My 2015 son has been invited to join an 18U travel team that will play two showcase tournaments in WA this summer. The first tournament is July 8-13 in Centralia and the second tournament is July 15-21 in Renton. As we do no not live in the NW, I would appreciate any information on these tournaments if anyone is familiar with them (level of competition, recruiting exposure, etc.).
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The big one that I can think of is the Bannerwood-centric one that has the usual players in it - Taylor, Chaffey, Stars, Portland Baseball Club, Langley Blaze, etc.
There's another one in July but it doesn't sound like the ones you're talking about.
At any rate, these things are a little overrated anyway. Ability tends to win out over time as long as the athlete is playing consistent HS/Summer ball and attends 1-2 low cost showcases here or there (Area Code Games tryouts and Mariners Scout Team tryouts are always free and worth going to - there should be a Diamondbacks Scout Team as well this year).
I found out that the tournaments are called GSL College Showcase and Baden Invitational. Anyone have any information about these?
I found out that the tournaments are called GSL College Showcase and Baden Invitational. Anyone have any information about these?
I'm from here, with a boy on an 18U team, though I don't know too much. I was confused about your locations because the Baden Invitational is usually in Bellevue, and I heard might be at the new Husky stadium (Seattle) this year. I was also confused because you called it a "showcase tournament" which to me means something like the AZ Fall Classic, which are timed games, scores are not kept, kids are rotated through for exposure to coaches (not to compete), all teams play the same amount of games. It's not that. It's a regular tournament, though I'm sure there will be scouts there (if that's what you meant by showcase tournament?). It is a local (WA state teams for the most part) tournament that pulls in a lot of the area teams. It's decent.
I am not familiar with the other one. Good luck!
Like BBLife mentioned, these sound like tournaments. We went to a GSL event last summer in Lacey, WA and it was a fun tournament, but it was not a showcase. Decent competition and most of the teams were from either WA or OR. Their website is http://gsltournaments.com/
