TOP COLLEGIATE PROSPECTS TOURNEY – JULY 14-16

don't tell Van Horn where you are staying unless he has some cash with him......get the cob webs out dude...these tourneys are as good as any i've been to in my son's 9 yrs of travel ball...why couldn't they put these on while we were younger....go to omaha and play the o p magic for 3 or 4 yrs ...got too expensive to go that far to play the same teams in your league...now, these are great teams and its an 1 1/2 hrs away....i love it

McHenry County Hurricanes 16u team has replaced Seattle Washington-Fatburger Baseball...
Vanhorn is staying at the Chateau- all 5 hours per night sleep for 3 nights...Hopefully the next tourney goes as smooth as the first one at siu-c but i must tell you in advance that the sites picked were not by me....I had to rely on the Bloomington-Normal Baseball Association... The field directors were hired by me and teh maintenance crew will be provided by Bloomington Normal baseball association.
We should have a good time...this tourney will be scouted heavier with pro scouts this weekend...and college scouts...My emails totaled 157 when i returned home today...and my voice mails totaled 83...scouts, recruiters and coaches wanting directions, etc.
We have to work together to keep these players in the state of illinois...playing in front of the midwest recruiters and scouts...Why go to Georgia???? Just what percentage of our kids in the midwest go pro or go to schools out of state????
Next year i will be attempting to pull off the unbelievable....3 tourneys-siu-c and Logan, 1 at Illinois-Parkland, 1 at Ill State-Ill Wesleyan, 1 at Bradley University and 1 at Eastern-Parkland and 1 at Olivet-Kankakee Comm College- These will be for 16-18 year olds..
We will also be hosting tourneys at theRockford Riverhawk minor league stadium nexst summer...
Better things to come from Diamond Sports Promotions...This is just a start...Hope to see you all at Bloomington...

If anyone is in need of a hotel room for Thur, Fri and Sat at Bloomington, I have 2 rooms available tonight and one for the weekend that are already paid for and willing to relinquish to best offer. Contact Adam @ 773-220-5762 asap.
Rooms are at Country Suites.

wooly, is this an 18 year old tournament?

quote:

Originally posted by lineshot:
wooly, is this an 18 year old tournament?

18u tourney but majority of teams are 17...some 16 year olds in it to get experience...at their request not ours

quote:

Originally posted by woodly:

quote:

Originally posted by lineshot:
wooly, is this an 18 year old tournament?

18u tourney but majority of teams are 17...some 16 year olds in it to get experience...at their request not ours

gone to Bloomington for organizational meeting...have a good time

Will be out in the heat again today to watch my nephew's team the Bloomington-Normal Gold at Illinois Wesleyan. Luke is #9 and his older brother Jake is coaching first and wearing #12. I'll be wearing my white Georgia Bulldogs cap.

Woodly... glad to hear you're doing more tourneys next year. I agree - plenty of great schools right here in the state of IL. HOWEVER, keep moving north my friend! Lots of us up here in the hinterlands who still have to drive 3-4 hours plus for most of those sites! Have a great weekend - it's going to be a hot one!

so ra, so good down here. the white sox 18's are 3-0 and may NOT get into the final 6. we gave up 12 runs. it is freakin hot down here. had an 8 am game and it was 85 at first pitch and then went and played 9 at my new home away from home. got done at 12 noon and it was 96. i feel for the boys who had to play in the afternoon. once again, van horn is doing his thing down here. it is fun and it has some good teams. i say once more, i wish this was going on during our younger days with fran and nancy. but, we moved on and it is what it is. it IS our last season together and it has been a great ride. 23-2 on the season and moving on to mrytle beach for a try and repeat as champs of a awesome 18 yr old tourney down there. thank you mike for a job very well done. god, im going to miss this stuff. bit, its time for a new chapter.

congrats to mike van horn on a job well done....again. it was a blast being in the last two tourneys....great competetion, great fields and great weather....if you like 100 degrees......thanks for the memories....like i said before..i wish this was going 5 yrs earlier. for all the 13 14 15 16 yr old teams out there please call van horn and get in these tourneys. they are great and going to get better.

Same question as last week in Carbondale...how did the championship bracket play out in Bloomington?

Also, any word from Atlanta re: local guys?

final 6 were white sox 18, mc henry 18, ann arbor a's, bloomington 18, brain **** on other 2, anyway we(white sox 18) lost to mc henry 18 in final....second two weeks in a row.....no pitching left for third game of day. 100 degrees and they only had 2 games as did bloomington but we beat them in semi and then played 1/2 hour later and were gased out...

other 2 were Orland Sparks 17U and Rockford Hitmen.

Thanks sweaty and mykla for the recap.

well back to dead brain cells i put down we lost to mchenry i was wrong, we lost badly to the rockford hitmen.....too much sun

also i sat next to rip van horn and his carton of cigs may have affected my brain cells......dude you run a great tournament but it needs to be smoke free within 10 miles you gotta quit that nasty habit... be around to see the 14's play at 16 ya hear me??

get my play on words there? RIP van horn come on now you gotta be thinking....

so the hitmen won the tournament

Evidently...in a smoky haze apparently!

NOAA satellite photos show what appears to be a dust storm blowing up around Bloomington yesterday afternoon, but sweaty assures us that it was only Rip Van Horn and his well stoked and battle tested peace pipe!

McHenry Hurricanes won the tournament!

got2luvit2:

Welcome to the HSBBW.

Did you have a dog in the fight?

Did you see the game?

Enlighten us please...thanks got2!

we slaughtered the white sox in 5 innings!

Jake Smolinski threw a no hitter....9-0

Very hot all three days. Number 1 seed McHenry 17's won by beating the Sparks and then White Sox 18s 9-0 in 5 innings. Tough weekend as lots of pitchers worked reduced innings with state playoffs starting today. Smolinski faced the minimum 15 batters in his 5 innings. White Sox third game of the day. Shortstop for McHenry, Soto, had a big day at the plate and in the field.

When Smolinski gets the breaking ball over he is mighty tough!!!!!!

Thanks for the update guys...I'm not sure if the results are posted elsewhere.

like i said, i must of inhaled too much of RIP van horn's smoke....i thought it was mchenry then i thought it was hitmen...my bad hurricanes fans...it was them. and btw we beat them the weekend before...oh that it get ol dirt bag going...congrats to smokeinski, he pitched a good game..he was at 88 on fb and 80 slider with nice bite...i know iwas gunning him. he could be a good one down the road. pretty loud bunch on there side...lotta yappin for 17 yr old boys...better get that together before it bites you in the butt...not the way to play the game....its good to be confident but not to be cooocky. imo only as usual, i thought it was a little bush...but i have not been on the feild to hear our boys give it back either, im sure they're not angels. but it is one game of worthless baseball, nobody is going to the SHOW after a travel game.....remember to enjoy it while you can. life goes on..and there were alot of college coaches there watching and observing some of the actions.....i think ive read that on here before..."you observe alot by watching" well i watched and i listened alot this weekend....some good some bad some real bad...not that the white sox didn't have some tantrums either, don't get me wrong, we had our moments over the weekend and some people noticed. 17 yr old mc team is good and they have a chance to put some fellows in the next level, no bout a doubt it...love to all

Wish i would quit those cigs....coughing way too much and beginning to enjoy the company of the White Sox 18u fans...but as everything else...it all comes to an end..
Top Collegiate Prospects Tourney at Ill State
results
Champion-McHenry Cty Hurricanes 18u over White Sox 18u
Consolation Champion-Cangelosi Illinois Orioles over the Bloomington Blue team
Challenge Tourney 1- Champion Aurora American Legion over Michigan Athletics
Challenge Tourney 2- Springfield Statesmen over Mchenry County 16u for the championship
Challenge Tourney 3- Illinois Jayhawks-Champions over Frankfort Square Vipers
5 champions who took home a plaque and 1 runnerup...White Sox 18u...they took home the endurance prize..2 weeks in a row battling 3 games in hot sun on final day...
Boy do they know how to get the most for their money!!!!

Had fun....had offers from Illinois, Bradley, Northern, and Iowa to hold tourneys at their fields next season...It also looks like Eastern and Murray State University are in the picture along with a special 16u tourney at Illinois State..
going to be busy in the off season developing some good programs....

1 more left this week- Future Prospect Tourney at Kankakee Comm College- 10 17 year old teams and 20 16 year old teams... playing different format this week and will experiement.... 16 year olds will play just 16 year olds and 17 vs 17...all in the same tourney..... could have flaws but will make it fun..... 3 game guarantee that kicks off Thursday nite....with 3:30 and 6pm games at 3 different sites- Friday morning begins at 8am at 4 sites, Sat at 8 am at 4 sites, and finishing at KCC and 2 other sites on Sunday beginning at 8am...
should be fun.....

let me know when you start a 6 yr old tourney will you? i'm going to be doing this for a long long long time. i can't stand little league. they are already biatchin about t-ball for the little guy. " you know he is going to have to play 2 yrs of t-ball" thats when i said, do you want to play chess son? anyway, NICE JOB ONCE AGAIN VAN RIPPLE.....you got something going.

Tried to post this late last night just as the power went out...

Congratulations to the McHenry County Hurricanes 18U ...it appears that Jake Smolinski pitched a gem of a game against a very tough White Sox team. Did Jake have a stellar defensive effort behind him?

And congratulations also to the White Sox 18U...they finished near the top two weekends in a row in two strong tournaments.

quote:

Originally posted by sweaty:
let me know when you start a 6 yr old tourney will you? i'm going to be doing this for a long long long time. i can't stand little league. they are already biatchin about t-ball for the little guy. " you know he is going to have to play 2 yrs of t-ball" thats when i said, do you want to play chess son? anyway, NICE JOB ONCE AGAIN VAN RIPPLE.....you got something going.

hey sweaty....guess what i am doing in January...JOHN LOGAN COLLEGE- INDOOR T BALL GAMES EVERY SUNDAY FOR 3-5 YEAR OLDS AND 6-8 YEAR OLDS....THIS YEAR BOYS ONLY WITH PARENTS AT THE 3-5 YR LEVEL...
IT IS A GAS- TIME LIMITS- 1 HOUR GAMES- HIT ONE SIDE AND THEN TO FIELD...

jake smolinski, this guy has some talent. and i hear from other travel kids that he can hit too....gosh there are some great players in this area...congrats to all

THE SCOUTS like his bat due to his size they think he might be position player....but....that kid can throw the ball...slider was outstanding and fastball moved....I don't care how big he is....the kid can pitch!!!!

Jake has always impressed me more with his hitting than his pitching, and his pitching is very good. He ha played ss at hs and more of for travel, I think he might end up at 3b at sometime. Thought Jake, Biela and McMurray were the best hitters I saw at the area code games tryouts. By the way Jake is a pretty darn good quarterback if he plays this year.

Did Colin Bates from the White Sox Academy 18u pitch in the tourney?

If so, how did he do?

Colin threw the semi vs bloomingyon and had 1 bad inning but came though with the victory, danny weston threw 1 and 1/3 in the championship giving up 1 run and then we threw anyone who could throw.....it didn't turn out so good for us....