College Summer Wood Bat Leagues?

My opinion is that there is not any closer parity in the leagues, and even more important than that, is the scouts opinions. They cast their votes with their attendance.

Coastal Plains is considered in the second tier, along with Northwoods just slightly ahead, with the first tier being CCL.

quote:

The team he played for has invited him back for next Summer, but the College Coach told him that he has gotten some interest from other teams and may have the option of playing in the Coastal Plains (Peninsula Pilots), Valley (Winchester) or New England Leagues(?).

All three of those leagues are excellent imho. My son played two years in the Coastal Plains and one year in the Valley. The New England league might be a nice ticket since it would not be quite so hot in the summer time. You can't go wrong with any of those leagues imho.

There are lots of good leagues with lots of good players. In fact, every one of them has good players, and not all of the good players are in Cape Cod.

Often it is what the player makes of it. Most of all, the kid needs to play. But the Coastal Plains is outstanding, so is New England, so is the West Coast League and the Jayhawk League and the Northwoods League. It is tough and perhaps pointless to try to rank them.

Just go play and play your best.

Let's break this down (as recently polled by the college players)


Pitching:..................CCL
Hitting:....................NWL
# of Scouts:.............CCL
Better Looking Girls:..NWL
More College Women:.NWL
Field Conditions:.......NWL
Attendance:.............NWL
Shorter Travel:.........CCL & others
Friendships:.............NWL
Returnees:...............NWL
Coaches:..................CCL
Clubhouses:.............NWL
Concessions:.............NWL
Entertainment:..........NWL
Team Transport:........NWL
Tradition:.................CCL
Improving Quality......NWL
MiLB Like:................NWL
Uniforms:................Tie
Life Long Memories:..NWL
Better Music............NWL

cheers

Interesting poll, but I find it hard to believe that the women in Wisconsin and Minnesota (NWL)are better-looking then than the women in N & S Carolina and Virginia (Coastal Plains)

If you have Valley League questions, send me a PM. I'm the General Manager of a new franchise beginning play next summer.


Hokieone

quote:

Originally posted by gitnby:
Interesting poll, but I find it hard to believe that the women in Wisconsin and Minnesota (NWL)are better-looking then than the women in N & S Carolina and Virginia (Coastal Plains)

Might be a Ripley's Believe it Or Not on how you left out the Northwood League gals from Michigan, Iowa and Ontario?

Didn't see anything in the poll about host families? I have to say the Northwoods League has incredible host families. My son was "adopted" by his host family. The nicest people in the world. He played for the Green Bay Bullfrogs. His host family gave him a truck for the summer, went to most of the games, fed him, entertained him, and even hosted some of his friends from other NWL teams.

The WI people must be some of the nicest people around. Host mom knit him a blanket in his team colors and plans to come west next season to see him play. The team photographer took thousands of pictures of the team for their facebook website. Then send us a CD of our son's ***. She also made a beautiful book with pictures of each player. Again, amazing people.

We sent him some extra money for additional food and some gas $. We didn't have to pay the league or the host family. His friend in the Cape Cod league was required to pay his host family $70/week (but of course it's worth every penny just to play in the Cape).

Anyway, great fans and people in the NWL!

There can be some significant differences in day to day life/expenses for the player based on the type of league in which they play.
It isn't because all the leagues don't want to treat the players the same.
Rather, it is the difference in profit vs non-profit.
The NWL is a for profit league. They have incentives to operate their teams accordingly and they do very, very well by all reports in providing a wonderful baseball experience.
The Cape and NECBL I know are non-profits. There are others. For these, a fair amount of what they do is volunteer based and what they earn during the year gets returned back into their communities and to organizations in their communities. Most of these teams also do an equally wonderful job. They just, in some situations, will not have the resources for players that will exist in a for profit situation, if the for profit is profitable.

quote:

Originally posted by Bear:

quote:

Originally posted by gitnby:
Interesting poll, but I find it hard to believe that the women in Wisconsin and Minnesota (NWL)are better-looking then than the women in N & S Carolina and Virginia (Coastal Plains)

Might be a Ripley's Believe it Or Not on how you left out the Northwood League gals from Michigan, Iowa and Ontario?

Some fine ladies in all of those places!

I guess I'm just a sucker for those sweet-talkin Southern gals with the nice tans?

The MLB has ended its already limited financial support for summer leagues by decreeing they won't pay to any leagues that have for-profit teams. The actual amount they pay hasn't increased in several years. Several years ago, it was a fairly significant portion of some teams' summer budget, perhaps as much as 25%-35%; now I suspect the percentage is closer to 5%-7%.

Just saw this on PG site:

http://www.perfectgame.org/Sum...legiate/Default.aspx

Summer Collegiate Top Prospects Friday, August 27, 2010
Allan Simpson


SUMMER COLLEGE LEAGUES
TOP PROSPECT RANKINGS, 2010


Over the course of the next several days, PG Crosschecker will identify the top prospects that played in the nation’s leading summer college leagues in 2010. Through personal observation, contact with scouts and input from league managers, we’ll focus on those players who have the greatest chance to succeed at the next level—and beyond.

The depth of prospect information provided will vary according to the relative strength of each league, and to a lesser degree the number of teams in the league. In the Cape Cod League alone, we’ll rank the top 100 prospects. In all, we’ll identify more than 600 prospects.

We’ll provide information on each league in three stages. Initially, we’ll provide a raw list (and relevant biographical information) on the top prospects in each league (LIST on chart below). Then we’ll follow with mini scouting reports (M-SR) on each player. Our final, more comprehensive instalment will provide full scouting reports (F-SR) on all the prospects, along with a thorough overview of each league. We’ll add that more detailed information over the course of the next 2-6 weeks. All the information will be available to PG Crosschecker Insider-level subscribers. Please click here for subscriber information.

Concurrent with our comprehensive summer-league coverage, we’ll also be providing thorough follow lists of the top college, junior-college and high-school prospects in the Draft Classes of 2011, 2012 and 2013. We’ll break out all the top prospects in each class, and provide the most complete state-by-state follow lists available anywhere.

As an overview to our summer coverage, we’ll provide a link to each league’s top prospect lists and identify the No. 1 prospect in each league. Each item on the accompanying chart will be underscored/linked as it becomes available. The number of players we’ve ranked in each league is noted. We’ve also grouped each league into four tiers, based on the relative degree of professional-level talent in each league. You can also link to each league’s official website for more complete information on the 2010 season.

LEAGUE NO. NO. 1 PROSPECT (College) LEAGUE WEBSITE
TIER I
Cape Cod 100 LIST M-SR F-SR George Springer, of, Wareham (Connecticut) www.capecodbaseball.org
Northwoods 50 LIST M-SR F-SR Kyle Gaedele, of, Madison (Valparaiso) www.northwoodsleague.com

TIER II
Alaska 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Steve Piscotty, of/1b, Oilers (Stanford) www.alaskabaseballeague.org
California Collegiate 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Carson Smith, rhp, Santa Barbara (Texas State) www.calsummerball.com
Cal Ripken Sr. 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Glynn Davis, of, Youse’s Orioles (SIGNED/Orioles) www.ripkencollegebaseball.org
Coastal Plain 40 LIST M-SR F-SR Will Lamb, of/lhp, Peninsula (Clemson) www.coastalplain.com
Great Lakes 30 LIST M-SR F-SR Adam Walker, of, Licking County (Jacksonville) www.greatlakesleague.org
New England Collegiate 30 LIST M-SR F-SR Mark Appel, rhp, Newport (Stanford) www.necbl.com
Prospect 30 LIST M-SR F-SR Navery Moore, rhp, Nashville (Vanderbilt) www.prospectleague.com
Texas Collegiate 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Miguel Pena, lhp, East Texas (San Jacinto JC) www.texascollegiateleague.com
Valley 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Taylor Sandefur, rhp, Waynesboro (W. Carolina) www.valleyleaguebaseball.com
West Coast 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Stefan Sabol, c/3b, Cowlitz (Oregon) www.westcoastleague.com

TIER III
Atlantic Collegiate 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Chris Reed, lhp, Torrington (Stanford) www.acbl-online.com
Florida Collegiate 20 LIST M-SR F-SR Brandon Thomas, of, Sanford (Georgia Tech) www.floridaleague.com
Jayhawk 20 LIST M-SR F-SR Charlie Lowell, lhp, El Dorado (Wichita State) www.jayhawkbaseballleague.org
MINK 20 LIST M-SR F-SR Johnny Coy, 1b, St. Joseph (Wichita State) www.minkleaguebaseball.com
New York Collegiate 25 LIST M-SR F-SR Mel Rojas Jr., of, Amsterdam (SIGNED/Pirates) www.nycbl.com

TIER IV
Great South 10 LIST M-SR F-SR www.greatsouthleague.com
Hawaii Collegiate 10 LIST M-SR F-SR Ka’iana Eldredge, c/ss, Oahu (Kansas) www.hawaii-cbl.com
KIT 10 LIST M-SR www.kitleaguebaseball.com
Mountain Collegiate 10 LIST M-SR www.mcbl.net
Southern California 10 LIST M-SR www.sccbaseball.com
Southern Collegiate 10 LIST M-SR www.scbl.org
Western Major 10 LIST M-SR www.wmbl.ca

Found this on attendance for 2010

http://ballparkbiz.files.wordp...ummer-collegiate.pdf

We had a lot of fun in Fayetteville!

Legion or Summer Collegiate Team?

If a college freshman pitcher(D1) has an opportunity to play on a mid or low tier summer collegiate league or a chance to play nearly every game on an American Legion team, which should he choose?

The Legion league will have newly graduated 2011 seniors that will be playing college ball, but rarely has current college ballplayers on the teams. As a situational pitcher that rarely pitches more than two innings, he will likely play nearly every Legion game(as he did last year). If he were to make a summer collegiate team, it will likely be a lower tier team so that he would get some mound time. Will the level of competition be that much different? Will that outweigh the amount of time on the mound?

Leftysidearmom-

Good question with a couple of answers. In my mind the best answer will be based on a couple factors:

1. How much he pitches this season for his college team; and what the team wants him to accomplish this summer in preperation for the following year.

2. The type of collegiate team; where are they located, how well they are run and the experience that he will receive, no matter how much he pitches.

If he does not pitch much for his College team and needs not only innings but to gain confidence, maybe the legion team would be good. However, if he is making the progress that he and his college team want, it may be time for him to step out and seek a new challenge.

My guy could have stayed at home an played for the Legion program after his freshman year; he opted to go to the Great Lakes League. He played in about 65% of the games, learned to compete against kids with "preceived petagree." More important he had to fend for himself away from home with no immediate family support. He grew immensely; both as a person and as a baseball player.

Good luck!

I can only speak to what I saw in our area. Legion has taken a hit around here. There are still several teams, but usually only one or two "good" teams every year. My son played three years in one of the lower tier collegiate leagues, because it was close to home after being 8 hours away at school. There was no comparion between the competition levels of the lower tier summer team and the legion teams. Much much much better on the summer team.

Your point about the playing time is a good one, and should factor into the decision. But if he is that sort of relief pitcher, I can't imagine he wouldn't get significant appearances in the summer league as well. JMHO.

No matter how strong the legion program, playing in a collegiate summer league ensures that the competition will be there. There are also enough games where innings won't be much of a concern if performance is there. In the case of many D1 schools, coaches place their players and have developed relationships with the coaches of the teams that they're being sent to in order to ensure they get playing time.

Definitely go with the Summer Collegiate League!

Rarely do starting pitchers go more than 5-7 innings because of the heat and the fact that their college coach doesn't want the Summer Coach to over-use him.
With 6 games a week, middle relief pitchers are in high demand!

Obviously, the competition level will be better, and also the life-learning experience is great.

Just being around more elite athletes will spur him on.

I have never played Legion in my life (it is nearly non-existent where I'm from, I played travel ball and went all around the country...PG tournaments, etc.). But if I had the option to choose between a summer collegiate league and a local league that would be similar to legion, there would be no question in my opinion.

After my freshman year of college, I played in a low-level collegiate league near my house. I worked two jobs, pitched for the team and lived at home. I led the league in innings pitched and made the all-star team.

After my sophomore year of college, I played in a highly competitive, well-reknowned collegiate league located 12 hours away from home. I lived with a host family and played 60 games in about 10 weeks. In total for the summer I threw about 20 innings, all out of the bullpen. My final numbers were good, but by no means did I excel and make myself a superstar in the league.

I threw nearly 4 times the amount of innings in the local league I played in, and got a lot more accolades for it. But I am 10000% sure that the experience that I had playing in the other league has made me a better baseball player, a better pitcher and a better person. In my opinion, it's always best to challenge yourself because in the end, you are the only one that can measure the perception of your own success.

Reviving the thread....


Looking for input comparing the Valley League and the Cal Ripken League.

Fields/caliber of players and coaches/strength of schedule/scouts/general reputation.

Thanks for your input

The Ripken League is evolving into the right league at the right time. I know of one franchise that has 7 players who were rostered with them the last two years advance to the Cape this season. In addition the league routinely sends 30-50 players on to pro ball from among it's alumni each year. It's a good mix of up and coming large school players, top D2 talent, and steady D1's from mid majors. The talent mix comes from all conferences as the league is getting high marks from college coaches and major league baseball, who also partially funds the league.

Summer wood bat being played in a major metropolitan area like Baltimore-Washington affords some players opportunity to intern in their majors while playing at night, take summer courses at Towson, U of Md or one of the quality community colleges, have travel distances that are no more than two hours from the farthest two points, see the sights and sounds of two major cities during the time when not playing ball, and to meet some very influential people who admire and respect what the players are doing. Fact is, nobody plays baseball forever.

The growing excitement for this 7 year old league is palpable. Community support is growing and despite the many things to do here, it's rewarding to see how energized and delighted fans are when attending the games. It's almost as if they can't believe this type of quality family entertainment is available and often free of charge.

The CRCBL was once a two team race between Bethesda and Youse's Orioles. The Baltimore Redbirds joined the elite with back to back championship game appearances the last two years.

More balance this year with upstart So Md Nationals playing well early and new addition from Vienna holding their own. Rockville, the '07 champion, has some good arms and Alexandria can be dangerous when they put it all together. Herndon is always tough at home and Silver Spring has been competitive, but snake bitten early.

Overall, the league is as healthy as ever and has plans to add one to three new franchises over the next few years, with the emphasis remaining on quality growth.

Lights at Rockville and Calvert Hall have been installed and the buzz continues to grow throughout the Baltimore-Washington area about the league.

Quality of players and programs represented runs higher than ever and the reports going back to schools around the country is that players had a great time playing competitive summer ball in front of decent crowds and scouts in a major metropolitan area.

There are at least two franchises in the league that have a rare "more host families available than players". I know the host families in the Northern Baltimore area have been particularly receptive to the players becoming part of the family for two months in the summer.

Baseball12532, thanks for the update. You are an outstanding advocate for your team, your league, and the great game of baseball. Keep it up.

I'm curious about the financial side of these teams/leagues. My son is playing for team of the non-profit variety and his costs are relatively modest compared to what I imagine is a much larger "all-in" cost. Can anyone explain to me how a typical non-profit collegiate summer team makes it work financially?