Why you play travel ball

Pretty cool

TR, very good post.

For the past few years Bum, Jr. has been playing in a Fall "scout" tournament. I told the parents of the #2 pitcher on Bum, Jr.'s high school team (Bum, Jr. being #1) they should have their son particpate, too.

Finally, as a rising Senior, they had their son particpate. His first outing, in one inning, he absolutely stunk up the place, giving up four or five runs. On the last day of the tournament, the dad came up to me and lamented that he had taken a week's vacation and spent a lot of money--for nothing. His kid had only pitched an inning!

I told him, look, all it takes is ONE coach, or ONE scout to see what they like. I told him these scouts aren't necessarily looking for RESULTS but PRESENT ABILITY. Arm action, pitchability, velocity, etc. I'm not sure he was comforted by what I said, but..

..the next day his son threw a few innings and did well. He got a D1 offer!

The senior season, both Bum, Jr. and his son were drafted! Bum, Jr. chose college, and his son is now playing in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

Like TR says.. you never know who's watching!

Funny you should bring up this topic.
This past weekend my son filled in for a team at an 18U tournament. He is 16U. He is mainly a hitter with power who bats clean up for his team. He pitches occasionally with his team but really has no interest in pitching much.
He pitched Saturday night for 4+ innings and did fairly well. After the game he told me his coaches were approached by a couple of college scouts during the game and wanted my sons contact info. I was told the next day his FB topped out at 86.
My question is, how much does it help with the recruiting process? Will a school give more money to a two way player?

What I really mean is will the fact that a recruit can possibly be a two way player make him more attractive to schools?

fills


It depends on the program and their philosophy

Guys:

I'd really like some experiences and options on the issue of being a two way player as well. 4thGen is coming off a good weekend at the AZ Fall Classic. He only threw three innings but showed enough that the feed back was that he could pitch. The issue is that we can't get a handle on how he fits in. He's had both DIs and DIIIs tell us he'd be a pitcher in their program. He's also had schools at every level tell him he'd be a position player for them. So far only a couple of the DIIIs have said they would want him to pitch and he'd get a chance to compete as a position player as well.