their wonderful host families and pass the word to their college teammates that Bethesda is the place to play.

One of the under appreciated reasons why Big Train consistently gets championship caliber players is the extraordinary effort our head coach Sal Colangelo has put into recruiting for more than two decades. Summer ball recruiting is a special art. There’s no travel budget. There are no paid scouts. The summer ball teams that win year after year have built strong relationships with top college coaches across the country.

Sal Colangelo spends most of his waking hours throughout June and July coaching the Big Train team through the grind of a 40 plus game regular season and playoffs. But instead of taking August off, he is busy recruiting the team for the next summer. By just after Labor Day, the next summer’s team is in place. Any given year, Coach Sal works with a dozen or more college coaches who provide the core of the Big Train team. Sal has built a relationship of trust with the coaches –- they know their players will be well housed, be able to get their work in at the gym, get their fair shot at playing time (and pitchers won’t be overused), and be able to perform in a great summer ball environment. 

The colleges change over time –- there’s always Virginia Tech and Florida Atlantic, but once there was Mississippi State and San Diego State and now there’s Alabama and Central Florida. Through the Spring, guys drop out from injury or academics. So Sal has to rely all the more on his core of coaches to fill the gaps as the season approaches.

“I start recruiting August 1,” Sal explains. “First, I contact coaches I trust and have built relationships with over the past few years. My goal is to be an extension of their college program and to help develop, train, instill a winning culture, and develop lifelong relationships through baseball. I want players who are good kids, have some ability, and are not afraid to work and grind out the long summer season.”

Sal at work was on full display last week at the national convention of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). As he roamed the halls at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, Sal was learning the latest techniques from top college coaches, checking out the newest equipment and uniforms from vendors from across the country, and checking in with the coaches he counts on for championship caliber players. 

Sal was holding court on Friday with his MLB brother Mike at the Marucci display among the 350 exhibitors at the massive ABCA Trade Show when Central Florida head coach Rich Wallace joined the conversation. Rich played for the iconic 2000 Big Train team that traveled to Ohio and finished second in the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF) College World Series. 

First thing Saturday morning, Sal and former Big Train pitching coach Bill Sizemore were in the huge audience listening to a terrific presentation from Alabama pitching coach Jason Jackson. After Jason’s talk, Sal headed backstage for a photo with Jason and Florida Atlantic head coach John McCormack who was serving as the presiding ABCA officer introducing the convention’s main speakers.

Keen observers of Big Train baseball will note that these three college coaches sent Big Train all four of the players Sal named for his top awards for our 2024 championship season — MVP Andrew Williamson (Central Florida), Most Outstanding Hitter Emilio Gonzalez (FAU), Pitcher of the Year Jonathan Stevens (Alabama), and Relief Pitcher of the Year Max Martzolf (FAU).

Saturday afternoon, Sal attended another riveting presentation, this by Maryland head coach Matt Swope. Matt played on the inaugural 1999 Big Train team and was a teammate of Rich Wallace on the 2000 NABF runner-up team. Matt’s presentation was based on his new book Motor Preferences for Baseball , a must read available now for coaches and players who want to enhance performance and prevent injuries.

Recruiting is an essential element of any championship summer ball program, and the hard work our master recruiter and Hall of Fame head coach Sal Colangelo puts in is why Big Train is one of the nation’s most highly regarded summer college programs.