Summer 2026

We are a nationally-ranked organization that has been providing opportunities for players since 2007. Our 2026 summer season will have teams in the following age groups: 2027-2030. Here are some highlights about us, followed by a detailed breakdown of what we’re all about.

    • Recruiting – Relationships with college coaches matter. See some of ours here: https://freshwaterstorm.com/connections/
    • Strong Testimonies: You can read some testimonials from parents by clicking here: https://freshwaterstorm.com/testimonials/
    • Social Media– Follow us on Twitter, where 200+ college coaches follow us looking to identify players: https://twitter.com/PrspCntSports
    • Strong Schedule – Our teams will play six of the best tournaments in the state of Florida including Perfect Game and Prospect Wire.
    • Small Rosters: Our 2025 summer teams had an average of just 15 players per team and that includes the POs.
    • Competitive Cost: Just $1,700 for position players and $900 for POs. There are no tryout fees and no uniform packages.
    • Former Players– Many of our former players have had a lot of success. See here: https://freshwaterstorm.com/players/
    • If you’re interested in playing this coming summer, please contact Mike Bakas (mikebakas81@gmail.com).

 

Read on to learn all about the Freshwater Storm.

Who is the Freshwater Storm and their history and background. We are a Florida-based travel ball organization that started back in 2007. We have teams in various age groups, ranging from 2027 to 2030 grads. We’ve had multiple nationally-ranked teams on Perfect Game in recent years and our primary goal is to provide a competitive opportunity for high school players who may want to play college baseball one day.

What’s it like playing for the Freshwater Storm? Click HERE to read through a large number of testimonials from parents of several of our players.

What are the primary goals for our players? First, helping our players with the college recruiting process is as important as anything we do. It’s a major priority for us and always has been. We promote our players in the following ways:

1) We guarantee that all of our players will have a chance to get directly in front of college coaches from around the state.

2) Constantly communicating with college coaches about our players and helping players sort through which camps and showcases to attend. Players are often getting invited to a lot of them. It can be overwhelming choosing which ones to attend. We will help our players navigate through this to help make sure they’re not going to the wrong events.

3) Social Media – see below.

How important is promotion of players on social media? It’s huge. So much of the college baseball recruiting process is done virtually now. Every college baseball program in America has a coach on its staff that is active there and one of the biggest reasons is that it’s a great recruiting tool that can be done virtually. We promote our players and it’s a big reason why you’ll see close to 250 college coaches (from UF all the way down to Junior College programs in the Northeast) are following us on there.

How much do we celebrate and promote the success of your individual players? A LOT! It’s one of the most important things we do during the season.

How much do we follow your players during the high school season in the spring? A LOT! We are out watching games mutiple days a week and constantly celebrating and promoting their success. Mike Bakas personally watches around 50 high school games every spring with the primary goal to show support to our current players.

Do our teams practice? We do not have any mandatory practices in the summer. Most of our players are getting work in with their high school teams or on their own during the week. We do, however, offer lots of extra practice/scrimmage opportunities for our players after their HS seasons end. From the end of the JV season to the start of our summer season, we offered 60+ innings of optional scrimmages for our players to help prepare them for the summer season.

What are some colleges that we have connections with? We have sent players to schools at every level. Some of our former players were 1st and 2nd round draft picks. Some were 4-year college starters. Some were able to get degrees from big time academic institutions for next to nothing because of baseball. Some were able to stay in Florida. Some left the state to play and ended up becoming college coaches at the school they played at. Every player has a unique situation and we understand and respect that. What might be a good fit for one kid might not be for another.  You can see a sampling of our connections here: https://freshwaterstorm.com/connections/

How much do we keep up with our former players after they graduate high school and move on to college? A lot! Mike Bakas watched over 30 college games in 2025, and a big reason for that is to watch former Freshwater players at the college level. Here’s an example of how we continue promoting our players, even once they’re in college:

What is the primary focus for the younger players who may not be thinking about the college recruiting process yet? Most freshmen and sophomores and their parents aren’t really thinking too much about the recruiting process. Some are, most aren’t and we understand that. Reps are extremely important during the summer, especially for players who want to be prepared for their high school seasons in the spring. Playing 20-25 games over the summer is often a big reason why a player makes a jump from JV to Varsity, for example. We also understand that for most players, the college recruiting process will become important to them at some point. When that time comes, our players will be fully prepared for it.

Where do our players come from? We had players from 50 different high schools in 2025. Most of our players come from the central Florida area, since that’s where most of our coaches are based. However, we also have coaches based in St. Augustine, Tampa, and Miami and thus we always try recruiting a handful of players from those areas as well.

How can someone try out for the 2026 summer season? Returning players from 2025 who are invited back for 2026 do not need to try out. For any new players interested in joining us for 2026, please contact Mike Bakas (mikebakas81@gmail.com) to schedule a private tryout session. There is no cost and it’s a chance for us to evaluate the player and meet his parents to determine if it’s a good fit.

Have our teams had a lot of success? Yes. In fact, we’ve been a nationally-ranked organization on Perfect Game in each of the last 4 summers with no plans of slowing down anytime soon. We win a lot of games and events but far more important to us is creating a culture that our players will enjoy and helping create opportunities for them to play baseball in college for those who choose to do so. Our summer teams were 19 games over 500, won 3 tournament championships and played for 3 others.

How are pitcher onlys treated in our organization? There are a few very important things to know here: 1) our pitching rotations are set as soon as the schedule for each event is released. As soon as we get it from the tournament directors, our coaches work on it and send it out to players. That’s very important for pitchers who have a routine or would like to get the information out to college coaches well in advance. 2) Our POs are only required to be at the games they’re scheduled to pitch in.  Although all of our players are absolutely invited to be at every game, this helps cut down on travel costs for our pitchers.

What’s a typical roster size for a Freshwater Storm team? Here are the average roster sizes from our 2025 summer teams:
Three 15u teams: 14 players
Three 16u teams: 15 players
Three 17u teams: 16.3 players
** Note: Those include multiple POs in each age group

What type of tournament schedule do our teams play? Each of our teams will play a very competitive summer schedule, starting in early June and ending in late July. Our teams do not leave the state for tournaments. We used to do that but learned that most of our players prefer to stay in Florida for college. Our teams will play a mix of quality tournaments including Perfect Game and Prospect Wire. They provide excellent competition and our teams played at eight different MLB complexes in 2025 (Mets, Astros, Cardinals, Marlins, Nationals, Tigers, Red Sox and Twins) with a similar plan in 2026. That provides a very unique experience and opportunity for our players.

What about our coaches. Mike Bakas, a New Smyrna Beach resident, owns the organization and has since he started it 19 years ago. Something we are super proud to say is that all of our coaches played in the organization when they were in high school and went on to play in college. It’s common to see travel ball coaches bounce around from organization to organization but we take a lot of pride in the fact that our coaches have been loyal to us since their playing days in high school. Our coaches provide an excellent mix of experience – from pitchers to position players and from guys who played at different levels in college to guys who played professionally. Our coaching staff is filled with good people with excellent baseball resumes. We’ve never had a coach who had a son on his team.

How do we communicate with players and parents during the summer season? Each coach will have a group chat with the players. That will allow him to send out pitching rotations, weather updates, field changes, or any other important information. Mike Bakas will send out all emails to parents, keeping them updated on everything they need to know about each event. We are always a call, text, or email away from answering any questions you may have. A strong line of communication with our players and parents is extremely important to us so we always make it a priority.

Who are some of our former players? There’s a long list of them and we are super proud of every single one of them who helped make our organization what it is today. Here’s a partial list of them: https://freshwaterstorm.com/players/

What about uniforms? We do NOT charge for unneccesary “uniform packages” that a lot of other organizations do. We are a bit old school in this regard – we will provide two jerseys (one of each color- blue and red – which are included in the overall summer fee) and a practice shirt. Our players are asked to wear white pants and their high school hats.

What’s the cost to play and what all is included? The cost for position players is just $1,700 and the cost for POs is just $900. Payment plans are available.  That cost includes a jersey, six of the best tournaments you can play in the state of Florida, and being actively promoted on social media for as long as you’re with us. We will absolutely put the combination of all of these things and our cost up against anyone.

If you’re interested in playing with the Freshwater Storm this coming summer season, please contact Mike Bakas (mikebakas81@gmail.com).