What can we expect? This will be our first one. He has had little exposure, so this is the state showcase. Any advice we can pass on to him?

The one my son attended went like this:

Day 1: Worked out the kids in their respected positions, & ran the 60, started games

Day 2: played games, in our case each pitcher threw 3 innings.

There were scouts in the stands and guns everywhere, not only for the pitchers.

They'll talk to them before the showcase and tell them how best to approach the 60yd dash, throwing from their position, etc. If I've guessed right from the picture he's a LHP. In that case I'd recommend throwing from the outfield rather than from first base as one typically gets higher readings throwing from the outfield.

My recommendation would be to have his arm in shape and to have gotten in plenty of wood bat BP and preferably game hitting in the weeks leading up to the showcase. He should also practice his starts for the 60yd dash and work on throwing hard from his position. They'll be gunning him throwing from his position as part of the workouts so he needs to get used to throwing hard from his position even if it means sacrificing some accuracy.

If he's a pitcher he needs to understand that they are looking for both velocity and pitchability and to prepare accordingly. Pitchers don't have to throw for the gun on every pitch but they need to find a few situations in the games where they can show them what they've got for velocity.

Thank you for responding. My son is a pitcher only. Any hints for that? What about sponsorship? How can we go about that? This is new to us.

Thanks for that info CAdad! I will have my son read this thread tonight!

leftylucy, a lot of your questions can be answered by perusing the perfectgame.org website. How old is your son? If he's young I wouldn't so much worry about the results of this showcase. View it as an opportunity to have fun, network with other baseball people, and learn more about how showcases work. Later as he progresses you can then consider some of the more high-profile showcase events that PG and others offer. Again.. have fun!

He is graduating in 09.

I have checked out the PG website. I was hoping to hear some "real life" experiences from BTDT parents. I will continue reading over there and here, as well.

Thank you all for responding.

Since this is our first time doing a showcase or anything like this, we don't have anything to compare to or really know what to expect.

I did check out PG's message board, but doesn't appear to have too much activity on it...

Thanks again!

Arrive early, be clean cut, look like a coach would want him to look if dating the coach's daughter, 100% of the time use "yes sir" and "no sir", wear the hat and uniform correctly, hustle everywhere, assume somebody is always watching. They'll gun the first few throws so be good and loose and throw fastballs early. 60 time won't much matter if he's truly a pitcher only, but the effort shows attitude.

Parents should be seen and not heard.

Not sure about "sponsorship"; my two are both in college ball now, one graduating this year. My last showcase was 3 years ago. They did 8-9 showcases between them and the only sponsor was my wallet.

It's good to do some showcases "early" so he'll know what to expect when he gets to some later that might be more critical to recruiting efforts.

Enjoy the ride!