Hello! I found this site yesterday and have been reading as many threads as possible! I'm kinda new to this whole thing, so any help would be great!
We have a junior, lefty pitcher, with pretty good potential. How much, I can't say... But I've heard from others that he's pretty good and definitely has what it takes to play college ball.
Anyways, we're getting information together and getting ready to start sending to colleges, etc. I'm just feeling very overwelmed with all of this and just not sure where to find the information for good summer/fall traveling, showcases, etc. For this area. We have a lot of kids and so doing alot of traveling is just hard, if not impossible at times. We will do what we have to, to help him on this journey, but we can only do so much.
What do you experienced in this recommend? I'm not even sure I'm asking the right questions! lol
Thank you for reading this far.
Oh and we're in the Canton, Ohio area.
Posts: 24 | Location: Ohio | Registered: April 22, 2008
I just posted the following in a thread a few days ago asking similar questions. The answer to your question is exposure. No college will make an offer to him without seeing him play. Thus, the only issue is how to get him seen in front of college scouts. Here is some advice:
Please read (if you have not already) every article in the above links as they are the bedrock this site is built upon. IMHO, recruiting is unlikely to come about by being on the high school team or by the stats you put up so it really does not matter where you are from. A competitive summer team that travels will obviously get some exposure. Attending a few high profile showcases is probably the most exposure he can get. Since he is a junior, he needs to attend one or two showcase events this summer as that is the most important time for a high school baseball player to be recruited (between summer of junior and senior year). He can also attend one or two selected college camps that he may have some interest. The whole key is performing well when someone is watching. Showcases, college camps, and high profile summer tournaments guarantee someone will be watching. The rest is up to him. Hope that helps. The links I have posted are the best advice possible.
Welcome Lucy. You have two of the best "Webster’s" in your corner in Cleveland Dad and Beezer. Cleveland Dad sums it up:
quote:
He can also attend one or two selected college camps that he may have some interest. The whole key is performing well when someone is watching. Showcases, college camps, and high profile summer tournaments guarantee someone will be watching.
If you will click on ClevelandDad's or Beezer's name in his "logo" in the top left hand corner of his post you will get a "drop down" of options and one of those options is Invite ClevelandDad to a private topic you and he can share some specific information about your area. Again, welcome to the high school baseball web. Fungo
Posts: 4807 | Location: Spring Creek (Jackson),Tennessee | Registered: December 26, 2002
I have read those links and the others, I also printed them out to reread again and again.
Do you have any information on showcases or places we can try to get him to play, that's around us?
I do understand that we are a bit behind on some of our stuff, but my husband has been doing some work and getting ready to send things out to colleges. He was waiting for ds to get his stats from his game last night and he did a wonderful job!
We are going to attend one of the Kent State games in early May, so that will help ds to get an idea of what it's like. One of my favorite ways to spend Mother's Day, if you ask me - baseball and family!
Anyways, thank you again for responding to my questions!
Posts: 24 | Location: Ohio | Registered: April 22, 2008
Do you have any information on showcases or places we can try to get him to play, that's around us?
lucy - this is really where you are going to have to roll your sleaves up and get to work. If you are content just to showcase locally, you might only be exposed to a few local Universities. Is that your son's goal - to play at the local college? Using University of Akron for example, perhaps attend one of their camps and see if you can garner some interest from the coaching staff. You mentioned in your bio that your son is an 80+ lefty. The lefty is good but the 80+ might not be enough juice to get recruited at a D1 school like Akron.
If his goals are broader than the local area then he is going to have to showcase where these coaches go. The top schools all attend Perfect Game showcases. Their showcases can be found at http://www.perfectgame.org/. No one from outside your area is going to fly up here to watch a high school game. No one is going to recruit him based on stats. They need to see him play and I cannot stress that enough. You need to be realistic. If he is throwing in the 90's he probably can get recruited by just about any school in the country. If he is low 80's, he is going to have to expand his search to include lower college divisions.
Another local showcase is the the Buckeyescout. Most of the colleges in Ohio recruit this event. Here is their website: http://thebuckeyescout.tripod.com/
Thank you so much for some leads and a place to start!
As far as how fast he can throw, it's not official, it's a low guess based on dh's stopwatch. He could be mid 80's or more. We understand he needs more work...But to see what others outside of us think would be a great first start, I know.
Thank you for giving me some place to start. We can start locally and then go further as necessary. While I don't think he's D1, it helps for him to see that kind of play, for sure!
Thank you again!
Posts: 24 | Location: Ohio | Registered: April 22, 2008
Lucy - Does your son workout with anybody over the winter for pitching, take lessons, etc? Usually those guys are very in tune with who you need to be talking to and might have some contacts for you. Also, they periodically gun the pitchers so you have a better idea of what he's really throwing.
You're in great hands with CleveDad because his son currently plays D1 so he's been through all of this already. Additionally, he's always very helpful.
Just a bit of a warning though; every webster is different in handling how they respond. Some sugar coat things, while others a very direct and tell it like it is. So don't get your feathers ruffled if you hear something you don't like. I'd say 99% of the time, it's not personal, their delivery is just different. So be prepared for those types of responses as well.
***************************** "Hey dad.......wanna have a catch?"
Posts: 2747 | Location: NE Ohio | Registered: January 10, 2004
I am the first to admit that I don't know much about this part of baseball. I'm trying to read and research as much as I can. My husband can only do so much with working, traveling for work and having 4 other kids at home to tend to. So I'm trying to get on this crazy train of knowledge and help him as much as a mom can. So any information is being soaked up by me!
My dh and son have their own thing going during the winter months. Not sure if I stated here or not. But my son seems to be what you call a late bloomer. Only in the last year or so. He has been doing his long toss, working out at the HS and playing summer and fall ball. That's about it.
You all know what you're talking about, so who else better to ask than the ones that have BTDT! lol
Again, I thank you for even taking the time to respond to me. I'm doing what I can to read and get informed, but there is a lot to know and do to get this kid of mine "marketable"
Posts: 24 | Location: Ohio | Registered: April 22, 2008
Lucy - Another nice thing about this site is that you can send a Private Message (aka PM) to somebody. Fungo mentioned it but I thought I'd elaborate. When you do that, you've got a convo on the side going with just the person you sent the PM to. It's good for when you need to ask or share personal things or maybe ask a question you're afraid to ask publicly. Or you just want to say "Hi, how you doing" to somebody without involving the entire website.
***************************** "Hey dad.......wanna have a catch?"
Posts: 2747 | Location: NE Ohio | Registered: January 10, 2004
Lucy, Welcome to HSBBW! My own son was a LHP... sorth of! He returned to doing that along with CF in his senior year of HS. I can tell you that if your son has any ability at all, as a LHP he will have opportunities. My son didn't do the showcase/marketing trail. We didn't do it out of cost and because of ignorance really. He had plenty of opportunities with offers out of HS although he's not playing any longer. If your son has a particular goal (as was mentioned earlier), then I would suggest focusing on that goal - division, school, etc. However, if he's open to what comes his way you can think much more broadly. Again, as a lefty and if your school is scouted he should get some attention along with just doing a couple of smaller showcases. If he wants something big or has that dream school mentality... then he needs to work in that direction.
There are great folks here on HSBBW who are always willing to share thoughts and ideas. You've found the site much sooner than many of us did and that should help you as much as your son with this process.
Posts: 5357 | Location: Kentucky | Registered: December 30, 2004
