Summer Collegiate Wooden Bat Leagues-Recruting well underway

Thanks for the great insight and good luck in your new venture. Let us all know how the Express make progress this year.

Hokieone,
Appreciate the informative post. This will be our son's first year in this type of league so any info is helpful.

I have Question is Summer Collegiate only for College Players? or can you be a out going senior.

Do you mean a graduated high school senior? If so, yes, some summer teams do take rising college freshman. Many teams have a relationship with some colleges and will take the rising college freshman from some programs. It's a great way for the incoming freshman to get used to the higher level of baseball.

If you mean a college senior that has graduated I think most summer teams require that the player have NCAA eligibility remaining.

Yes I mean a graduated high school senior!

Hokieone- Questions:

From what you have seen and learned which is more important when recruiting summer players; the school they are coming from (Name school vs Lesser known) or the recomendation of the college coach (Name school or not)?

Which is the easier player to make an offer to a freshman with no track record out of a major D1 program or a rising senior with a good track record coming out of a school which is not a well known program?

It probably varies from team to team;we're a new team, still building relationships with college coaches, and we'll learn who we can trust and who we can't. College coaches seem to generally shoot pretty straight with us, and as we go on, the college coach's opinion will count for more. Some teams in the Valley League get players from the same schools every year as they've learned they can trust the college coaches. One VBL head coach told me they tell a couple schools to just send them 2-3 guys, and they don't even specify positions, but they know they will get quality players, based upon years of experience. Coming from a "name" school helps some...but the big dog schools also normally go deep into the NCAA tournament, and you may not get those kids until the summer season is half over. For us, the "perfect source school" is a school that has a reputation for being a quality program, but not one that is always in the top 3 in the ACC or SEC. A lot of very good programs don't routinely make it to the World Series. At this point, we go a lot on the coach's opinion, whether a name or no name school, but as time passes, we'll see who we can trust. We've really only been "played" by one school so far. (Offered us a true stud and a young untested but promising guy, we accepted both, and then golly gee whiz, the coach didn't know the stud had agreed to play elsewhere. We still took the untested guy-it wasn't his fault- but we're a little leery of that school now.)

We like young players out of well-regarded programs-especially pitchers. Pitchers that throw lots of spring innings get shut down in the summer. We like younger guys, with good upside talent, that just need mound time to develop. The coach's opinion on those pitchers is very important as we like guys with control, and the kid may not have enough stats for us to get a good read. A rising senior that has put up good numbers is certainly attractive, and as few players repeat (normally maybe 4-6 annually) summers, getting the younger guy, thinking you'll see him for 3 years, really doesn't play out.

Bottom line is we need to have some source upon which to make a judgment call-it could be statistics showing a kid can play, or it could be the coach's opinion, but we need one or the other. We also want guys that will be able to conduct themselves honorably off the field as we are a small sports crazy town, these guys truly will get rock star treatment, and anything a player does off the field will be widely known...and end up in my lap.

sounds like you need a hardworking young lefty pitcher!...i enjoy reading your input on these topics!

Why is it that so few Summerball Players return to the same team each year, the ones that are eligible I mean.

In our case my son has been playing on the same team for the past 2 years and has committed to play this year as well. Why is this unusual? Are we missing something? I know we would of course like an opportunity at the Cape (The Show) but other than that is there any reason to leave a CPL team for different pastures if you are happy and getting all the playing time you could hope for?

I just do not understand why returning players are the oddity and not the rule.

Players sometimes like to see a different part of the country so they play in a different league. The Valley League is pretty comparable to the CPL talent-wise so maybe my estimate of returners was a little low, but if a kid has a real good summer in the VBL, he's likely to got to the Cape the following summer. We have some pretty good players coming in this summer, and except for the freshmen, they all played somewhere else last summer. Some kids for example like that the CPL has some venues with bigger crowds than the Valley League (CPL is a for-profit beer league, VBL is non-alcohol, non-profit league), while some like the Valley's shorter travel times, and country settings. (31 of our 44 games are either at home or within a 25 minute drive). Different strokes for different folks...

It's a good time of life for these guys, but they do get tired by summer's end...

I don't think that your estimates for returning players is low at all. Last year with the Swampdogs, my son was one of 3 returning players.

I guess looking to travel to a different part of the country could be a factor. Perhaps playing time did not pan out the way they liked, or the desire to find a program with a better winning record. All could be factors.

I believe that for those attending JUCO's it is much more difficult to find a spot on a summer roster, and with the new rule changes continues to get harder, just about all have a penchant for wanting D-1 players. I believe that the further up the food chain you go the greater that reality becomes, rightly or wrongly.

I suppose that some players that have very good seasons in the Valley League, Coastal Plains or the Northwest League get opportunities to move up to The Cape, but of course the roster spots are coveted and extremely limited.

My son was 1 year Valley League and 2 years CPL. He had offers for Northwest League and Alaska League after his sophmore year. He chose to go back to the CPL out of convenience (two hours from his college) and they treated them first class (as did the Valley League). Ran their operations like a minor league team.

Fayatteville , which we visited, is one of the premier opportunities in college summer baseball imho and I am not surprised floridafan's son continues to return there. Tremendous fan support and atmosphere.

There are also some great venues in the CPL like Outer Banks which I am sure Coach May can provide commentary as his son played there.

Bumping this back up as 2012 summer league team recruiting is well under way so if you're a player looking to play in the summer, recruiting time is now.

Some college coaches are extremely active in placing their players, others are extremely inactive. I know some fine coaches that don't put a high priority on it, and others that do, but the bottom line is that if a player wants to play in the summer, things are happening now, and if your coach isn't real active, be pro-active yourself. (Some schools won't place pitchers until the spring, to see how many innings they throw so if you pitch, make sure you know your coach's preferences.)

Most teams get players from established relationships with college coaches, but players also get signed via their own contacts, and even parent contacts.

To gauge your prospects: Pitchers are the easiest to place as every team, every league, every day, needs pitching. Teams will generally keep 3 MIF types, at least 2 and perhaps 3 catchers, 4 outfielders, 3 1b/3b types, 10-15 pitchers, and then some utility types.

Summer teams will want something to gauge talent, which can be a player's prior college performance, a coach's recommendation, or even high school performances for freshmen. We've looked at lots of on line video of guys shot when they were in high school just to get a look at them, knowing they've normally grown and improved. A college coach's signature on the contract is normally needed so they will be involved at some point, even if they personally aren't real active. Summer teams will look closely at stats-for example, we've signed a soph that only hit .235 as a freshman in college, but we saw two things: His college coaches, in a good program, saw fit to start him in 44 of 50 games so they sure see something there, and while he ended at .235, over his last 20 games, he hit over .300.

Be aware that some leagues/teams have track records of "quick triggers"-meaning that if you sign a 10 day contract and don't produce, you're probably gone. The Cape is pretty well known for this. In many situations, 10 day contracts just fill holes until other guys arrive and no matter how one performs, 10 days will be it. Our team doesn't do 10 day contracts, but it is fairly common in some leagues.


Happy hunting!

Hokieone....sent you a PM

Son already knows he is playing in the NECBL. Recruiting is definitely underway!

Outfielder..back at you.

9/12 is first day of practice for freshman son...suggested he ask HC about next summer...just heard new asst coach is managing a team in the Ripken Collegiate league, but who knows where he'll end up.

My son is a college sophomore, was starting catcher for most of his freshman season last year for a D-1 (not big-time) program. He really wants to play summer ball, but doesn't know how to go about getting recruited. He was young enough to play one last season on his legion team last summer so he didn't pursue wood bat last summer. His head coach resigned after the season, his new head coach doesn't really know him--has only been on campus a couple of weeks. He doesn't really have any connections, so what does he need to do? He has filled out online applications for some leagues, sent emails, left phone messages...Advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated. He is an excellent receiver, great defensive catcher, and hits well, but not a power hitter. Thanks.

pudge- You have a PM