I95 Metro Baseball Showcase Stadium Series

I've heard good things about it, but that is mostly second hand info via Facebook.   Good topic and thanks for posting.  I'll be interested in reading the responses.

THE BEST event.  The key is one field.  Coaches see everyone.  There is some standing around, but they dont do anything that overlaps.  My kid got a ton of looks.  The stadium was great and video was a nice bonus.  It is a no doubter.  A ton of head coaches and recruiting coordinators and staff.  The other ones have the names but too many fields and coaches floating.  Go too it.

Thanks Jason....I also saw your other I-95 thread from 2017 that helps me as well. I understand and have seen first hand the love that pitchers get at these showcase events. My older son RHP got most of his offers that way at HF. We did not know of I-95 then.

For my second one is a switch hitting - MIF (2020). recruiting could be a different ball game for him as he prohects more as a MIF than a pither.. I feel doing all of these showcases might be needed to get him exposure. We are planning to do multiple showcases and hope that in total with a PG event, that might be enough. Thanks again

I hate to say anything negative about any showcase, but this was the worst experience of all the Showball and Headfirst and the like we have attended over 3 years. It was a total sh*t show and so much standing around it was comical.  You pay for a 2-day event and it's really a 1 day (barely) event spread annoyingly over 2 days!  We lived an hour away so were not paying for flights, rental car, and a hotel.  So, it was still a huge rip-off for us.  I cannot imagine those who paid $$$ were overjoyed.  The first day, we arrive at 7:30 to check-in.  Morning is just the measurables.  There were soooo may players it was very diluted. True, there were a ton of coaches there. But, may were not paying any attention and socializing.  We were done at noon and sent home so the afternoon group could do theirs.  Then we were the 2nd "game the next day and it was 22 inning!!!!  There were 50 kids in each dugout!  The coaches had been there since 8 am and we finished at 7:30 pm. No one cared, the kids and coaches lost all interest.  The high energy many running it with the microphone was eager to tell all this was a showcase for the coaches.  The coaches ran the show.  After it was over, my son wanted to shake some coaches hands.  Well, the coaches bolted for the bullpen to collect their checks (checks!!) and were in their cars and gone before we made it to our car.  One of the best things about other, better run showcases is the interaction between the kids and coaches.  Them playing the modified games which I used to hate.  But after this 22 inning debacle when my son got 3 innings in the field and 4 ABs, I can't imagine how you stand out.  We did get some emails after.  But, nothing like headfirst and Showball.  The $$ grab has to stop.  A good product is more important.  And the price has to support what you get.  Gove me 2 days, for god's sake!!  And more than 1 22 inning game!!  Other give you 2-3 games!  Buyer beware.

Hi all, new to the group!  Thanks all for all your posts, I've learned so much by reading about your experiences.  I've just registered my 2021 graduate for the i95 Metro Baseball Showcase in Oct in Manalpan, NJ.  If you have attended this one in the past and have traveled by air do you recommend flying into Philly or Newark for the event?  Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.  thanks 

Either work, MYBOYS. You can fly into Trenton too with Frontier.  Philly is an easier airport to deal with than Newark. 

I only have great things to say about the I95 showcase. My son attended the Aug 2019 event in Delaware. After the two day event , my son received about 10-12 follow up emails from college coaches  and eventually committed to a D1 school that attended the event. The event had some hiccups due to the weather but overall it was well run. The key to all of these events is that the athlete has to stand out among all the other talented athletes. My son attended several other showcases and was " just average', but as he gained experience and confidence he started to rise above the others. The college recruiters are out there , the athlete just has to be ready to perform well in order to be seen.

@Kimb27 thanks very much for the input and feedback!  We are attending the event today in NJ,, looking forward to it.

Good luck MYBOYS!!!

Hi all, just to close the loop wanted to share feedback based on our experience, I've shared the same with the event organizers.

What worked well:

• Variety and # of colleges in attendance was EXCELLENT!
• Organization and information provided prior to day of showcase
• Registration for kids in the AM
• Coordination of kids on the field and movement from station to station for primary positions and pitchers
• Talk with parents prior to showcase
• Details shared by college coaches with parents about the recruiting process
• Flow of event for coaches and their ability to focus on one child at a time
• Downtime was as to be expected and as per information provided prior to showcase

Opportunities for improvement:

• Might have had too many kids in the AM slot?  The AM session ran over due to pitching.  Maybe have a pitching only showcase in the future?
• As soon as pitching was completed coaches went to eat lunch (as they should, it was time to eat 😊
• However, AM players had little to no guidance on where they should huddle to hear closing information and or where to go to interact with coaches
• The players in the morning session did not get to interact with coaches prior to the lunch break.  This was extremely disappointing for my son and did not meet what was described in FAQs, see excerpt below
• Coach from Brown made a key comment.  “Baseball is about relationships and that is what you are here for.  I get emails from kids all the time letting me know they will be at a showcase and then follow up with me after the showcases, but never approach me during the event”.  Sadly, the AM session did not accommodate time for players to approach coaches without interpreting them from either watching another player or during their lunch.
• PM session kids and parents filled the venue making it very confusing to define end of AM and beginning of PM sessions
• It was impossible to hear the Duke coach during his talk to parents (people were letting out from the other events at the facility, e.g. basketball kids and parents), he should have had a microphone.  The space quieted just a bit by the time the Coach from Brown was up to speak, but think that even the coach from Brown would have benefited from a microphone
• Finally, the call to have kids go out for their secondary positions in front of coaches was not as well coordinated.  E.g. those that are primary 3^rd base and secondary 1^st base.

Based on all of the above we will definitely consider attending a future i95 Metro Baseball showcase and recommend it to friends in my area if above were to be improved and set time for players to interact with coaches was defined in the agenda for the session.

4 at bats and 4 innings in the field in front of 90 coaches seem pretty good to me.

Of course the coaches get checks, they have to be paid for travel to even be there.

I was there and to have 90 coaches there is awesome.  The guy speaking said, there is standing around so that when it is YOUR sons turn, nothing else is going on.  I think that is great.  Baseball is a slow game.

I went to showball and headfirst.  More moving sure.

They do freaking batting practice in BATTING cages with no one watching.  Here they did on the field at a stadium.  Plus all the coaches are on one field.  Not even comparison.

ON TOP of it your son got e-mails after, that is great.  

The true question....... Did he get any e-mails after?  Did they provide the metrics? I heard they include a video.  HF seems to be ANOTHER $300 for video.

We didn't get any emails and 14 views on the video. I would never pay for a video. He was a top 5 in the 60 and the velo off the T and that was why it was frustrating.  He actually "stole" some at-bats because kids had no idea when they were up and so if there was a delay, he jumped out there.  So much standing around and doing nothing on a scorching day. 

The best thing about HF and Showball is they play the modified games and are on a team. I have spent SO much money over the years on these types of things and was just hoping for something more. And then because the coaches bolted to get their checks and hit the road right after it ended,  there was no interaction with the kids at all.  Again, HF and Showball allow for plenty of interaction with the coaches because the coaches were coaching the teams. So, they gave evaluations to the players during and after the games. Just putting my opinion out there.  Maybe the guy who runs it will see some of my thoughts.

Hello - That is fair.  I actually know the guy who puts it together, he is an extremely hard worker.

The biggest thing and most important thing which not giving credit is there school list.  85 coaches and 40 D1 coaches and schools from all over the country, that is still the key.  Headfirst has great list, but not like i95

Did you get the exit velo and 60 from headfirst?  My so did not.

I find it hard to believe you didn't get any e-mails after.  My son got 24 and his friend who is an average player got 11.

The standing around part is true, but for a reason is what he says.  The guy says it in his speech.  The busy work is for "show".  You are there to be SEEN by coaches.  22 innings, sure, that is great.  You want 10 innings spread on 4 fields?  No thank you.  My son did that and when the good pitcher was on field 1, the other fields were a GHOST town.  Yes, they stand around, yes long day, but they played all day long and didn't cut it short.  That is great.

Kids not knowing when their up, is on them. They put the line-up in the dug-out.  Plus, my sons game had 4-5 coaches in the dug-out, I think they do that for all games.

The one field has the coaches watching when it is pitchers going or OF going and the single game.    See at HF, the coaches are roaming around and YES they talk to the players more but they do not see every kid in a game, far from it.   

Plus the stadium experience my son loved.  At HeadFirst he liked more games, but HATED batting practice indoors.

The part about the checks is un-fair.  They get paid at the end of the day from every camp they go too.

Is it perfect? No, but I will never go to a showcase that has 3 or 4 fields at the same time, does NOT give metrics and hits batting practice in batting cages where parents can't watch.

I will pass your notes along to him, but i have been in the game a long time, they do it right in my opinion.  Going to tournaments, lucky to see 3 coaches.

Good luck to your son.

JR

I haven't been to any of these yet, but am in the planning/scheduling phase, so I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been and shared their experience on here.    

Has anyone attended any of these recently?  Nothing in the search since 2019.

My kid went last year at the stadium where Trenton Thunder play. Made the mistake of booking a hotel near Trenton (wife took kid so I was spared the horror...still paying for that almost year later). My kid said the event was sloppy in taking metrics (stop watch) and was not sure if it benefitted him or not. His metrics at the camp were not as good as what was taken at home (very limited Dad bias as I used coaches eye as a second timing device). He did well overall and coaches/rc did reach out and the kid sent the video to other schools to start a dialogue, including his HA D3 he committed to. If he did not get hurt in the winter/spring, I would have sent him to a PBR showcase. He still has credit for the PBR winter one he missed, but I am not sure the value of sending him to a fall one now that he is committed other than to ego stroke on his metrics.

@Jason Rylick posted:

Going to tournaments, lucky to see 3 coaches.

if this is the case you are either on the wrong team, playing at the wrong places or both.