My son is 17u HS Junior SS in San Francisco looking for a team to play with in College Showcase tournaments. I've heard of Bay Area Baseball, Starmakers, Perfect Game, and others. Which is the best program to play some quality ball in a showcase setting?

In your area, Norcal would probably be the place to start out if he's capable of playing at a high level. There are also other very good programs like the San Jose Vipers, but I'm not sure if they're continuing on this year. You might also PM to justbaseball and ask him as he knows quite a few of the better baseball people in that area.

Frank - In addition to NorCal, which is an excellent program, you might also consider the HOOTS Baseball Club, located in the East Bay.

You can find info about NorCal at NorCal Baseball and the HOOTS at HOOTS Baseball Good luck.

Forgot about the Hoots, they are supposed to be very good. Haven't played them, but have heard good things about them. A couple others come to mind that are near the bay. North Bay Extreme, out of Novato, and Golden Era out of Vallego are pretty good too. They are not the caliber of Norcal, SJ Vipers or Hoots, but good nonetheless. Santa Rosa/Redwood Empire Giants are also very good if you're looking up that way at all.

Thanks for the leads. Who is PM at justbaseball?

Look up a post by justbaseball and send him a private message. He is the parent of a Stanford player, and someone who's been around many of the bay area travel teams. His son played for norcal. He's a good guy and can help with some information.

Go to the menu board at the top of this page and click on "find" then type in justbaseball and you'll find his posts. Send him a private message from one of those.

People have given you some good information.

A couple of things to add:

The North Bay Xtreme do not run a program for HS age teams. We MAY run a 15u team this summer, but our core program is 11u-14u. Also, we are based out of Kentfield (at Marin Catholic HS), not Novato. Thanks for the mention though...

Second, some of our players have had great success playing for the Redwood Empire Baseball Program. The Connie Mack team is coached by Windsor HS head coach Michael Paul and former Sonoma Crushers Pitching Coach Dolf Hes. The organizer is Joel Erickson, a former Stanford player. His email is <joelerickson@vbbn.com>

Adam Farb
North Bay Xtreme Baseball