We're back home, very little thanks to our wonderful airline companies, except for actually arriving, nothing else went right.
Now to the showcase.
I’ll break down my review into categories, I think that is the fair way to review it:
Facilities: A, the Astro’s facility is a quality place to play ball, could have used some shade and better seating, would be my only negative comments
Tournament management: B+, few minor inconveniences such as overprice refreshments and the last day it wasn’t clear when and where the teams played.
Umpiring: B+ - A-, you get some, you’re on the wrong side of some.
Scout Exposure: D-, I may be generous and give it a C- because you can’t always tell who’s a scout. I will add that we missed the Friday games, thanks to Airtran, so if the scouts attended day one I wouldn’t have seen them. Overall, I would say that I saw, maybe 12, I can’t say for sure. While I did see someone from Florida State, Miami, and North Carolina, the rest were probably from small Florida schools, I didn’t recognize any of the school names on the shirts, and all of these folks seemed to be following the Florida kids. I saw only a couple of radar guns most of them just carried the team roster sheets and a pen.
Talent: C, which may be why there so few scouts. My son’s team averaged 5 errors a game and we weren’t the worst (finished tied for 3rd). I do have to add that someone recommended a kid to the showcase that has only been playing ball for two years and is a sophomore. This kid is hugh but doesn't have 20 % of the skills a baseball player should have. What a waste of a roster spot.
Summary; my son enjoyed playing and meeting kids from other states. He pitched 9 innings in two days and gave up 1 run to what was maybe the two best teams there. If you noticed, I said teams. I guess that the tournament directors decided the best way to fill the event was to let Select/Travel teams enter and play together, one team had three of their own coaches, everyone else had one guy furnished by the event. I know in one case, a couple of kids were added to one of the select team’s roster, but it was very obvious that these guys were a team. I expect that the team that won it all was a select team. If you want to take a team to an event, play some ball in a woodbat tournament and possible win a ring, this may be for you, but as a SHOWCASE, it ain’t.
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