Catch by Centerfielder for Burke Post 21

I agree with your statement about Conley. I had the pleasure of coaching this young man for several years. He had a great work ethic and always hustled. He should be playing Division I baseball!

 

BaseballCat-Where did you coach TC? I simply cannot believe he is not on anyone's list. Any chance a D-1 or D2 could come in late? Will CC's generally let a kid out of a commitment?

 

Ok, first of all, I don't know the kid and have never seen him play. But I will say this, I have first hand seen junior college baseball (not community college baseball as some like to call it). I will say I've seen many players come through that region and its one of the best conferences anywhere. I figure that you've never been to a "community college" game, and if you had you would quickly realize that there are MANY players there good enough to play at D-I and D-II schools. I would say overall, with the exception of maturity level and experience, that JUCO baseball is behind only division I in overall talent. What you will see at a JUCO game that you won't see at a 4 year school game is mental mistakes that aren't made as a player matures and learns how to play the game correctly. But as far as talent goes, you may see more at a JUCO game than at some 4 year school games. There are exceptions to every rule. And I am not degrading any level of baseball, but some people like to assume that because a player is going to a school with community college behind it's name that the level of baseball is low. I can tell you that Wilkes hasn't had a very powerful team, but they do compete against some heavyweights in Surry, Louisburg, Spartanburg Methodist and most recently Blue Ridge and Florence Darlington. There aren't any easy weekends in Region X, so if he has the talent being talked about here he will definitely get an opportunity to continue his baseball career and education after his two years at WCC. Best of luck to him and I advise all readers to attend a game at each level of baseball (Majors, AAA, AA, A, Div I, II, III, JUCO, NAIA) and judge for yourself at the talent level. I'm sure you will find players at each level that could be better off at another level and I'm sure you'll be amazed at the talent you see on the field at each level. Just my two cents though.

 

Coach 36,

Not ripping CC level ball, I know a lot of good players are there for a variety of reasons. Lenoir CC in Kinston has one of the top programs in the country. Louisburg is a longtime "baseball school". I'm just saying that as good as Conley was in HS and the fact that he got even better over the course of the Legion summer, no one really showed any interest.
Of the major sports, there is probably less of a talent GAP in the various divisions of baseball than any other.
I guess the process is what frustrates me. I figured "if you are good enough, they'll find you" was the rule but it appears that is not always the case in college baseball. TC had to play in a strong conference on a bad team. His coach has not been a HS coach for long(3 years), has little or no network and does not appear to be very aggressive in the development or marketing of his players. To me, Conley is a victim of that.
This year I have attended games at the Major League, A, D-1, ACC, JC, American Legion, HS,Middle School, AAU, Summer Collegiate wooddbat, Showcase, East Cobb, and Little League
So I believe I have met your criteria for seeing games at various levels to be objective. Having said that, I stand by my statement that Conley deserves a better college experience than WCC. I understand that the opportunity to continue one's career on the diamond is a primary goal and WCC will allow him to do that. I'm just surprised they were the only one's interested.

 

I've been telling people for years that it is no longer the case. At one time that may have been true true, but with the advent of Showcase ball, the coaches (with their limited recruiting budgets) go where they can see the most players. If you don't care who sees you, then playing showcase ball won't matter, but if you are looking for the most opportunities...it's imperative to play in the "right" tournaments.

 

Point taken Captain. You are right Lenoir does have a good program. As does Louisburg. I know HE WILL get the exposure he needs to move to a "higher" level of program once his two years at WIlkes are done. Braves hits the nail on the head too, the players have to research and know where these scouts will be going. I don't promote any showcases over any others, but I can tell you that the State Games of NC is the number one place for a typical HS player to be seen by college coaches, hands down. A few private showcases have good scout attendance, but some don't. So research is important. Also, players need to be proactive. Write schools they are interested in, have any scouts that have seen them play call people they know, if the scout feels they can play where they want. Scouts sometimes seem "mean", but they aren't being that way. They are just telling you the truth about your ability if they tell you that you need to work on something. Also, talk to the HS coach and have them make some phone calls. That's how kids get recognized. A sure fire way of a 2007 player getting noticed by scouts is having his coach schedule South Caldwell and hope that Bumgarner is pitching. There will be plenty of scouts there then. That's how word gets around on these players and how it seems that most players with the ability to play college ball or beyond are found. Scouts talk all the time, so when they see a player that can fit in at a certain level they usually pass word along. There are exceptions, but not typically.

 

This is Tori's Mother, I have read all the post about him and we really appreciate all the kind words. Tori has played on AAU teams since he was 8 years old. He stopped playing when he was 14 or 15 becuase the team fell apart. The teams he played on did not play in the "showcase" tournaments therefore he was not seen by coaches or scouts during this time. We went to a few camps and showcases at colleges. We were told that if he was interested in certain schools, to go to their camps and showcases. We did that, for two years, we had two schools string him along as if they were intersted only for them to say during the summer before his senior year that they would not need an outfielder his year. So......... we had spent all that time on those two schools to get nowhere. The coach of one of them gave him great feedback verbally and written after each showcase. Tori was on the Region 7 State Game team that won the bronze in 2005. Not alot of action to the outfield so not alot of looks if you ask me...... I have several friends who have kids that are playing ball at the college level (D-1 on down) and the high school coach played a BIG part of helping these kids get seen. Most of these kids didn't play on Showcase or travel teams, they had good high school coaches. I really can't say what happened but I will say that he received no help from his high school coach. We had to ask if he would nominate any of his players to State Games, and the response we received was " you think any of our guys want to participate? " What a response....As a mother, I feel that my kids is pretty talented and has the ability to play at any college level. He is playing for Wilkes because that coach saw him at the Davie County game referenced in a previous post and then he came to a couple other games. I now know there is alot more we should have done to help him and we have begun that process now. Thanks for the feedback from all who posted, I know some of you have tried to make contacts for Tori and we appreciate all your efforts.

 

Coach- that was very well informed post. Thank you for your contributions. Please keep them up!

 

tandjsma:

First, thank you for joining the discussion. I wish more parents in your situation would post questions. This board is full of coaches, parents and players that have gone through the process and they would be more than happy to share their experience and advice to anybody that asks.

There are 5 college coaches in particular that are active readers and sometime posters, that would be glad to help with advice.

There are really just a few things to keep in mind during the recruiting process. Assuming that education is a given and we are strictly speaking in terms of baseball, the best advice I have ever received is go "where the coaches and school make you the most comfortable...and go where you feel you will have the best chance to play".

Does one honestly believe that all of these kids that sign a D1 NLI will ever get off the bench...very few will, many will transfer and some will quit. It happens every year.

There are great baseball players at all levels, but if you don't play...what's the point? Unless you are attending that school because it is the school you wanted to attend regardless of baseball.

College baseball is a business...make your decision accordingly

 

Thanks Braves! I've spent a little time doing those things so I feel I can kind of help some of these kids in whatever way possible. That's the whole purpose of a board like this in my opinion. To help those that need it.

As for the HS coach of this kid, that's a poor excuse for a coach. To all the HS coaches reading this one thing to remember is part of your job as the coach should be to help any player that wants to play college baseball. Many times the words of a coach has gotten me, when I was coaching, to see a game. Which brings me to another point, don't lie to the college coaches or scouts. I attended a few games because a coach(es) had told me about a player throwing 90 and so forth. When I got there I was extremely disappointed to find that player barely threw 80 mph and didn't have very good control. Point of the story is be honest and say what he throws and if you don't know then just say you think he's worth a look. If you don't think they can play college ball then make the call anyway to the school and let the school know up front that you don't believe he can play there but he is interested in their school and wanted you to place a call. I've seen many players that I didn't think would make good college players end up being excellent college players, so mistakes are commonly made. If you don't want to help the kids it might be best to just go ahead and step aside and let someone with interest in helping the players take over.

Good luck to your son. I'm sure he will get the exposure and help he needs to continue playing beyond his sophomore year. All things happen for a reason, and I'm sure things will work out. Good luck.