Summer Leagues

A few good resources...

http://www.collegiatesummerbaseball.com/

https://ballparkdigest.com/201...tendance-by-average/

The link with attendance info is of course based on fan attendance but there is some correlation to what you are asking.  If you are trying to avoid going out west, I think you are on track with Northwoods and CPL, if those are legitimate options for the player.

Northwoods and CPL are both excellent, and I would include NECBL in that mix as well.

Placements are most often done in conjunction with the college coaching staff.  Has he expressed interest in playing summer ball and not been placed?

I would concur with 9&7 Dad. The NECBL is probably 3rd behind Cape & Northwoods. Ideal if you can land a spot and you want to stay east.  Cape and Northwoods seem to have different rosters at beginning to end of summer. NECBL not as much but moreso with pitchers with innings limits. Some get "brought" up to Cape from NECBL as NECBL is close to Cape and its season ends before. Common practice for rising juniors who had a good summer and some rising sophs.  I have seen scouts at some games and at all the All-Star activities.

My son played in the Northwoods.  He enjoyed it and experienced the most realistic simulation of pro ball due to length of season (73 games), fan attendance and travel.  Scout are at every game as well as having an Allstar Game and a Showcase Game during the season.  If your son can play in this league I would suggest it.

The roster can turn over often however if the player is productive they will stick around.

JABMK posted:

My son played in the Northwoods.  He enjoyed it and experienced the most realistic simulation of pro ball due to length of season (73 games), fan attendance and travel.  Scout are at every game as well as having an Allstar Game and a Showcase Game during the season.  If your son can play in this league I would suggest it.

Ditto.  

73 games?  Wow, that seems absurdly long.  How do you get that many games in in less than 3 months....and how do you have enough players willing to put that amount of time in over the summer.  Son's league would have been to 50 if you made it to the championship series...and even at that, the last 2 weeks had serious player turnover due to school starting back up and kids just wanting to have a week or so of summer of before heading back

Buckeye. NWL play begins around Memorial Day and playoffs begin early mid-august. There was a four day break for all-star game and maybe a couple of off days. Grueling and closest to MILB of all collegiate leagues (including a trip to Canada).

Pitching rules + communication with college HC means all players get their innings. My son threw roughly 55 IP - all in relief. (And, by August there were essentially "help wanted" signs hanging in every GM's office as players dropped like flies. S left for college in early January and didnt see home again until the Christmas break.)

One of the assistant coaches was an associate scout and lots of scouts were at the games. Madison draws over 5k per game.

Quite a league, quite a realistic experience. (On one of those rare off days, the team even played a softball game against a prison team - at the prison. The smack talk was outrageous!)

Have heard that  the Cape and Northwoods are the better leagues and scouted more than others but have no data to back that up. Know kids that have played all over and been fine.

Goosegg posted:

Buckeye. NWL play begins around Memorial Day and playoffs begin early mid-august. There was a four day break for all-star game and maybe a couple of off days. Grueling and closest to MILB of all collegiate leagues (including a trip to Canada).

Pitching rules + communication with college HC means all players get their innings. My son threw roughly 55 IP - all in relief. (And, by August there were essentially "help wanted" signs hanging in every GM's office as players dropped like flies. S left for college in early January and didnt see home again until the Christmas break.)

One of the assistant coaches was an associate scout and lots of scouts were at the games. Madison draws over 5k per game.

Quite a league, quite a realistic experience. (On one of those rare off days, the team even played a softball game against a prison team - at the prison. The smack talk was outrageous!)

i was on that prison team...we ran out of pitching and the umps were terrible

Thanks to all the great feedback thus far. It appears that Northwoods is a good league, if you can make it, and are able to understand the time commitment involved. Is the league mostly comprised of regional players - who have the ability to drive home once in a while if drive is less than six hours - or is there a abundance of players from states that would not offer such an option? 

Any feedback on the Cal Ripken League - are they as well scouted? 

In general - how does word spread about quality players? Do collegiate periodicals - like Collegiate Baseball, etc have eyes and ears on most leagues? Is its that scouts only populate the stronger leagues (Cape Cod, Northwoods, Coastal Plains, etc - and only scout the All star games of other leagues?

Thanks

GaryMe posted:

Goosegg posted:

Buckeye. NWL play begins around Memorial Day and playoffs begin early mid-august. There was a four day break for all-star game and maybe a couple of off days. Grueling and closest to MILB of all collegiate leagues (including a trip to Canada).

Pitching rules + communication with college HC means all players get their innings. My son threw roughly 55 IP - all in relief. (And, by August there were essentially "help wanted" signs hanging in every GM's office as players dropped like flies. S left for college in early January and didnt see home again until the Christmas break.)

One of the assistant coaches was an associate scout and lots of scouts were at the games. Madison draws over 5k per game.

Quite a league, quite a realistic experience. (On one of those rare off days, the team even played a softball game against a prison team - at the prison. The smack talk was outrageous!)

i was on that prison team...we ran out of pitching and the umps were terrible

That's really funny Gary.......

Phanatic2008WS posted:

Thanks to all the great feedback thus far. It appears that Northwoods is a good league, if you can make it, and are able to understand the time commitment involved. Is the league mostly comprised of regional players - who have the ability to drive home once in a while if drive is less than six hours - or is there a abundance of players from states that would not offer such an option? 

 

Son drove 2 days to get to his team in the NWL.  Teams can pair you up with another player that does have a car.   Some host families provide a car/truck.

Son's NWL team drew players from all over the country.  California, Virginia, NC, Florida, all over.  You can check rosters on their website.  Son's team had a local player join at the end of the season to fill a gap.   

I am not sure there is time to drive home with games every day.  Even if you live nearby.  You still have workouts, team practices, and sleep.

Son had friends that played in the Cal Ripken league and even though only 100 miles away, he didn't come home.  And if you are at the Cape, hey, why would you want to leave THERE???!  

When I was playing college ball there were essentially three premiere leagues. There was the Cape, Jayhawk and Alaska. What became of the Jayhawk and Alaska Leagues? I never hear about them anymore. I know they still exist. The couple of rosters I checked didn’t seem to have big name, big program players. 

I have heard from those in the NWL that pitching is usually in demand at some point during the season.

Did you know that the Franchise fee to purchased a team in the Northwoods League is one million dollars? For a two month season vs ten million for a Minor League team in the Midwest League with a 3 month season.

Bob

RJM posted:

When I was playing college ball there were essentially three premiere leagues. There was the Cape, Jayhawk and Alaska. What became of the Jayhawk and Alaska Leagues? I never hear about them anymore. I know they still exist. The couple of rosters I checked didn’t seem to have big name, big program players. 

Good and fair question.  My son was considering Alaska for next summer.  Two of his college teammates have played there in the last 2 years.  When I played many, many...many years ago, Alaska was absolutely premier and coveted.  So, I was initially excited that it would be an option.  But, they are down to 7 teams (not sure what it used to be).  I connected with a very well known collegiate baseball scout (most of us probably follow him on Twitter), and he said he still likes it but that it is really hard to scout since it is so far away, especially now that there are so many other high quality leagues.  FWIW, he ranked it below CPL and NECBL.  I was glad that we got that feedback, because I was heading down the path of advising my son to prioritize Alaska.

I know of at least one SEC team that regularly sends guys to Alaska in the summer, but I do wonder about the distance in terms of MLB scouting, if that's the player's goal.  I'm sure it's a good league and it's probably a great experience for the kids.  Gives them a chance to see a different part of the world/country that many players don't get to experience.

More and more states are legalizing pot.  Alaska has been legal for a while.  Be sure your kids heads are screwed on tight if they head that way.  Get caught, off team.  Off summer team, probable repercussions with college team.

And the same can be can be said for underage drinking on summer teams.  Get caught, or miss practice because of hangover, off team.  

Son has played with players that have experienced both of the situations above.

Random drug testing can take place in the summer, too, I do believe.

Keewart, great advice! Summer Collegiate  is serious baseball. Bob Gibson was my teacher in the old Basin League in South Dakota.

Bob

My 2018 signed a contract with the Northwoods League earlier this week. It includes their statement on drug and drinking, he has to have a passport, and he's expected to be there pretty much from the day college ball ends until whatever point his team's season ends.

We're lucky, he's assigned to a team in a town that a friend called "far northeastern" Iowa, even though it's technically Wisconsin, so at least it's close.

I cleaned his room at home today and realized that in future it will only be used at Thanksgiving and Christmas.