Winning the Select Baseball Rat Race: 1-on-1 with Rhett Massey, TBT Texas | Ep. 112

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At a Glance

Rhett Massey — co-owner and director of TBT Baseball Texas. Fourteen years in the Army. Partner: Hayden. Son Gavin Massey at El Paso Community College; also a four-year-old (Jack) and a stepson in high school baseball.

Select-org culture, how families choose a program, the 17U recruiting window, junior college as a real path, and what Rhett wishes he had known as a dad.

Takeaways:

  • Identity before results — winning is a byproduct
  • Would rather lose with his guys than win with rented jerseys
  • Tenure, playing time, and where kids actually go beat a trophy photo
  • For most players the recruiting window opens at 17U
  • High school → D1 still clusters up the middle, and they have to be special
  • Velo is not the pitch — ride, vert, effort, and holding runners
  • Stay on the field; the path may include a stop
  • Train like a shortstop so the body (and the hit tool) can move

Culture, Not Jerseys

  • Care is the whole job
  • Come to practice. Play for each other. Learn from the years you did not
  • Lynn Vanlandingham (Five Tool, Ep. 17) at the 2024 Don Mattingly event: fell in love with how they played as a team
  • College baseball is a win if it keeps a kid in school and gets him a degree
  • Portal world is noisy — keep playing; relationships are the point
  • Fill a roster hole when you must; a "me" guy does not last
  • Anderson Lambert (2027, Maryland → Alabama) played two events as a 15-year-old and still gets a congratulations text

"I would rather lose a tournament with my guys than win it with a bunch of random dudes that I handed jerseys to before the event started."

Identity Before Results

  • Team identity + player identity; results follow doing it the right way
  • Army years: camaraderie is not a slogan
  • A million tournaments — if every weekend is "the most important event of the year," you are chasing the same trophy with different names on the back

Spokane (Connie Mack qualifier): 17U Orioles scout team, two of Rhett's rosters, one-run loss to the Northwest 509 Stars (Washington commit on the mound). Four hours later on the drive, center fielder texts: a school wanted a call. That was the point of the trip.

How Families Should Choose

Look at tenure (2–3 years is a clue), where kids actually go, and whether they play at the highest level they can while still getting playing time.

Age Focus
9–12 Play. Challenge a little. Keep loving the game.
13–14 High school prep. Physical development. Habits — get the work done, then move on.
High school Failure is coming. Puberty is not on your schedule. Two practices a week will not make a player.
17U Recruiting window for most kids. Right events if ready; quality reps if not.

Junior College and the Long Game

  • Late August already: a pile of 2027 commits, most of them JUCO — because Rhett told them it was the right way
  • HS → D1 still clusters: middle infield, pitchers, catchers, center field — and they still have to be special. Two of TBT's 2027 D1 commits are middle infielders
  • Rhett went to 51 of 53 of Gavin's JUCO games. Region 5 in Texas is not a consolation prize. Opening weekend vs Odessa and Midland: almost every arm 90–96
  • Parents compare commits by a tick of velocity. College coaches are looking at the baseball
    • Dead-zone fastball that does not play
    • Loose 91 with 24–26 inches of vertical can work against Power 4 lineups
    • Max-effort 91 with no run game
  • Frame: What is the ultimate goal? Where are you right now? A stop (or two) is not failure
  • Everybody is a junior college now — mid-majors recruit "come help us win, then move on." D2/D3 still send players to D1 (Mason Miller: Waynesburg → Gardner-Webb)
  • Rhett/Hayden guess: fewer than 20% of HS players who reach college baseball play four full years. By 2028, four years at one school may be close to zero
  • Benny Castillo: as long as you are playing, you have a chance

"As long as you're playing, you have a chance."

Dad Hat and Cylinders

  • Wish he had trained Gavin like a shortstop — bigger kid, multiple sports. Lateral movement + middle of the diamond; the hit tool travels (2B, 3B, OF, even the mound). D1 still recruits up the middle
  • Move 11- and 12-year-olds around. Learn the work. Learn to fail
  • Military years, failed businesses, average playing career: you will fail a lot and succeed a lot
  • Culture is harder to copy the bigger you get
  • Cylinders in an engine: 4 do not go as fast as 8. Hire the right people. Miss on some. Hit on some. Bad gas happens

30-second advice

  • Parents: Keep it fun, and balance fun with work. If they do not love it, it is easy to quit
  • Players: Get around quality people. Push yourself. High school baseball is the time that is actually promised — enjoy it
  • Coaches: Pour into people. Do not make baseball decisions based on money

Walkout: The Notorious B.I.G. — "Juicy" (the lyrics, and '90s hip-hop)

Episode Timestamps

Tap any timestamp to jump the player straight to that moment.

  • 0:50 - Meet Rhett Massey of TBT Baseball Texas
  • 2:25 - Why this conversation: high school, travel, and organizational baseball
  • 6:16 - Real culture: come to practice and play for each other
  • 8:44 - Identity before results
  • 10:22 - Fourteen years in the Army and why camaraderie matters
  • 11:18 - Spokane, Connie Mack, and a college text after a one-run loss
  • 16:30 - Gavin Massey and the dad's-eye view
  • 18:24 - How parents can tell if an organization actually cares
  • 21:07 - The 17U window and playing the right events
  • 25:41 - Seeing 85 mph and facing good pitching
  • 28:34 - Recruiting trends from high school to college
  • 30:54 - Why junior college is the right next step for many 2027s
  • 32:10 - Velo is not enough: ride, vert, and effort
  • 35:35 - Ultimate goal, timeline, and where you are right now
  • 38:28 - Everybody is a junior college now
  • 40:15 - Fewer than 20% play four full years
  • 42:18 - Dad hat: what Rhett wishes he knew with Gavin
  • 43:33 - Train like a shortstop
  • 48:25 - Military background and baseball as the poetry of life
  • 52:45 - Cylinders: the right people make the car go
  • 53:40 - Advice for parents, players, and coaches
  • 56:26 - Walkout song: Juicy by The Notorious B.I.G.

Rhett Massey is co-owner and director of TBT Baseball Texas. Follow the organization on Instagram at @tbt_texas.