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Though he only recently completed his junior season at Estero High by driving the Wildcats to their third straight district title, the Class 4A semifinals, a second-place ranking much of the season and a 28-2 record, John Tolisano planned to get together with some "old" friends prior to Tuesday night's Devil Rays game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tropicana Field.

Along with DeLand High right-handed pitcher Michael Main and Tampa-Hillsborough lefty Michael Burgess, who both joined the Sanibel resident on the 2004 14-year-old AAU national championship team, Tolisano has been named to the East team for the 2006 AFLAC All-American Baseball Classic. A press conference trumpeting the three "Tampa-area" selections preceded the Devil Rays game.

Big deal?

Very much so. Tolisano, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound shortstop/pitcher and switch-hitter who led Southwest Florida with a .610 batting average and had 9 home runs, 41 RBIs and 13 steals, will be one of only 19 East juniors competing in a classic that produced 82 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft selections in its first three years. Only 14 of the 38 AFLAC Classic players for this year's game have been named thus far.

"It's a real honor to be on the team and to play with some of the top high-school guys in the country," said Tolisano.

The classic will be played on Aug. 12 in San Diego State's Tony Gwynn Stadium with Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson serving as honorary chairman. Teams will arrive several days early to practice and participate in a home run derby.

File photo

The home plate umpire and Cypress Lake catcher Stephen Howard join Estero's John Tolisano in gazing up at Tolisano's mammoth home run during the district semfinals.

The AFLAC Classic, which promotes itself as the baseball equivalent of the McDonald's All-American Basketball Classic, sported the top overall pick of 2005 (shortstop Justin Upchurch) and 2004 (shortstop Matthew Bush). AFLAC Classic spokesman Josh Stanton said Tuesday that Main "is actually projected to go No. 1 in next year's draft."

"It's considered by many now to be one of the premier prep games as far as showcasing top talent," Stanton said. "It's a pretty big deal, and it's a good indicator of the type of talent that's going to be drafted next year."

Estero coach Frank Turco said he's never had a player with the skills of Tolisano, much less one talented enough to net a spot in the AFLAC Classic.

"That's huge, and if anybody should be on it, he's the kid," Turco said. "It's awesome because he deserves it.

"When you talk about a prospect and where you project them to be, he's a guy who has four tools. And when you have four tools, that's a tall order. He's the real deal. He can hit, he can run, he can throw and he can field. And when you have that many tools, you make yourself up to be a pretty good ballplayer.

"And I'm not talking about this level. They're projecting him to have those tools at the big-league level."

Tolisano's spot in the AFLAC Classic indicates that. And the guy who was named Baseball America's top 14-year-old in 2004 and teamed with Main to play for Team USA in Mexico in 2005, should fit right in in San Diego.

"I can't wait to get out there and start playing, and to just have that experience," Tolisano said.