Mikey O'Brien Shines at Jupiter

That's great! My son played against him in 06...and played with his brother this past year at LC. Great baseball family and Mikey seems to be a young man with a decent head on his shoulders.

Several Virginia based teams have done well down there. Out of 82 teams, the Richmond Braves won their pool and lost in the round of 32, the Tidewater White Sox advanced one round further, losing in the round of 16, and the Orioles Scout Team (with many players from the Tidewater Orioles)fell in the semifinal. Top four in that field of teams is an amazing accomplishment.

Orioles Scout Team had a number of Nova kids as well. Matt and Mike Snyder, Alfred Rodriquez to name just two.

Peter Verdin, of PVI, played for the Braves Scout team that won it all. Don't know how he did.

The Orioles Scout team was an amazing team of very talented players, mostly from Virginia but they also had a few from outside the state. Several players had great performances including Alfred Rodriguez from Oakton HS, the Snyder Twins from Westfield HS, Austin Stadler from James River HS, Evan Scott from Battlefield and more. The Braves Scout team was simply one of the most talented teams I've ever seen together on one roster. They carried 28 players on their roster representing 14 different states w/ all players on their roster being Nationally ranked but one. The Braves Scout team clearly in the end had more pitching than anyone else in the tourney w/ 17 of their 28 players being pitchers who all threw 89mph or better and was a huge reason why they eventually won the entire event. Peter Verdin from Paul VI had a great tournament, his best in the 3 years he's been to Jupiter. The MVP of the event, also from the Braves Scout team, Eric Hosmer went 10 for 21, while Peter was 8 for 21, Alfred Rodgriguez was 8 for 22, not sure about the other specific stats for other players but I had a chance to watch a lot of the Virginia kids play and I was very impressed with how VA was represented in the tourney. The pitching at this event was tremendous w/ most teams having a couple pitchers who were all around 90mph or better, then you add the fact that everyone is swinging with wood bats and well as you can imagine most games were low scoring contests. Congratulations to everyone who attended and I'm sure they'll all tell you the same thing...If you have a junior or senior in high school playing ball and wants to play in college and eventually some level professionally, Jupiter is the place to be every October. It's by far the most scouted event in amatuer baseball.

For those who have not been, Jupiter is a sight to see. At several games, there were 100+ golf carts with several hundred scouts in attendance. Hicks from California was throwing 94/95 mph against the Oriole Acout team. Jack Cust threw 3 players at 88-91 (one a commit to Florida) against the Richmond Braves only to lose to Danny Hultzen, Jake Matthews and Jacob Mayers.

Many a game had less than 10 hits between two teams. Most games were decided by that costly mistake or BB.

All-in-all, it's a must-event for the serious junior or senior baseball player. If you're there, you will be seen.

I have said it many times this year that the talent in the state of Va this year in particular is outstanding imo. Dont get me wrong its always good but it seems to be deeper this year.

Dont forget John Hicks from Goochland he plays for the Dirtbags. He has committed to UVA. He catches and is the DH when my son catches. He had a great tourney. He came up with several big hits and did his usual great job behind the plate. A great kid and a great family. I will miss being around John I have really enjoyed seeing him play with my son. I look forward to following his career at UVA.

Virginia is really producing some serious baseball players. I know all about the guys from the past. But this years group of 08's is very talented and very deep.

Coach, when you talk to folks up here about the number of scouts watching the games in Jupiter, they think you're lying.

I think David Rawnsley's promo video said over 350 colleges had registered representatives for the tourney. To my observation many schools had two or more coaches present. Many major program HEAD coaches were present.

Plus multiple representatives from every MLB team.

Plus, several former MLB players were there, watching their sons. I heard tell of Rafael Palmeiro but did not see him myself. I did see Dante Bichette. I also saw Lenny Dykstra's son hit a grand slam, but I don't think Lenny was there to see it.

I will greatly miss going to these tourneys. Makes me wish I had another son in the pipeline, but alas, no.

Same here. I feel the same way. The scouts outnumber the fans by far. I told people how many college coaches were present and pro scouts and they looked at me like I was crazy. I think its hard for people to understand what its like unless you are actually there. What a great venue. We only had a couple of unsigned 08's go with us and they had offers before we left Florida. It just doesnt get any better thats for sure.

Our team's 2008's were already all committed before we got there ... and we still went 0-3-1! (In our defense, all three losses were by one run.)

When this tourney was begun some years back, its timing -- just before the "dark period" preceding the November early sign period -- was optimum for recruiting. With recruiting starting for most schools earlier and earlier, and so many kids now being committed long before late October, I wonder:

Does this tourney need to be moved up to an earlier date, say, in September? Maybe flip-flopped with the WWBA 17u, which is usually over Columbus Day weekend? (And if so, could it be moved to a drier clime, a bit further north?)

OR, do you think this tourney will become more and more populated by underclassmen in future years?

Seems to me that if the scheduling is not changed, the WWBA 18u could become more focused on pro scouting, because so many college teams are already done, or very close to done, with their recruiting from the senior class by the time it comes around.

I personally talked to more than one major D-1 program's scouts who indicated they were already done with 2008's, and they were really looking to get a leg up on 2009's last weekend.