If you are interested in playing college baseball, you will need to do more than just play for your high school team.  It is difficult for college coaches to attend high school baseball games because your season is their season.  There are many quality showcases offered today that you can attend to display your skills.  Unfortunately, there are also some that are not so good.  How do you know the difference?  

First, establish a relationship with a college coach in your area.  He will know which showcases are well run and which ones are not.  Find out if the coaches from the colleges you are interested in attending are coming to the showcase.  Remember, the showcase advertisers might use the words “we’ve INVITED such and such schools”.  That is different than the words “such and such schools ARE attending.”  Next, find out how many players will be attending.  When college coaches are attending a showcase and watching two hundred batters, you may become just another number.  Smaller showcases might give you more opportunities to demonstrate your ability.  However, a small showcase may also not be as well attended by the college coaches.  Ask the sponsor of the showcase how many of the previous attendees have received college scholarships, and where the scholarships  were to.  Finally, ask what format will be followed, and what sort of evaluation will be provided.   

We attended many showcases over the years.  Some were great opportunities for my sons to showcase their talents.  A few were just costly mistakes.  One in particular will always stand out. 

We were offered the opportunity to attend a week long showcase in Los Vegas.  We figured this would be a good opportunity for the West Coast colleges to see our son and his teammates.  You can imagine what the costs were for this trip!  Air fare for my wife, my son and me, lodging, food, etc. 

The first thing we found out was that the EAST COAST teams were at the showcase to watch the West Coast players!  After two days all the pitchers had showcased and didn’t want to throw anymore.  The sponsor had to beg players to pitch so that the games could be played.  Finally, he rated the three players we took as Division II players!  Two of the three ended up playing professional baseball and the third received a scholarship to a good Division I school.  Hmmmmm…..