Lesson for High School Players From College Summer Leagues

See my post over on the recruiting section where I detail a discussion I had with Buddy Bell (VP in charge of Scouting and Player Development for the White Sox).  He had a lot to say about kids playing multiple sports.  He is not a fan of kids who specialize in one sport.  Said its happening way too soon these days.

Thanks for a great post. I am printing(!) this out for my son as I type. 

Great Post Hokie. Good luck next year, and recruiting this year.

This is a great post.  We were told by some college coaches about these leagues, but we have limited information.  When is the first year someone can get into these leagues, and how does one normally get invited?

Hokie One;

Outstanding post. Many years ago, my son Robert played 3 years in the Valley League and one year in the Alaska League.

You are to be commended for the creative marketing programs in the Valley league.

When we operated the Area Code games for 17 years, I personally selected two sport athletes for the pro scouts to evaluate.

Question: may I send you recommendations of quality college players who have traveled with the pro scouts to Australia and New Zealand and exhibited the necessary character and skills to play in your league.

We are also have contact with players from New Zealand and Australia who desire an opportunity to play in your Summer League.

Bob

Thanks for this great post and information. I will share it with all the ball players I know.

"When is the first year someone can get into these leagues, and how does one normally get invited?"

Occasionally you'll see a kid go right after HS ends in June.  But this is still pretty rare, and it's limited to the lower-level leagues.  Also most of the cases I've seen have involved kids playing close to home (and therefore sleeping in their own beds).

But these days, most D1 programs try to place just about everyone who hasn't graduated into a summer program.  Exceptions are made for pitchers who threw a ton in spring and are deemed to need some time off; for injured guys on rehab; and for academically marginal guys who need to go to summer school -- though often the approach for them is to try to place them nearby so they can do both.

At the Cape level, the players are pretty much building their pro draft resumes, though of course everyone seeks also to improve by facing tough competition.  At the lower level leagues, you'll see guys who redshirted on rehab, you'll see freshmen who didn't play much sent to get playing time and experience, etc.  For those leagues just one cut below the Cape -- Valley, Northwoods, Alaskan, Coastal Plains and others who jockey for bragging rights -- you'll see more upper classmen, more studs, guys who just missed the Cape, etc. 

High level players often learn within their first month on campus where they'll be heading the next summer.  Others the coaches have to use their connections to find a summer home for.  The Cape spots get filled pretty early on but there are always guys who bow out late so there are going to be openings late as well.  Also there are opportunities to fill in as needed, e.g., in June for guys playing in Omaha, or in August after some guys might sign from the June draft and head off to pro ball.

Commitments are often confirmed with written contracts.  In some cases you can say, "I'll come here unless I get a Cape offer" if the team will agree to it.  But 99% of the time, your college coach has a plan for you and you don't have a say in the decision.

I will add, I appreciate HokieOne's providing insight into the habits of successful players.

In the exposure baseball world, as the number of teams continues to proliferate we see more and more guys who will SAY that they want to play in college because they do like playing, they see their friends going, and they think "me too."  But too many of them SAY that without having any idea what it is they are signing up for, and often without actually dedicating themselves at the level required.  In HS you play two seven-inning games a week on average and often the practices are not what you would call demanding.  In college your schedule is a full time job with lots of overtime, and then by the way there are those classes you have to pass, too.  And then you find out there is no rest for the weary over the summer, because you're heading off to some rural area with no cell phone service where you will sleep in some nice family's spare bedroom while waiting for the time to come to report to the bus for the next day's game.

For all the people who get caught "keeping up with the Joneses" in pursuit of college baseball, I wonder how many really ought to play club ball or just Legion ball over the summer and keep it pretty much recreational.  We see lots of talented kids who are completely unwilling to curtail their late night partying, who don't pay attention to what they eat or drink, and who think their natural ability will carry them through college the way it has (so far) in high school. 

Those kids don't make it.

Hokie One and others,

Thanks for that post!  I am sharing it with my son when he comes home this weekend, because this topic has already come up at school.

Summer sessions and training have been outstanding. Great introduction to the rigors of playing D1 ball and keeping up with academics.

Very early in the summer program, one conversation with the p coach was already about placement for next summer.  Obviously nothing specific, just setting the players' sites high to perform their best in fall. Sounds like that process of summer league placement pretty much starts right away.

He also said, "Even if you pitch lights out this year as a freshman....don't expect the Cape League next year!" (I am pretty sure that was said to all the freshmen.)

It is amazing how quickly we switch gears from worrying about SATs and camps and OVs, to what happens at the next level.  This web site continues to prove invaluable!

Aleebaba,

In addition of all the advice you are getting here, Hokie posted another thread on this topic that gets refreshed every year about this time.

http://community.hsbaseballweb...ruting-well-underway

My sons advice to others is talk to your coach in the fall when you get on campus. Ask him what level he thinks you should be playing at and if he can get you placed.

Excellent, thank you!

FYI to anyone, this can be a question asked during the recruiting process.  We specifically asked where he would be placed and it was done the first month he set foot on campus, however, as mentioned due to innings in that freshman year, he had to bow out and rest up.

My son played in both the Valley League and the Coastal Plains League.  He would have loved to have played in the Cape.  There are only so many of those opportunities however.  Overall, the Cape has the most talent and nobody disputes that, but they do not have a monopoly on all the talent.  Justin Verlander - from Old Dominion no less, was a Coastal Plains alumnus to name but one example.  It's a big deal to play in any of the top summer leagues.  One of my favorite poster's from yesterday was Former Observer (FO).  He said it was a game of musical chairs and that metaphor seems to apply pretty well here.  

From a fans point of view, the Valley League and Cal Ripken League offer some excellent summer college baseball.  My business travel affords me an opportunity to catch a game every so often.  I'll check-in on my son's college teammates in action, and folks that I know.  D1, D3, JUCOs schools are very well represented.  

As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago Swampboy and I caught the Cal Ripken Summer League All Star game where his son pitched lights out in middle relief.  Incidently, the starters from both teams were D3 kids.

Given the amount of questions we see annually about collegiate summer ball, I'd like to nominate this as a Golden Thread. Great post, hokieone.

I would second that JH.