St. John's signs SoCal Catcher

First, congratulations! Good luck at St. John's.
I see that your son played in the Northwoods league. My son (frosh) will be playing up there next summer. Can you tell me about the experience?
I would like to know all you are willing to tell, from start to finish. Thanks, and again congratulations - good times.

Thanks for the congrats! Your son will be in one of the top summer collegiate leagues there is. They say its right behind the Cape and some say its better than it because they play more games (68 regular) than the Cape. Its done like a minor league with travel to various locations by bus sometimes 10+ hours to get to these other teams fields. Most players are D1, with a few top JC players who have signed with D1's, which happened with my son. They use wooden bats, as does the Cape, and the fans treat their home team players like they are minor leaguers, with fans asking for autographs and pictures. The local papers do daily writeups about them and their teammates (mostly positive) and they stay with host families during their summer. My son's host family were great and he wants to return to stay with them again.

You can follow his team by the web based radio webcast that each team has and listen to live play by play, by loggin into the teams website and clicking the radio webcast icon. I highly suggest you go to a Madison Mallards game as they have about 7000 fans who show up to each home game. Its like a state fair with activities for the fans going on between the innings, and before and after the games. We traveled to Madison as recommended by his St. John's Assistant Coach and we had a great time. Great fans, food and fun. We also traveled to his Mid-Season All Star Game (which he started behind the plate) at Mankato, Minnesota. It was televised on ESPNU, which was a real trill for Danny, us and his grandpa.

We also went to Thunder Bay to watch him play and interact with his summer coaches, teammates, host family and fans. I highly suggest trying to go see your son play while he's in te Northwoods League. Lots of pro scouts come out to look at these top college players. Danny was in the All Star Combine and there were 50+ pro scouts there to see these kids do their thing on the field.

Anyways, I hope this gives you some information that might be helpful about Northwoods. I could tell you more if I knew wheer he was playing, but he'll have a great time no matter where he's at. Good luck and congratulations to your son and your family.

red,
Thanks for all the info. Sounds like a great experience! The team he will be with is the La Crosse Loggers. Thank you for taking the time to share. We will definately go up and check it out.