First showcase of any kind and wasn't sure what to expect. It is very close to home and anyone can go so we signed up. From reading posts about college camps in general the advice is usually go if it's your dream school and realize it's mainly a money maker for the school. My son isn't D1 material but figured there would be all levels of players attending and could get good coaching, face some stiff competition and have fun. Son went 3 for 6, an RBI and a run and that seemed below average. The position player that stood out to me was 5 for 6, a couple doubles and a triple and who knows how many RBIs.
There was some phenomenal pitching (so many were lefties) and while I saw no home runs there was one off the wall at 370' and many to the warning track. 90% of the kids could hit 300'+ in BP. Never seen this kind of talent all in one place.
It was very well organized. 70 kids from west coast to Florida. I'd guess 60% Juniors, 20% Sophs, 10% Seniors and Freshman. Four teams/groups. Split up by IF, OF, catchers and pitchers. 4 coaches assigned to each position ran drills. Lots of time was spent playing fast paced 8 inning games. Probably pretty standard showcase stuff.
For an hour at the start and end of the camp the coaches spoke to the players and parents about recruiting in general and more specifically about UC and UCLA recruiting. My wife and son got to hear about it in detail for the first time, very valuable though discouraging. I was surprised Coach Savage felt he had to "sell" you on choosing UCLA but as he said they're competing for some of the same kids as the MLB.
My biggest take away was this is definitely a serious scouting event for the school. Maybe more for pitching than position players. Each player is evaluated by coach Savage. Every pitcher is gunned by him over 3 games. He's there all day each day always engaged and watching. His head of recruiting is there too. Afterwords he was quite clear some kids (if a Junior or Senior) can expect some follow up.
