Gig Harbor’s Toglia named to Area Code Games roster

Gig Harbor High School senior baseball player Michael Toglia is on a roll lately.

In addition to picking up scholarship offers from Portland, Washington, Oregon and Vanderbilt, Toglia was recently named to the Area Code Games roster.

The Area Code Games run from Aug. 4-9 in Long Beach, California. Eight teams will represent eight regions, with each being built by eight MLB organizations — the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals. Toglia will play on the Royals with other top players from the Pacific Northwest.

Toglia made the roster after a tryout in Eugene, Oregon in early July. He’s the second Gig Harbor Tide in two years to play in the Area Code Games — last year, it was lefty pitcher Matthew Henckel, who is headed to the University of Oregon.

“It’s pretty cool,” Toglia said. “It’s such a prestigious event with a lot of MLB coaches, general managers and cool people and cool names there. It’s cool knowing Matthew went there.”

Toglia said he’s excited to get out in front of some MLB scouts and show what he can do.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “It feels like it’s so far away, but there are people that are 19 playing in the majors. It’s a lot closer than I think.”

The pressure of playing in front of MLB scouts isn’t getting to him — at least yet.

“To be honest, it’s more nerve wracking to play in front of college scouts,” he said. “I still have two years; I still have a bit of time. I basically only have this summer for college. It’s a unique, cool experience and hopefully I get something out of it.”

Toglia is coming off a hot streak with his club baseball team, the Narrows Baseball Club 18U, which just won 13 games in a row.

“I just want to play to the best of my abilities,” he said. “I’m hoping to carry that hot streak over onto the Royals and just let my actions do the speaking.”

Toglia said he’ll announce his college decision sometime in August, after the Area Code Games.

“It’s kind of hard right now,” Toglia said. “I’m kind of torn between everything, what’s the best fit for me and where I’ll play the most my freshman year. I still have to talk it over with my parents.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Gig Harbor’s Toglia named to Area Code Games roster."