PG Northeast Regional All-State tourney

Your kid likely pitched well in the past PG tourney... This places him in a mass email list for various "invite only events".....  Don't feel pressured that you have to go. If he is only in 8th grade and isn't the top 0.01% then it is not going to change a thing if he "misses out". You can still go and have fun!!! just don't have some kind of unrealistic expectations of being drafted by the Yankees. You'll get mixed opinions on showcasing at an early age depending on who you ask..... I'm in the camp of not going until you have some to show, but that's just me. Honestly, I've never seen the point in showcasing an 80mph fastball with a mixed in loopy curve that would get destroyed by varsity level talent. Best advise I can give you is to find a quality travel team that has a great coach and places importance on development. I know it's easier said then done.....  but enjoy the process - it goes by quick.

Everybody will have a different take on things.

After playing spring and Summer (July), August was used to take a break from baseball, we started fall ball in september.

Remember, 14u (freshman in HS)

August is the dog days of summer,  your son will have enough time to show his abilities.

Go to the shore (Seaside, Cape May, etc)

The best advice I ever got on showcasing was from a college coach. He said he went to showcases with a folder for each kid in hand. The kids that did well went in one pile, the kids who didn't do well, he closed the file and he said it was very hard to get him to open it again. FWIW.

Being a pitchers mom IS rough!! Good luck.

Welcome!

I remember those emails inviting you to "invite-only" events.  They sound really good.  They mean nothing.  If your son was good enough to be recruited as an 8th-grader, you would know from other sources than mass emails.

Agree, being a pitcher's mom is tough!  Whenever I see a MLB pitcher having a bad time, I feel for his mother.

Hi. Welcome.

So much of PG's and PBR's and Five Tool's business is preying on the hopes and fears of parents. These businesses make it seem that if you don't get your kid to the latest showcase, he'll somehow fall behind.

Don't fall for it!

Save your money.

Because if you just step back for a second -

Your 8th grade son will be a 2028 HS grad. Colleges will not start recruiting for that class until the summer of 2026, at the earliest.

So if he's having fun and is making progress on strength/conditioning and is pitching well right now, you are good! Don't fix what's not broken.

If he starts blowing out your local competition then consider getting him to a higher level team. You can also get him to a showcase event around then, so he can gain some experience with the format.

If you feel absolutely compelled to spend money right now bc you fear he might be falling behind, then consider private pitching lessons, a gym membership, or enrollment in a baseball-specific strength and conditioning program - there are a ton of them online.  A PG "invite" event will do nothing for him.

If your son is an ahead of the curve, everyone is talking about eighth grade, dominating stud with size and way above average velocity, go for it.

Otherwise, it’s too early to be spending a lot of money on showcasing. At any showcase I would want to know who is there watching who has influence and recruits.

The summer of freshman year of high school my son did a local mediocre, mid major D1 showcase to get some metrics and a feel for the process.

He played 16u as a 14u eligible (May birthday) that summer. He played 13u, 14u and 16u for me. I played college ball. I got three other dads of talented players with college ball experience involved. We had a good reputation as coaches and having well disciplined and fundamentally sound, talented players.

At the end of post freshman summer he was approached by several 17u academy programs known for placing kids in D1 ball. He hadn’t played varsity yet. But, these were baseball people who knew the game saying he was a D1 prospect.

The team he chose had an associate scout for a MLB team involved. He nominated all the members of the 17u travel team to participate in two important regional showcases that required a scouts recommendation.

My son never did a PG showcase. They still had him ranked by the end of his post soph summer. He played in several major 17u PG/WWBA tournaments all the college coaches and pro scouts attend.

Good luck. It’s going to get expensive enough without jumping the gun early.

@anotherparent posted:

Welcome!

Agree, being a pitcher's mom is tough!  Whenever I see a MLB pitcher having a bad time, I feel for his mother.

Do pitching coach mom's count? LOL!

@Mountain Mama

While I agree with many of the posts above, I say why not send him?  It's a good chance for him to get an idea of the competition and what he needs to work on going forward. You will hear a lot of folks say PG is just a money grab, and that may be true, but in many parts of the country, there is a TON of really talented players and it is going to become more competitive.

As far as expenses, raising an athlete is expensive. Pick and chose wisely, do your homework on each event and the teams. Your son may someday be seen and asked to join one of the top travel teams in your area.

JMO

I agree with all of the above plus ----August!  That is a very long time to be pitching as a 14u.  I think my son was either looking forward to soccer or starting football mini-camp in August.  I vote for taking a break from baseball and just letting your son be an athletic kid.  Go to the beach, throw the football around, or practice corner kicks.  (BTW, my son was the HS place-kicker -- pitchers have strong legs!) Recruiting coaches like multisport athletes.

@Mountain Mama

Great decision on attending the Armory in Lakeland! I can give you references about Randy.

Thank you, everyone, for the feedback!  It is super helpful, and confirmed what my gut was telling me.  I’m actually relieved it doesn’t mean anything.  I think we’ll let him give it a try, only because it will give him an opportunity to be out of his comfort zone a bit.  The showcase is more for him to familiarize himself with the process, but maybe we’ll hold off on that.  Although he’ll have to get used to more pressure, it seems like there is time.  He really loves baseball, and I want to keep it that way!  August does seem late, but travel ball won’t ramp up until late June.  Some of the kids on his travel team are in high school, so travel can’t really start until the varsity season is over.  (He has a September birthday, so some kids his age are freshman). We’ve started looking at more competitive programs for next season. Right now, he is playing middle school ball, which is - well…middle school ball.   Lots of fun, and not super competitive.  I one hundred percent agree with playing multiple sports.  As much as he would love to play baseball all of the time, he doesn’t have the option.  We live in rural ski country, so he’s basically forced to take a break since we don’t have access to any of the indoor baseball facilities that other areas have.  For a brief period we drove to a facility that was two hours away for lessons a couple of times a week, but it was just not sustainable.  We’ll have to figure this part out as he gets older - and we’re definitely going to have to get creative.  However, it turns out that alpine ski racing is great cross training for pitchers.  It is intense, and it’s all legs, hips, and core!

Thank you, again.  I appreciate the wisdom of this group!

I have to look this up if this is a tournament or a showcase.  It is a showcase.  Don't do it.  It's too early.  I would say probably do a local non-PG or PBR showcase summer after freshman year so he gets familiar with the process and have an idea of this metrics.  You can also do it this summer (non-PG or non-PBR) if you want.

The biggest issue if you do PG or PBR too early is you fall in the trap of chasing the numbers.  Now that you have a number out there for people to see, it's probably not going to be amazing to begin with.  You will now feel the itch and the need to do more and more showcases to keep trying to improve the numbers.  Ask me how I know.  Don't do PG or PBR until summer after SO year at the earliest (unless you do the local non-PG/PBR showcase and you find out his numbers are impressive).  And if his numbers are not impressive by then, maybe even wait till summer after Jr year.

@atlnon posted:

I have to look this up if this is a tournament or a showcase.  It is a showcase.  Don't do it.  It's too early.  I would say probably do a local non-PG or PBR showcase summer after freshman year so he gets familiar with the process and have an idea of this metrics.  You can also do it this summer (non-PG or non-PBR) if you want.

The biggest issue if you do PG or PBR too early is you fall in the trap of chasing the numbers.  Now that you have a number out there for people to see, it's probably not going to be amazing to begin with.  You will now feel the itch and the need to do more and more showcases to keep trying to improve the numbers.  Ask me how I know.  Don't do PG or PBR until summer after SO year at the earliest (unless you do the local non-PG/PBR showcase and you find out his numbers are impressive).  And if his numbers are not impressive by then, maybe even wait till summer after Jr year.

This is great advice.

Don't fall into the PG/PBR trap....it's a no-win situation for athletes and their families.

Great players with scalable tools will be found, no matter where they live.

Just a piece of advice about a birthdate. Once a kid is playing on the 60/90 he should be playing grade appropriate rather than age eligible. If he’s dominating his age group after 14u he should be playing up as far as he can.

@RJM posted:

Just a piece of advice about a birthdate. Once a kid is playing on the 60/90 he should be playing grade appropriate rather than age eligible. If he’s dominating his age group after 14u he should be playing up as far as he can.

The downfall to this is that coaches are looking at Grad year, they may check birthdays but you have to stand out in that group enough for them to check. When looking for “pitchers for 2027” you kid will be listed in the wrong events.

@baseballhs posted:

The downfall to this is that coaches are looking at Grad year, they may check birthdays but you have to stand out in that group enough for them to check. When looking for “pitchers for 2027” you kid will be listed in the wrong events.

My son played 17u post soph summer as a 15u eligible. His coaching staff made it very clear to the college coaches they contacted about him what class he was.

My son had eight primary target schools. All eight maintained contact after he was presold to them and he was seen by the coaching staff. A couple of serious injuries (knee, shoulder) turned off most of them. Late in the recovery process two made offers.

If a player stands out he’s not going to be discovered. He’s going to play for a quality travel program and be promoted and presold.

Ironically, despite playing for a quality travel program, being promoted and presold my daughter (softball) end up discovered and attended a college not on her list. She hadn’t considered going that far away to college. But regardless her travel program did their job selling and promoting her.

1 a year isn’t a bad deal.  Especially if you can show growth/improvement.