Showball tomorrow - any last tips?

He should have fun - that is, show that he enjoys playing baseball!  Try not to be shy, but remember that coaches know that kids can be shy.

Relax, have fun, and just try your best.

A poor showing at Showball as a rising junior means very little.

So with very little downside for him tomorrow, just go and enjoy.

Be a good teammate, good body language, and remember this is really more of a practice run since he’s a rising junior.

For you as the parent, give him space and don’t try to talk to coaches for him. Most of all, don’t add any extra pressure. They are already stressed, they don’t need you piling on.

Sometimes I think the battery is one position, not two. Be friendly with the pitchers and talk to them!

A lot of coaches will watch pitchers warm up in the pen. Make sure he is blocking and receiving in the pen as if it were a game. Make sure he is ready to hit or catch at all times. A couple summers ago pitchers were having a hard time finding someone to warm them up. My son just finished his outing on the mound and grabbed a mask and glove and ran down to the pen to help. Several coaches commented on it later when they contacted him. You’d be surprised at how much they are watching and noticing the little things

Between my 2 kids we've gone to Showball twice.  In the rising junior summer, I think it is easier for a pitcher to get noticed than a position player.  If he has a plus metric somewhere, that would help.  But mainly what Speedy said is true.  He should use tomorrow to get used to the overall format and the sense of pressure; and mainly have fun.  BTW... and thanking you for taking him there.  That goes for you too.  Don't be too stressed and soak it in and be proud. After all you just doled out over $2k for the showcase, travel, hotel, food.  I remember once my rising junior threw 83-85 with 4k; 3groundouts, no hits, no walks in his first 2 innings.  Then he had a 3 hour break and tried to ramp up again for the next game, he then hit 3 batters and spiked 4 pitches in his next 2 innings when most of his target schools were watching.  I could have died right there and remember being down for him. But in the big scheme, meh; who cares.  He did his best and it was kinda tough circumstances to have a delay like that.  I hope it goes well!

We had day 1 today and thought I'd post an update. He had a pretty good day overall and was able to hold his own with many of the 2025s that are a year older. Like I expected, nothing that would blow you away but nothing that would make you worried. He had several great conversations with coaches afterwards, including several that remembered him from past camps. Many of them actually remembered what he did during the camp and made great comments on what he did, showing they really do pay attention (like one said he noticed his first 2 throw downs were a little off to the left and that he corrected well and dialed in the last three).

On to day 2 tomorrow. We are nicely filled with a good dinner and relaxing to some dodgers v Yankees action.

Good luck tomorrow! It’s fun to sit back and watch the games and watch how the coaches move and what they pay attention to. Day 2 is heavily geared towards pitching. Make sure he introduces himself to the coaches in the dugout and spend time talking to them if he has chance. A lot of them will offer some great feedback and advice.

What did you and your son think of the Showball experience?

@NotABaseballGuy posted:

What did you and your son think of the Showball experience?

In general, we liked the experience. He had a chance to talk to nearly a dozen coaches in one place, some he knew (and remembered him) and some he never met before. He walked away with some new schools on the list that he was not sure about previously. I also had a great chance to talk to a lot of the 2025 parents (a year older) to understand what they are going through, their process, what worked and what didn't.

My son now knows what he needs to do for next year. He hit well, but now he knows what he needs to do to be in the top 10 (which he 100% believes he can get to for next year). He got to catch a kid topping 89 and said it felt like nothing to him. He also was covering first when a kid threw a 94mph running ball from SS and hauled it in well.

Overall great feedback and now he has the confidence to know there IS a school for him but he just needs to figure it out (and take the SAT again - not happy with a 1330 when he was consistently hitting 1450 in practices).

@Gary D posted:

In general, we liked the experience. He had a chance to talk to nearly a dozen coaches in one place, some he knew (and remembered him) and some he never met before. He walked away with some new schools on the list that he was not sure about previously. I also had a great chance to talk to a lot of the 2025 parents (a year older) to understand what they are going through, their process, what worked and what didn't.

My son now knows what he needs to do for next year. He hit well, but now he knows what he needs to do to be in the top 10 (which he 100% believes he can get to for next year). He got to catch a kid topping 89 and said it felt like nothing to him. He also was covering first when a kid threw a 94mph running ball from SS and hauled it in well.

Overall great feedback and now he has the confidence to know there IS a school for him but he just needs to figure it out (and take the SAT again - not happy with a 1330 when he was consistently hitting 1450 in practices).

You must be so encouraged to see your son better understand, and take on the challenge in front of him.  Self-motivation is the key to both his athletic and academic pursuits.  It sure sounds like he wants it.   Don't be too surprised if he kicks it up a couple notches you didn't know he had.

Good luck!