hi everyone,
our son is a 2026 catcher. so far some solid interest from some HA D3s after going to HF last year and sending out video.
more schools that are on his current list will be at PTW than HF this year. But I dont know any kids/parents who have done PTW.
I'm curious about anyone's experience at a PTW. we were super impressed with HF. I see that at PTW they get 3 game at bats and that is a half day only.
big thanks in advance!
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A good friend of mine went the PTW route with Gary Cohn about 6 years ago. Things could not have worked out any better. The student athlete involved was a 4 year starter at Haverford, was MVP at UT Dallas last year as a grad student, and just accepted a player development job with the Red Sox. I have since referred a few people on HSBBW to Gary and to the best of my knowledge they had good results also. FWIW PTW is the only recruiting service that I have ever recommended to anyone. They actually can do things that you can’t.
I think that the OP is talking about PTW's showcases, not the recruiting service (which I also have heard good things about, but which costs a LOT more).
You're right that not many people post about attending the PTW HA showcases. Here is one that did, worked out very well for them:
thanks for both the responses!
yes, im curious about the actual showcase since it is only half a day. compared to HF, two fun days.
and just 3 live at bats for PTW.
ill check out that thread. thanks again
@anotherparent posted:I think that the OP is talking about PTW's showcases, not the recruiting service (which I also have heard good things about, but which costs a LOT more).
You're right that not many people post about attending the PTW HA showcases. Here is one that did, worked out very well for them:
I’m aware that the OP was asking about PTW showcases and not the recruiting service. But to some extent they go hand in hand IMO. The cost of the recruiting service is significant but results are pretty much guaranteed as long as the player has the requisite playing ability and appropriate grades & test scores. The real value of PT W is the relationships they have with HA programs. That’s what you are paying for. There is nothing wrong with attending a PTW showcase w/o using the PTW recruiting service but the results are not likely to be the same. If it were my decision I would be looking at the recruiting service over a one time showcase. That was the point of my post.
My 2025 went to the PTW winter event in January 2024. If the venue is the indoor dome again and your son plans to show off his "hit" tool, I would NOT recommend it because the inside is white and the baseball is nearly impossible to see...especially if the pitcher is a white guy. He went 0-3 2Ks and so did the vast majority of the batters. Probably great if you are a pitcher though 
A lot of waiting & standing around since there is only 1 field, which could be argued is both a good & bad thing. However, he did get to personally talk to ~15 coaches and get interest because they spread the coaches out in the field during simulated gameplay.
I don't think it was worth the cost and I would recommend waiting for a Showball or PTW event in the summer of 2025, it won't be too late for a 2026.
On advice of another parent who posts here, I referred PTW and Gary Cohn to a family that was struggling to find the right fit. Now headed to a D3. Financially money was no object.
As far as I know, there is a fee to work with PTW and Gary, who set up all the interviews with coaches in attendance.
I agree that Gary and PTW work together with their clients. Gary is founder of PTW he has relationships with Coaches that can get your son a seat at the table, so be aware of how it works.
That families son got opportunities but wasted a lot of time and got caught up with early acceptance.
Again be aware of the differences recruiting timeline between divisions.
Our son worked with Gary's team this year and we attended PTW in NJ in June last summer. We also went to Showball. Hard to separate the PTW showcase from PTW service to give you good advice but our son received interest from at least 4 schools when we got home from PTW. Son ended up committing and getting accepted to academically competitive from school in attendance at PTW. I have no regrets.
Yes the camps are short, but compared to the 2-day showball event, I'd say the coaches get to see the same stuff. I think the school camps are a better bet, but we live on west coast (not CA) so that wasn't a great option for us.
Lots to consider. Have fun!
Thank you.
this is very helpful.
would prefer to just do school camps as his list is now around 8-12.
but it seems like most of the schools on his list don't have prospect camps until September. but we are thinking it would make more sense to get in front of them before then.
might just bite the bullet and do both a PTW and a HF
@pittbaseball posted:but it seems like most of the schools on his list don't have prospect camps until September. but we are thinking it would make more sense to get in front of them before then.
Your assumption is correct, in a few weeks baseball season begins and that is the priority. Depending on your players grad year, use this time to start sending out resumes and videos which might lead to camp invites.
thank you.
what are your thoughts about contacting coaches during their seasons?
we were thinking of waiting until after his HS season/college season. and then go hard: send videos/resumes in mid-may
Ok just saw above info on son.
If D3 is of interest, you may get better responses from parents here of sons who are D3 committs or former players, HA or IL.
I don't see why you cannot send out info before summer.
In terms of comms, timing doesn't matter - they just might not be as responsive in season. For frequency, every time my son had a notable update whether academic or baseball, he sent it - updated transcript, SAT score, HR, Five Tool highlight on X, PR, etc. Metrics & comms opens the door and prioritizes him on their watch list, but ultimately the HC/RC wants to see the player a couple of times with their own eyes before making a decision.
HA D3 schools will have summer camps, but they typically aren't posted on their website/social media until end of spring. I'm sure your son is already subscribed to their email lists if he filled out recruiting questionnaires - the schools won't be shy about advertising camps when schedules are finalized. If you end up working with PTW, they have a master schedule of all HA D1/D3 college camps which is helpful. Pick a SB/HF/PTW showcase that will have the college coaches on the list and then let the RC/HC conversations after the event dictate which summer/fall school camps you go to.
My son was a HS '19. He sent out some emails to HA D1 coaches in January, some of them had contacted him the previous fall. I would say it got him nothing except for form emails and camp invites. He sent emails to D1 and D3 schools at the end of May, that time listing where his summer team would be playing. Most of the D3s said they wouldn't be at those tournaments, but would be at Headfirst and would hold camps. One D1 followed him at summer tournaments, and that led to some recommendations. He went to one D3 school camp in July. Then he got a lot of interest from Headfirst in early August.
There are D3 schools where admissions are extremely selective, where a "tip" or "slot" from a coach almost guarantees admission. These are highly sought after, and the coaches don't need to make decisions until August or later. They can wait until Ivies and other D1 decisions are done (maybe it's happening earlier now, I don't know).
There are other excellent D3 schools for which admission isn't so selective. They recruit into the fall, and even later - D3 teams have no roster limits, so they can take as many players as they want.
The point is, depending on what schools you are targeting, you can contact them now, but they are still likely to wait to see what they have in August.
Also, it depends on what you are telling them. If you say "my son's FB tops at 92 and he really really wants to go to your D3 school" I would expect you would get a personal response right now, or in season, or whenever. If you say "my son's FB tops at 83 and he really really likes your school," less so.
The other point is, depending on your son's skills, you can do this yourself, or you can pay someone to do it. I'm rather glad that I didn't know that paying an agent was an option.
