Riverwood Alum Engelhard Joins Team Israel

No matter where Chase Engelhard’s baseball journey takes him, he will always be able to say that he was part of Team Israel during the 2026 World Baseball Classic extravaganza. The one-time three-sport star for Riverwood High (he started on varsity football and baseball as a freshman before also joining the varsity ranks in basketball) and former Tulane All-American who made Aliyah last year did not take the field for the blue-and-white at loanDepot park in Miami this past weekend, but he was involved with the fledgling program’s nearly weeklong training camp in south Florida preceding Pool D competition.

From taking batting practice with current big leaguers to soaking up knowledge from former ones and even having the opportunity to sit in the dugout for Israel’s exhibitions against the Miami Marlins and New York Mets, the experience will forevermore be a highlight of his baseball resume.

Engelhard, who represented Israel at the U23 European Baseball Championship in Prague last year and is expected to play in the 2027 Olympic Qualification tournament for Israel in pursuit of a 2028 Olympics entry, was waist-deep in his rehab from an elbow injury he suffered in 2025 independent league play when he got a call in January from Nate Fish, CEO of Israel Baseball America. While managing rehab assignments in preparation for his next independent league assignment this summer, working at youth clinics, and readying for his real estate license exam, Engelhard couldn’t pass up the opportunity to help Israel prepare for its Pool D competition against Latin American heavyweights — even if he didn’t know exactly what joining Israel’s training camp roster would entail.

“I was told I might get a few ABs (at bats). Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, but I came down here prepared so if my name was called to help the team out, I was ready to go. I got to connect with a lot of the guys,” Engelhard told the AJT just before actual WBC play got going. “It’s a really good environment here in Miami. The Latin community here is huge. The Jewish community here is huge.”

This past week, thousands of baseball fans from around the world streamed into loanDepot Park to watch what has become one of MLB’s crown jewel events. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to lay eyes on Engelhard, one of Israeli baseball’s most electrifying prospects who actually finished up his collegiate career at Florida International University so that his grandfather, renowned sportsman Jerry Engelhard, was able to watch him play regularly.

“He’s gotten to come out here a little bit and hit. He was swinging the bat real well,” noted former big-league All-Star and two-time World Series champion Kevin Youkilis, who over the past couple weeks has moonlighted as Israel’s bench coach and actually tossed batting practice to Engelhard several times. “The ball was coming off the bat really well. I really liked his bat path and the way he went about it. Not a big guy, but the ball comes off pretty hot for a guy that is not as tall and as big. It’s fun watching him hit.”

The sacrifices to get to this point — to be just on the precipice of playing in the World Baseball Classic — are multifold. These days, it’s 24-hour bus rides literally stretching from Texas to southern Canada. Back in the day, it was having to give up football and the subsequent dream of being a two-sport Division I athlete at, say, Georgia Tech.

“Putting football down was a little tough for sure because my whole life I wanted to do both, football and baseball in college,” acknowledged Engelhard, who’s rehab/training schedule presents such great demands on his time that he had to jet back to Atlanta to resume activity right after Game 1. “I wasn’t sure which path I was going to take. I went through a little surgery in high school, and I decided I’m going to stick with baseball and make that a career.”

Irrespective of the World Baseball Classic, Engelhard has already authored an outstanding career. Even before he had a monster showing at the Euro championship by pacing Israel in virtually every offensive category, the 24-year-old from Sandy Springs went up against some of the nation’s most gifted amateur players as a member of the Harwich Mariners in the highly revered Cape Cod League earlier this decade. But now he’s ready to don the Star of David cap on the world’s grandest stages, whether that be the next World Baseball Classic or, even before that, the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

“To play in the Olympics is something I really never thought of until I made Aliyah. I have nothing but amazing things to say about Israel,” added Engelhard, who committed to Tulane as a sophomore at Riverwood, months after becoming the school’s first freshman to start at shortstop for the varsity squad in a quarter-century. “To have the opportunity to represent Israel and show the world that Israel baseball is legit — and not only Israelis but Jewish Americans that want to represent their families and their heritage.”

Meanwhile, over the next couple summers, Engelhard, now squarely in his prime athletic years, wants this recent WBC fling — and, of course, his upcoming indy ball season for the Cleburne Railroaders — to be a springboard for attaining another pretty worthwhile goal: one day taking the field at Truist Park.

“[This will be a] successful summer if, one, I stay healthy. That’s the goal,” confirmed Engelhard. “Last year, that was the goal, to play a full healthy season, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The goal, obviously, is to play well, stay healthy, and get signed by an organization. I think if I go out there, stay healthy, and play my game of baseball, I think I’ll have a good opportunity to get picked up.”