What is the Story?

Hi TR

I have been wondering the same thing.
I hope all is well with you.

Jim Wis

I've been remiss about posting in recent months and for that I apologize. We took advantage of this great site and it was an instrumental part of getting my son into a college program (still knocking wood and pinching myself at the same time). For those of you in the same position, you owe this site something, so be a contributor! There are many out there still looking for the advice and guidance we can give. For my part, after the recruiting process ended I went through a state of decompression. Now I'm looking forward to watching my son's senior season without pacing, cracking my knuckles, and chewing my bottom lip raw. Also looking forward to some golf and bass fishing, something I've pretty much missed the past few baseball/showcase/recruiting seasons!

PopTime,
I saw the Thoroughbreds play yesterday. Looks to me like Logan is walking into a situation where he could be looking at significant playing time next year. Game 1 catcher was a lefty! Good bat, but he's not even listed on the roster as a catcher. Also, for a catcher, better to be playing with them than against them. They stole 8 bases in game 1. I'm happy to say that they didn't even attempt a steal in game 2 with #21 behind the dish.

Yes, Pisani, the lefty is actually a 1B/P from Winchester MA. He's very serviceable as a catcher from what I can see from the box scores, but I don't think he or the coach want that to be his primary position. Morelli is another kid they use at C, also serviceable but I don't think C is his primary position, i think he's an OF. Salomone is listed as a C but hasn't caught and is a senior anyway. They have a kid named Casement, a sophomore from Florida who lists C as his only position but has hardly even played. So, yep, I've been watching, and it looks pretty good.
I really wanted to get out there yesterday but my kid had a practice mid-day and I couldn't justify to Mrs. PopTime making the solo trip out there! Hope your son is enjoying the experience, talk to you soon.

Trust me. There was absolutely no reason on earth to sit (stand, as it were) through those games if you didn't have a horse in the race, so to speak. Hopefully the teams will play again next year in VT. Good luck in the HS season!

What kind of shape was the field in? Have they had to remove snow manually or did it just melt? Did you stand because the bleachers were so far away from the field? They were really far away from the action when we were there in the fall, but I thought they would move them closer for the regular season.

I am new to this board and appreciate all of the experience I have seen from PopTime, HC, and TRhit. My son is a junior in high school and he is starting the whole process with showcases and camps. This message board has been instrumental in helping formulate ideas and actions to possibly play college baseball.

In terms of D3 schools in the northeast, I have been to a few of Eastern CT State games and they are looking strong. Coach Holowaty always seems to find a way to field a winning team. For D2, my son and I saw game 1 of Post vs. St. Michael's. One of the Post players is on my son's summer team and another one graduated from his high school. St. Michael's is a school my son is interested in attending and playing baseball. There are so many D2 and D3 teams in the northeast that combine great academics and baseball programs. It is nice to be able to attend and see teams in action that might be possible choices.

Anyhow, I just wanted to thank everyone for sharing their experiences and knowledge. I hope I can contribute along the way of this journey.

ED,
Welcome to the HSBBW! PM me if you would like any feedback on St. Mike's. My son loves it there and Coach Cole is working hard to build a strong program. The future looks very bright.
HC

PopTime,

The field was in pretty good shape. Piles of snow outside the fences on the left field side and in the outfield. Bleachers still too far from the field to be useful. Frozen pond behind the visitor's dugout was a nice touch too, especially with a strong wind coming from that direction. That wind kept Greg from getting his first college HR. Had to settle for a very long double in the LF gap.

EaglesDad,
Honored that you would put me in such good company as HC and TRhit, who, by the way, has probably forgotten more about college recruiting than I'll ever know. In addition to HC, whose son plays for ST Mike's, there's another gentleman who posts on here, can't remember his handle, who actually assists the STM's coach with scouting and recruiting. But as you say, there are so many great DII and III schools with great programs here in the northeast. Take a long hard look around to find the right fits before you start narrowing your choices.

That would be "Saint Michael's College (DII, VT)".

Thanks PopTime and HC!

PopTime, I really liked your post a while ago about the college "where a very famous Civil War battle was fought there and a famous speech was given there by a former president who's likeness is now on the penny!"

HC, I sent you a PM. I see that Saint Mike's won two today!

OOps. I answered you last night but it doesn't look like it went through. I'll try again.

Got it. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by EaglesDad:
PopTime, I really liked your post a while ago about the college "where a very famous Civil War battle was fought there and a famous speech was given there by a former president who's likeness is now on the penny!"

Yeah, I was hit by the karma bus on that one though. Gettysburg swept Skidmore in a double header in Florida this Spring!

TRhit...
Have you heard of this kid Collins from Worcester Technical HS in Worcester MA? He's a LHP Logan has played against for a couple of summers. The knock on him was that he was only about 5'4" tall, but he could throw absolute CHEESE! I read an article about him Sunday in the Worcester paper and I guess he's grown 6 inches, added 20 lbs or so and is throwing in the high 80's. Being in a technical high school I'm not sure what his college qualifications are going to be.

Actually, here's the link to the article:

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2007...080823/1152/SPORTS17

POP TIME


great article---saw it when it came out---just goes to show

Upon further review, I think the article is saying that he WAS 5'0"...and now stands 5'6". Oh well, I'm sure we'll be seeing him this summer to confirm. I can tell you that judging by what I saw last summer, those velocity numbers are not far off!

I saw him at the franklin pierce fall showcase. Pitched decent, but from crow hop he probably had the best arm out of all the outfielders. It was very impressive to see someone that's his size throw the way he did. I also believe he was on that little league team that went to the LLWS.

He threw a teammate of my son out at the plate last summer from deep right-center, by an embarrassingly wide margin.

quote:

Originally posted by PopTime:
Actually, here's the link to the article:

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2007...080823/1152/SPORTS17

I'm hearing some squawking on the local message boards in my area that this kid just signed a free agent deal with Toronto. I'm wondering if anyone can confirm or deny? It makes some sense as JP Ricciardi the Blue Jays GM is from, and still lives in Worcester. Good news for all us parents of "undersized" kids! Plus, my kid owns him! He's like 4 for 7 lifetime against him! But I wish him luck if it's true, the kid has done nothing but hustle and play his butt off every time I've seen him.

I found the piece. This is cut and pasted from Sunday's Worcester Telegram and Gazette:

[Pitcher Tim Collins, who graduated from Worcester Tech last month, signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night and will report to the Dunedin Blue Jays, the team’s Single-A affiliate in the Florida State League.

“This came out of nowhere,” Collins said. “I was all set to go to (the Community College of Rhode Island), and then my Main South (American Legion) coach scheduled a workout with the Jays. (Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi) caught me pitching somewhere, then he and scout Tom Clark set up a workout.”

Collins threw a bullpen session on Thursday, met again with Clark, and signed a contract the next day.

Collins, who will leave for Dunedin on Wednesday, expects to work out of the bullpen for the first few weeks.

“I’m sure they’re going to have me take it slow,” Collins said. “I’ll probably do a little bullpen workout, and start off throwing one or two innings until I’m ready to start.”]


Good luck to Tim Collins!

Today in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette:

["Lefty Tim Collins, the Worcester Tech alum who signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays a week ago, is a professional because he sounded good.

Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi was back home, taking in an East Side Legion game with his two boys earlier this summer, when he heard the sound of a catcher’s mitt popping as a kid warmed up to get ready to pitch.

Ricciardi, a scout at heart, knows the sound of a good arm when he hears it and found out the pitcher in question was Collins, a 5-foot-7 southpaw whom he had gotten some reports about previously.

“It’s a pretty distinctive sound,” Ricciardi said, “and when I watched him, I thought to myself, ‘Who’s this little (guy)?’ So I watched him for a couple of innings, and he had a quick arm, attacked the zone and had good balance in his delivery. His armwork’s really good, and he has good mechanics.

“Little left-handers, they survive in this game. Little right-handers don’t always.”

Ricciardi conceded that the local connection helped, too.

“A lot of kids from this area don’t get a good look just because of where they’re from,” he said, “and so, yeah, we like to give the local kids a chance when we can. And (Collins) deserves it.”

Collins joined the Jays’ Gulf Coast League — a rookie league — affiliate in Dunedin, Fla. He had planned to go to junior college before signing and part of the deal was scholarship money should Collins decide to head off to school.

And all because he sounded good.]

it's always nice to see a ne boy get a shot, and that sounds good to me. i wish him well.