PG Sunshine East/Academic showcase

Piggy-backing off of what lefthookdad just asked... My son just got two invites for that weekend; the Sunshine Northeast in NJ and the Academic in Ft Myers.  Can anyone offer advice on which to go to?? Thanks!

They are two different groups.  It's to benefit the colleges.  Certain colleges concentrate on the academic kids because they have to.  However, that doesn't mean the high academic kid shouldn't be in the other.  If a player is extremely talented it doesn't make a lot of difference. One thing, normally the academic event has less over all talent than the Sunshine.  This is because many very talented kids can't get into the academic, but the academic kids can get into the Sunshine.

Hope that makes sense.  You can contact staff@perfectgame.org for more or better info.

Thansk PG.   So, if a kid meets the 3.0, and is pretty talented, do you think, in your opinion, that he is better off in the academic group?

Every individual is different.  Unfortunately it's hard to answer your question accurately without knowing the player.  I would say that a 3.0 GPA is very good, but it would be the minimum GPA in that group.  Guess, either would be about the same, typically the Sunshine would have more over all highest level talent.  Then again highest level talent is what it is and never goes unnoticed.  I think you could go to either one if you want to. Sorry, I can't give you a better answer.

LOL, I wrote all this stuff trying to adress a question from Aleebaba.  Then when I posted this the other post had been deleted. He just wanted to know which colleges would be at an event. Fair question IMO.

Aleebaba,

You will not find that information.

We have never released names of scouts or colleges that attend our events.  Maybe once in awhile after the event is over if we have a way of knowing.  We have never paid a coach or scout to attend any event so we can never guarantee who might be there.  In a few cases like the October Jupiter Event we have pre-registration just to handle the crowd. We have had scouts lined up for a block and a half waiting to get in past years. But most events this is not necessary because we don't pay them to be there and we do not charge scouts to get in (there is no gate). There is no check in process other than the PG National, the WWBA Championship and the PG (formerly AFLAC) All American Game.. 

The only thing we can really guarantee for certain is that we will be there. And our voice is heard and respected by nearly all DI colleges as well as the MLB Clubs.

We have had events with very few scouts/recruiters, and we have had events with the very largest numbers. In the interest of honesty, we can't tell you who will or will not be at any event. No one truthfully can unless they are paying someone to be there. Seldom would that be the head coach or his recruiting coordinator, but could still be someone worthwhile.  If an event has enough talent, that is what draws scouts/recruiters.  You don't need to pay them to be there. None of the best events that draw the most scouts list who was there. Area codes, East Coast Pro, etc.

Here is another pet peeve of mine while on this subject. Those who claim to be responsible for $50 million, $100 million or more dollars in scholarship money. I'm sorry, but that is not right. First of all, I'm positive that if you added up all the scholarship money players have received after playing in any events, PG would be so far ahead of everyone else ot would be mind boggling.  That said, we have absolutely no idea what that number would be.  How could anyone know that unless they knew the exact dollar amount each player received.  I'm not sure we know anything exact about any player, let alone all of them.  And how do you know for sure it was even your event that created the scholarship in the first place? Sorry, but this is just blatant BS IMO.

Anyway, I understand why people want to know who or how many might be at an event.  Actually I'd like to know myself at times.I think going to the specific page on that event will give people a good idea how well something is scouted.

Here are the college commitments that we know of from kids that attended the Sunshine East last year. Obviously there will be many more yet to come soon.

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...Commits.aspx?ID=1247

Here is the results from last years Sunshine Northeast

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...Commits.aspx?ID=1249

here is the actual showcase (Sunshine east) page that can show more history if you scroll way down.

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=1340

And if you really want to have some fun and see some very recognizable names, scroll down this page.

http://www.perfectgame.org/eve...ault.aspx?event=1339

All questions should go to staff@perfectgame.org or call 319-298-2923 and ask about showcases.

Thanks BBoy, we spoke with PG and they gave some great advice as well.  He decided he'll do the Northeast. Appreciate the advice!

staff at perfectgame that email does not seem valid anymore

is anyone thinking of using SKillSHOW..they have not respond to any emails i have sent them regarding questions i have. Maybe they are busy but for the price you would think an email response in a 5 day span is expected 

Anybody else going this weekend to Fort Meyers?

My 2015 will attend the Academic Showcase.

Should be fun.

My 2015 will attend the showcase this weekend.  His primary and secondary position is RHP and OF respectively.  Can the participants also conduct all portions of the showcase (i.e. do the infield drills) or are they limited to their primary and secondary positions?

Come by and say hello.  I will be the fat black guy with gray(ish) hair and beard/goatee.

Will do.  I'll be the dad with the baseball kid!

We had to pull out due to scheduling conflict!  LH will have to catch the next one.  Good luck to your kids.

Well, we got back last night from the showcase.  I write this to provide others with some understanding of our experience, and not to be pro or anti PG.  In addition, our experience will most likely be a lot different than others, as my son is a 2014 catcher on an academic team.  Players on other teams at the facility may have had a much different experience.    

The day before the showcase we arrived, and PG had pre-registration, and a recruiting seminar at a local hotel.  Since my son is still in school we did not arrive until late Friday night, and we were not able to attend.

Registration started at 8, and upon arriving at the Boston Red Sox Spring Complex everyone was informed what team they were on, and given a jersey color based on that team.  Both the PG Academic and Sunshine East teams were at same location, but they did not ultimately play each other.  All drills were videotaped, and the boys started by doing 60s.  They were given plenty of time to warm up.  After this was done the outfielder fielding-throwing drills took place, with catchers fielding their throws.  Each outfielder would field a grounder or pop up and throw to home or 3rd.  Thereafter catchers did pop time drills, with each catcher getting 5 throws. 

After that our boys were given a break and told to come back at a certain time a few hours later for hitting.  This is where we messed up.  We thought there would be some warmup area to get ready for hitting before videotaping started, but we were wrong.  In fact, they started early.  My son arrived 30 minutes early, (after eating lunch and resting), only to be told that he was now up to hit.  I'm not sure how many videotaped swings he got, but I think about 5.  He -- and the rest of our team -- were clearly not ready as they had no warmup.  I think it was a disservice to the boys and that someone at PG should have explained it better, but it is what it is.

After hitting each of the academic teams were pitted against each other on one of the fields in same vicinity as the other academic teams.  Each game was 10 innings, with around 18 kids on each team.  Each position player was in the field half the game, and the whole lineup batted as well, (so it was about an hour between at bats).  Again, the kids still had not done any warmup hitting prior to the game.  Each team had a PG representative that helped with logistics, but I'm not sure you could call him a coach.  During the game there were anywhere from 1 to 10 coaches from the top academic schools in the country watching our game at any given time, and they would  go from field to field being replaced by coaches from other great academic schools.  There also are young men from PG watching the games, I assume giving their evaluation of the talent.  I have no idea what capabilities they have, but they are young.

As for game play, if you have never been to one of these it is hard to explain the difference between this and a regular game.  The boys know that the game does not mean anything, and although we as parents explain to them to pretend like it is a playoff game, its not.  There is just not the same passion, and exuberance.  The boys want to do well, but the adrenaline if not flowing the same.  And given that it is an hour between at bats, it is harder to get into a sync.  

The next day there is another game similar to the first against good teams.  The boys were told to meet about an hour before the game by the PG representative.  The boys were not told where to meet, and it was a huge complex.  The PG rep. was not there at the designated time, (or at least could not be found), and we noticed as we walked in that some people were using the Red Sox hitting cages, (unlike the day before).  I just told all the boys on our team that since you were not told where to meet, they all should to go over there and hit and hopefully the PG rep. would find them.  They did, and it helped in the 2nd game.  This game was essentially the same as the first.  When game was over we left the facility, drove to the beach, had lunch, then got on a plane to come back to Dallas.

All in all I do not know whether we would do it again if we had to do it all over again.  It is obviously not the same as a 3-day Stanford or Headfirst camp, but PG never described it as such.  PG's clear goal is to evaluate as many players as possible at these camps, and it was our goal to get son on a few people's radar early in the Summer.  I do not know if my son hurt or helped himself, but there are other days ahead.  I talked to a few parents and we all had the same reaction.  We wondered how the limited at bats and plays could accurately depict a kids ability, one way or the other.  You can see how fast he runs, how hard he throws, his basic swing mechanics, his position skills, (or receiving skills as a catcher), but beyond that I'm not sure what else you can get from such a camp like this, and whether we should have just done this locally.  We will see if it matters in the Fall.

Aleebaba - Very nice description of your experience.  I'm curious if you can provide some insight to how they handled the pitchers?

I can't as I did not pay enough attention.  I think they all worked a couple of innings, and of course special attention was given to them by coaches.  They were all filmed as well.

My 2014 Grad attended the Academic, and he was PO. We had asked for him to throw on Saturday and they obliged. He did not participate in any of the drills and he was given ample time to warm up for his start. He threw 3 innings, and PG had the gun on every pitch. We had a good experience as he hit his velo # ; and, was mentioned positively in the game blog.  The innings are 3 outs or 5 batters ; and there are no walks. After 5 pitches , the pitchers must throw fastballs. A long way to go to pitch 3 innings but the positives are that he now has a high velocity number on his profile; there will be film posted that he can send to colleges; and he will get a ranking from PG that colleges can relate to. We both thought it was worthwhile; the advice from the recruiting seminar was pick the position you are projected to play at the next level. If it is Pitcher unless you are truly very good in everything else then just pitch. The reason being when it comes time for the rating if you are an above average Pitcher but 60 speed is slow; bat is below average etc you might get an average rating.

 We viewed this as a recruiting tool and in that it did not disappoint, PG is well organized there were name schools there; and once the Profiles are uploaded with the PG ratings one gets a better understanding of where they stand.

We also attended the Academic Showcase and I’d echo Aleebaba synopsis.  I looked for you, but didn’t see anybody matching your given description!

I’ll add my own opinions:

Perfect Game ran the showcase in an efficient manner and followed the same format as a college prospect camp or a showcase from other organizations.  In my opinion, it was neither better nor worse than any other showcase.

The talent level was high.  Most of the attendees could hit and field their positions very well.

I personally saw scouts from Duke (head coach), Harvard, Navy, Cincinnati, Brown, Bethune-Cookman, Wofford, University of South Florida, Florida International University, and Alabama State University.  I know there were at least a few more; however, I couldn’t identify their schools.

The scouts had packages with rosters of each team.  Most of the scouts bounced around four of the five ball fields and watched portions of each game.  If they were interested in a particular player, they would circle the players name or number and jot down a few notes. I have no idea what they were looking for!  Some kids absolutely crushed the ball, but wouldn’t get any love from the scouts.

The pitchers were evaluated during the games.  Pitchers with secondary positions pitched three innings with an inning consisting of three outs or five batters.  A batter cannot walk and a hit batter was considered a ball.  If a pitcher threw four balls to a batter, the count was reset and the pitcher could only throw fastballs. A radar gun was placed behind home plate and the reading was easily visible by everybody.  Most scouts checked the radar readings at least once for each pitcher.

At least two PG staff members scored each game and took notes. Some notes were published in the post game “scout notes” posted online.  I don’t know how PG determines which notes to publish.  For example, I observed several players have very good at bats with good results; however, did not see their names in the “notes”.  The notes on the pitchers were similar.

According to my sons coach/mentor, showcases are not the way to go.  In his opinion, if a player wishes to play at a university or college, the player should attend the universities open camp or “prospect” camp.  After this weekend, I agree.  The PG showcase was a good experience and may get a player noticed IF they go 4-4 with two HR’s or pitches in the low 90’s.

My two cents!  See you on the ball field.

I used to go to showcases from the non dad side of the fence but this time it was as a dad..

Keep in mind a few things..the filming was not free  so if you got that you basically spent about about 1k total (which i did) to have someone tell you how fast your kid runs a 60 and how hard he throws a ball and what his swing looks like and shoot some footage of it.

 I think as pg has grown sometimes the quality of guys they have doing the scouting can lessen as i saw some who were on cell phones or talking to parents or other guys during a lot of the time. The scouts who were there were from  about 8 schools total..brown,navy,duke wofford davidson harvard ala state usf rollins and maybe i missed a couple. Less than you will see at a typical east cobb game during the summer better than none. Most all of them came to see specific players i dont think they were going there  to discover someone they didnt know about.

One other thing of note is that perfect game ratings are good for kids and parents to look at but scouts will judge a kid on what they see as they trust their own eyes. However the better your rating the more it can be used to draw attention to him or her.

Camps while they tend to be a way for coaches to make money i agree if you can target a school or 2 and let them know your coming and find out IF they need your position it can be a great tool. Sometimes people who have a kid who is a mid infielder may want to go to a school who is stocked at that spot so unless he is very very good there may not be a spot.

I guess i can argue either side of it but i would sum my feelings up by saying if you have the money go for it and enjoy the experience but realize what your getting and that good or bad its just an opinion on that given day. 

that is correct..

just another observation.  my son is 2015 and was at the ss east pg showcase as a 2 way player.  my opinion is not to contradict nor imply the above post are not accurate through their eyes, but my opinion is a bit different.  this was our first pg showcase, but son has gone through usa trials last year and made it to cary on team mid atlantic.  i thought the pg experience was about what I/we expected.  we had no preconceived notions of being "discovered" at the showcase.  our reason for attending was to put up some measurables to see how son stacked up against some very good competitors.  i saw some very athletic kids that were fast, saw some great arms and saw some pretty impressive at bats in the simulation games we played.  what i personally think is someone who knows what they are looking for will recognize the talent.  i told my son to not worry about the result, but rather focus on the process.  in other words, control what you can and don't worry about the end result.  on his outfield throws, i told him to throw the heck out of the ball.  worry about velocity first and accuracy second.  this was advice i had read on this site when attending these type of events.  during the games, i saw some pretty good swings that not all resulted in great results.  but again, i think to someone who knows what they are looking for the mechanically sound swing is pretty obvious.  i don't think the scouts really are concerned with the end result.  obviously if you hit a dinger or two out of those parks with wood you will get some attention, and rightfully so.  personally, my son pitched the last inning of the second day.  he was pretty drained and didn't feel as though he reached his max fastball mph.  maybe that is true, maybe not, but at least now he has some measurables from a respected third party that he can use as a baseline to see where he needs to work harder.  from my perspective, our expectations were met.

almost a month later and the profiles still have not been written..i know it takes time but summer goes by fast and people want to see them

Yes, my kid has moved on.  He's at a college camp this week.  It'll be interesting comparing the two evaluations.

My two cents on first PG showcase.  positives-players excited to be "looked" at. Met some nice teammates. Nice fields-only one used score Board.

Negatives- only one chance to run 60. Son did well but would like to see kids get 2 chances. Scouts I saw we're only there to see specific players(2014) and they left after about 3 innings. They werent looking for undiscovered talent.scout reports generic.

Kids were not playing baseball but playing for good numbers so those could be posted. on IF times they were throwing for speed only location did not matter. One kid threw 4 of 5 into stands But his speed was great.

Most pitchers trying for velocity numbers. Locations not so great. Many would be walked but since that's not allowed they had to throw fastballs,again many trying for speed not strike zone.hit batters could not take base. Many hit batters because kids were wild throwing for speed. 3-4 innings for pitchers who were primary pitchers, usu one inning if pitching was secondary positions.  Sons coach did not interact w them at all-seemed bored to be there. Few other coaches got into it and chatted it up w the pLayers. 

Only played two games. Everyone batted took awhile to get up again. Usu three at bats per game. Switched after 5 batters or 3 outs. So if son got hit as fifth batter and got on they switched so running skills were not seen.

no seminars or taking too the group at All.

ok exp but not really worth $600. Some traveled far away and had to pay for hotels. 

I would say do one but then go to college camps.