My son has a friend that is being advised by an instructor to attend a pro tryout in his freshman and sophomore years. The instructor is a former pro player and he claims that scouts are starting to not be interested in juniors and seniors, but underclassmen. He also advised that many college recruiters go to the camps and call for references when they are looking for players. I know that college recruiters do go to the camps to scout serious prospects, but does anyone have first-hand knowledge of how underclassmen are regarded at these tryouts? He is wanting my son to go with him and, while I believe in getting early exposure, I am not sure that would work to benefit him (maybe even hinder his chances). My son is an eight-grader playing freshman ball at a 4A school and plays 14U AAU ball. He is a LHP and has better than normal velocity (around 75 mph at 13 years old). I have seen many others that are as fast. I was thinking that sophomore to junior year was plenty soon enough. Am I right or is the instructor right?

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My son attended his first pro try out the summer after his freshman yr. It was a good experience for him.

My son did this route last year as a sophomore. Most of these tryouts require the player to be 16. The format is pretty straightforward. Run, Field/throw, and if you look good enough there, hit.

We thought they were a very good tool as they introduce to him the pressure of performing and getting a true non-biased evaluation of his ability. These guys don't care who you are, what you look like, or what your father says. It's all about what you can do on the field.

This summer, we are going the college camp and showcase route as well as attending the tryouts again.

As far as college people at them, I didn't see that too much other than the coach of the school that was hosting it. The scouts do have a ton of contacts however and one (Phillies) did help a kid from our Legion team play college ball through a good recomendation. Underclassmen are watched, but not asked to stay and hit for the most part. My son was lucky in that he was aksed to stay at each of the tryouts, but he was the only underclassmen to be asked.

The best part about them is that they are free. It will expose your son to a showcase like atmosphere without you having to spend hundreds of dollars to do it. Then when you do send him to a showcase, he's not going to be so nervous he can't perform.

All that being said, I wouldn't drive more than an hour or so to get to one of these. If there are some close to you or you just want to make a day of it, I'd highly recomend them.

PFBear- you have a PM. It sounds like your son attended the same tryouts as my son. I have a question for you.

AgentDad- I would be very surprised if scouts were not interested in juniors or seniors. They just want to see players who can bring it. Pro-tryouts can be fun and can get the player noticed, but remember: the scouts are using a pro-ball rating system. Nothing will be sugar coated. If the player has potential, they'll let them know it. If not, well, they'll let them know that, too.

Good luck!

How do you find out about pro tryouts in your home area?

"They tell us to take a round bat and hit a round ball and hit it square" Willie Stargell

Thanks for the input!!

http://www.highviewheat.com/index.asp

http://www.kristensfastpitchworld.com/index.asp

Call the scouting department of the MLB teams in your area and ask when and where they will be holding try outs.

Our son was invited to a try-out after freshman year by a pro scout who had seen him play. The scout told everyone that if you really were interested in his team (AB), you needed to show up at their open tryouts in the future, but you wouldn't be "invited" again.
So far he's been to three. We'll see.