College Summer Leagues - Best and Not Best

A few comments and thoughts after reading this board for 8 years....

The Hamptons League is a rather new league (son was supposed to play there this summer but didn't due to surgery).  Can't beat the venue.  But, as for spring-boarding to the Cape, I think that would more fit the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), especially for pitchers.  

Coworker's son played for the Alaskan League.  Her major regret was not going to see him play there.  (Tried to get keewarson to consider it so I would have a reason to visit, but he didn't buy it.)

After the Cape topped at #1, I think Northwoods is next in rank.  The Cape is non-profit and Northwoods is for profit.  From what I have read, Northwoods is most like playing for the MiLB, with a long season.  Heavily scouted like the Cape, and very well attended by fans.  They recently broke an attendance record of 1 million this season.  I understand if one of the teams goes up for sale in the NW league, they can sell for over a million.  

Then there are a host of other leagues.  Most leagues charge something ($250-$500-$750) ....except I believe the Valley League, but Hokieone can clarify.  Then there are the pay-to-play leagues:  there is thread on here regarding Myrtle Beach.  Worth reading if your son decides to head that way. 

New teams pop up.  Charlottesville (VA) Tom Sox in the Valley League comes to mind as a more recently formed team just this past summer.  Wonder if new team expansions could be due to a need since American Legion changed their age structure?   

Your son doesn't get to choose where to go, the college coach will place his players. Even if several teams show interest in your son, it is still ultimately the coach's decision.  Some players will know in August where they are headed next summer, and some in May after the college season has ended.

As you said there are countless leagues. They are unique in their own way and from team to team they can be different. My son (good d3) played in three leagues. His experience ranged from great to awful. Without getting into the specifics of each team; his experience was:

Great Lakes League - he played after his freshman year. He had a great time, competition was good, the league was well run and he wanted to go back the next year. Cost $200. Lived in a college dorm, provided one meal a day and everything else including access to all of the facilities at the college.

Atlantic League- between his sophomore and junior year. Horrible experience; unless you live in the area I would not recommend that league. Biggest problem was they played almost all their games on weekends which left him with nothing to do other than baby sitting his host family's grandchildren during the week. Had to pay all of his transportation cost, including getting to his games. Host family was good but had extensive meal cost whenever they had to travel to games. He hated his experience and would not have gone back under any circumstances.

New England League - between his junior and senior year. Well run competitive league. As a league it was very good; some teams were clearly not as well funded as others. Lived with a terrific host family, cost was a one-way airplane ticket. Would have gone back but not to all of the teams.

Son played this summer in Prospect League. No fees, stayed in campus apt. with two other players no charge except food costs. Received $20.00 A day food money when on the road. Traveled in nice.modern bus. Team supplied several uniforms. bats.etc, Had good time & made many new friends. Only problem  he was only D3 position player on team & saw only 23 AB all summer despite .344 BA & 1st team all conference honors at school. Some other teams in league carried more D3 players & they seemed to get a good share of playing time, while some were like sons team & played same 8 most games. Overall I would rate the league very good with great competition just know that some teams are more equitable in playing time than others

We live 20 miles from a Great Lakes League team and son is likely playing there next summer.  We saw them play quite a bit this year.  Really good baseball (this team has 3 or 4 SEC guys).  Not bad travel, most games are no more than a 2 hour trip.  Other than the Cincinnati and Columbus teams, the others are in smaller towns, so a big city kid may get a little bored...lol.  If anyone has questions on the league, the HC of the team is a very good friend of mine....can get you any answers from him.

The West Coast League, the Head Coach of the Victoria Harbor Cats - Graig Merritt

will coach our Rays Scout Team December 20 to Australia.

This is a 12 team League with teams in Oregon, Washington.

Bob

<www.goodwillseries.org>

I'm a big fan of the Valley League..because I've been President/General manager of a team, the Strasburg Express, for the past 5 years. Lots of bias here.  The league plays a civilized 42 game schedule, tries hard to finish the playoffs no later than early August (finished on 8/5 this season), features a lot of short travel distances (our average trip is under 25 minutes), players stay with host families, and the league has had over 1000 players drafted into the MLB (It's been around a long time). The league is nonprofit as are all teams, and there is now a $200 player fee.   The league is getting better every year, doesn't much toot its horn, but is well-regarded by scouts and college coaches.   Not the place if you're looking for nightlife, clubbing, and that sort of thing, but beautiful rural settings, faithful fans, and lots of volunteers, fields range from good to great, crowds on given nights at different venues range from 200 up to 1500. (Charlottesville bumps up the average with  the biggest populated area). Anyone can PM me with questions.

Thats ok, the GM of the league champions has a right to be biased.

Related question... for PO's, I know (I think) that for most of these teams/leagues you are expected to be in attendance at all times even when not scheduled to throw.  How many of you have experienced something different?

I remember the entire team always together, on his team at the cape.

Keep in mind that college starters will relieve and college relievers will start, so expect to be available at all times, but maybe other leagues do thinks differently.

Much of this stuff is out of one's control.  The college coach usually determines where someone will play.  The upper-tier leagues may take a scout to vouch for someone.  None of this is worth fretting over.  The league you get assigned is what it is.  Would any of you tell your kids to turn down their only summer offer because of some negative commentary here on the hsbbweb?  I suppose if there were known criminals in the league but other that that, I am guessing you send your kids there and tell them to make the best of it.  

CD

While I don't disagree with what you are saying; we did learn from our first and if my second went down the same road we would have likely said that we would not support him if the options were the same as our eldest. My son's experience in the Atlantic League was so bad that I would not trust the people to do what is right.

Your point is valid; but that being said shared experience so that one can be well informed is important.

Seems odd that a freshman is assigned in the fall. Coach hasn't seen an inning yet! I could see this back firing in some of the top leagues if the 1st year doesn't go as scripted. 

A lot of schools, mostly the "big timers", don't decide on where or if to send their pitchers until the spring as they want to see how they do, how much they throw, etc.  Freshman position players are harder to place if they are not from traditionally successful college programs as there's no track record and high school numbers don't mean much; with pitchers, 94 is 94 everywhere so it's easier to place frosh pitchers with velocity. While there is lots of talent at D III schools, D III batting averages are "factored" a bit as they just don't consistently see the same level of pitching seen at D-I programs. Hitting .390 at a D III isn't the same as hitting .390 in the ACC or SEC.  Coach recommendations are still the biggest factor-summer teams develop relationships with certain colleges and can trust what they say. We get some amazingly detailed and honest  evaluations from a few programs about the players they have available. One coach sent us an e-mail this week saying he only had one guy that he thought would be a good fit; another told us a kid we were interested in (a freshman) really wasn't going to be ready for our league by next summer.       

Its not unusual to get an assignment a week or two when arriving at school, especially for top prospects.  Coach has seen enough to offer the opportunity early. Its also great motivation.

Nothing is written in stone, this is an opportunity. While son got offered the first week at school to go play at the cape (as this was a promise dufing recruifing), he was pretty much burnt out and just wanted to do nothing.  70+ innings as a freshman is tough.  

 I knew nothing about college summer ball.  While I agree that it is pretty much left up to the coaching staff to determine which direction the player will be headed, I think its a good discussion.

Son played in the Lewis & Clark League in the St. Louis area this summer. All things considered, it was a good experience for him. However, the actions of league officials in fabricating the results of games that were never played put a real damper on things and embarrassed players, coaches, and parents associated with the league.

This was the league’s third year of operations. Nearly all games are played on the weekend – often a game Friday night and then a double-header on Saturday and another double-header on Sunday. Decent quality competition – a few players from D-I’s, more from D-II’s, D-III’s and NAIA programs.

In any case, shortly after the league’s all-star game, the defending champions from last summer dropped out of the league. Never heard the full story, but it was apparently a combination of injuries, guys needing to go home, etc. The league’s hierarchy was obsessed with protecting the league’s image and felt that they couldn’t have the champs dropping out. So, they pretended that it had never happened. Any game the now-defunct team was scheduled to play was treated as a forfeit. However, the scores posted on the league website were not the standard forfeit score of 9-0. Instead, the scores were 6-5, 5-2, etc., as if they had been played. Near the end of the season, the league posted an article on the website on what each team in one of the divisions needed to do to get the #1 seed for the playoffs – including the team that was no longer playing. In a final touch, the league website had the “fantasy” team making the playoffs. Alas, they came up short – 6-3 – in their first round game and were eliminated.

A truly bizarre situation. Never see anything quite like it.

Best way to find the best and others is to research each leagues website.  Especially look at rosters and which colleges the players came from.  In most cases you can gather a lot of information about the teams, the places they play, attendance, etc.

For the most part you will find that the Cape Cod Leagues tends to get the very best prospects.  Most people these days consider the Northwoods League second best and even the best in some ways.

There are several very good leagues. However, it's not always easy to get on a roster.

Most surprising was the Alaska league - although I have to admit some of their pictures of of ballparks made little sense - no bleachers or parking lot in sight. 

Had to laugh about this. Do you know when the Alaskan summer league starts and what the situation is with the sun up there in the summer? Hint: There isn't a lot of time when the sun isn't up. Research the "Midnight Sun Game" before you think about the lights at the fields

The Alaskan summer league is a storied and historic league, once considered very prestigious. It's moved down some but still a hell of a league to play in.

Hm? The Seattle Studs won the NBC World Series in 2015, from the Pacific International League (PIL). Also won it in 2013, finishing runner up to the Santa Barbara Foresters (CCL) in 2014. Both are powerhouses of that tournament.

Patrick Ebert just posted his rankings on www.PerfectGame.org.

http://www.perfectgame.org/Art...w.aspx?article=11726

Hey Kyle Bobby your right, the Haysville Aviators(Jayhawk)

played Seattle and lost. they were the runner up

Kent Nights: The Ballad of Kyle Bobby.  

Thanks for posting. I see the Alaskan league comes in at 4. 

Did not see the Hawaii Collegiate League on the list, are they no more?

That's where my son went the summer before his Freshman year and he loved it.  But yes, it is no more.  A year after my son was there they lost their housing resources and had to shut down since there was no place to house the player.  That's been over 5 years ago, so I guess they just have never been able to solve their problem.

Pay-and-play league insight here. I played the past few summers in the AZ Collegiate Wood Bat League. Even this summer, when I was mainly working out at the AZ Baseball Ranch all summer, I was still able to pitch a few innings this summer in the AZ Wood Bat League just to work on the stuff I learned at the Ranch. As much as I loved playing in this league over the years, I am sure this is the direct opposite end of leagues such as the Cape...

Pretty much the AZCWBL is as pay-and-play as you can get. 6 week long season, games 5 days a week Monday-Friday. 7 inning games. Games played primarily at the local Phoenix area spring training complexes, and local junior colleges. In the years past the out-of-state kids stayed at the dorms at ASU, but the housing option wasn't available this year. Few D1 kids, but mainly kids from smaller schools or local junior colleges. Usually there's one team that stacks all the talented players in the pool and just dominate the league (that's the team with the most D1 kids, etc.)

Environment wise, it's very much laid back. At times players would show up as close to 15 minutes before the game started, and just "show and go." Coaches are pretty laid back for the most part, they're just there to write lineups, and that's pretty much it. Teams don't carry that much pitchers to ensure pitchers get innings, but a lot of times position players help out with pitching too since sometimes there's not enough. It truly is up to the player to push himself to get the most out of playing here. You will get your reps in for sure, but you're mainly on your own. Coaches mainly there to facilitate, not so much coach. A lot of the time it is kind of like little league, where everyone will get to bat (like 1-12) and you can switch in and out of your position whenever you want (trade every other inning at shortstop, etc.).

Recommend this league to anyone that feels the need to get consistent reps. Anyone can play if they pay the league fee of $500. Even unsigned college players, or incoming college freshman, or recent HS grads with nowhere else to play. 

Hopefully one day I too can get into a prestigious summer league, as that is one of my three primary baseball goals at this time. I almost went to play for the SF Seals this summer (they're an independent college travel-intensive summer team that plays against teams in the West Coast League, Pacific International League, California League, etc.), but decided a spending the summer training at AZ Baseball Ranch would be much more beneficial for me, which it has been.

My S is considering D3 ball as a freshman next year.
What do kids do between HS and college ? 
No college coach yet guiding you ?

A powerhouse D3 we visited indicated not all players even play summer ball,
due to internships.  For those that did, made no mention of team selection.

HS travel team has an 18U / College combined team, but not sure if he would want

to go back there.  He is being recruited as a pitcher and his travel team did
not handle pitchers well (no rotation, and other issues).   S played in OF mostly.
He is OK with being a pitcher only, maybe even prefers it going forward.