Hi Gov- As a background my son has attended both Showball Mega twice and HeadFirst once. He went to Headfirst Long Island summer before his junior year and Showball Mega December of his sophomore and junior years. The switch from December (Ft Myers) to November (Lakeland) in Showball is new. Compare the prices HF($995) for 58 coaches so far to Showball ($795) with 90 coaches. Showball Mega Camp usually has about 225 prospects, while the HF in Long Island seemed like more. I thought the coaches were more accessible in Showball than HF. Maybe my perspective changed as rain occurred during 1 of the 2 days of HF. I liked the parent recruiting talks in each, which in both cases were given by coaches where my son had interest.
I believe in both showcases, hitters start out with that dreaded 1-1 count. All things considered, my decision would come down to which showcase you'll get more bang for buck. Which schools have shown interest in your 2018? Which schools has he reached out to? What my son and I used to do is print out a list of those schools/coaches in attendance and highlight schools where one or both parties have interest. Maybe Tufts, Lehigh, or William and Mary are schools you have vetted...they are scheduled to attend both. MIT and Holy Cross are also due to attend both, and the same coach is listed on both sites!! (Hard to do when the showcases are 156 miles apart, unless they split days.)
Showball did have some interesting colors of the rainbow for some of the team uniforms. In the part, Showball also assigned a specific coach to "follow" son and record all measurable and give a rating that is given to you and discussed before you leave. Headfirst did not do this. I think if my son had not asked his 60 time at HF as he crossed the line, it would be hard to find; I don't recall seeing them posted. Again, my decision would be based on WHICH SCHOOLS are there. Don't know if your son has a secondary position outside of SS, but I remember at HF son pretty set at MI though I think he may have had some time at third. WAs easier for him to dual position (MI/CF) at Showball or even UA Top 96. As mentioned many times on hsbbweb, make sure those schools know you are coming so that your 2018 can be a name on their preliminary clipboard that they can be on the lookout. Good luck, Gov. Feel free to PM me.
P.S. I also notice an absence of military academies at these showcases. This was not the case in the past. Fe