My son (and I) attended the North-South tryouts June 13. I thought I'd give a rundown of the event for others that may have this opportunity in the future.
First off, this event was the day after our last day of school, and we weren't able to do the 3-hour drive the night before as we had hoped. So we got up at 5 am and drove 3+ hours to the event. I've never liked doing that. The cost was 2 baseballs. The check-in was quick and the whole process was very well run.
I counted 145 players (not counting the pitchers that tryout on Sunday) warming up. The tryout consisted of 1 60-yard dash for all players, 6 balls hit to each outfielder (in rightfield) with 3 throws to 3rd and 3 to home, 3 grounders to each infielder, 2 double plays to each infielder, 3 throws by each catcher, and 2 hitting rounds of 3 swings and 5 swings. The total time for the whole tryout was 5 hours. This calculates to about 2-3 minutes of show time for each player. They took about 5 from each position (10 catchers) to advance to the game situation/pitcher tryouts on Sunday.
My son tried out as a 2B and there were 15-20 at his position. His defense looked good, but so did the others. His hitting was good, but nothing that stood out. I think they took 6, and he wasn't one of them. I'm no scout, but I could not have chosen the top 5 from that amount of tryout.
Speaking of scouts, I counted 50 out at the finish line of the 60-yard dash, but there were others scattered in the stands. I'd give an estimate of 70-80. Most MLB teams had a scout there, and I saw D1, D2, D3, and Juco scouts. I saw some Ivies and some Military Academies that were wearing their gear.
Listening (eavesdropping) to a pro scout and a juco scout talking behind me, I learned that there were several kids that were shoe-ins to make the team, at least a dozen. So you could say that the players from the top highschool programs that had already made a name for themselves, were certainly given a free pass to the next day. then there were another 5 or so that really hit the ball well. What I got out of this was that my son would have really had to standout in a big way to get noticed. We come from the northern most part of the Southern Section and are kind of off the map for getting seen. We knew it was a longshot going in, but it was free, so we couldn't pass on it.
We sent out letters to the schools that he is interested in, letting them know he would be there, so we will see if anything happens from here. The college scouts legally couldn't talk to the kids as they were away from their campus and these were all juniors.
After the tryout, a couple of pro scouts talked and answered questions. Here is some of the advice they gave:
1. Always be truthful in your answers to recruiters and scouts. Don't just tell them what you think they want to hear.
2. The high school to pro-ball path is very, very difficult and it takes a rare individual that can pull it off. It takes great passion, work-ethic, and mental maturity to pull it off. It is definitely the harder way to beome a major leaguer versus the college route. If a player doesn't get good grades in high school, pro scouts see this as a lack of work-ethic and maturity, so grades matter just as much for those kids that want to skip college.
3. Pro scouts and college recruiters will be looking at your facebook and myspace pages.
4. The alternative-to-highschool league that has started up for those kids that can't make the high school team, or don't get the grades, or have gotten kicked out of school is not well-received by the pro scouts. The league included kids that were kicked out of school for drug distribution. There were zero kids drafted out of the league. The scouts felt that if a kid can't negotiate high school and the occasional difficult coach, they have no chance in the pro minor leagues.
5. One pro scout said he sees multi-sports in high school as a plus when he evaluates a player.
6. These scouts feel that kids are paying way too much for camps and showcases. In southern Califonia playing on a scout team is a cheaper way to get seen, along with pro tryouts.
Overall, I would recommend that you attend this event. It was a lot of standing around, but it gave my son a chance to play in front of the schools that he is interested in. Even though it may not be enough to get him recruited directly, it could get him on a watch list that could lead getting seen again in the future.
44
