Fall Showcase Teams

Who are the top fall showcase teams? Any comments on any of these:
Impact Dirtbags
Carolina Cubs
Diamond Devils
Others?

 

All of the Programs identified are quality programs with strong college connections. Make sure that you pick a fall showcase team that will give a player the most exposure to the schools that he would like to attend. The Impact program is particularily good if a player is interested in colleges in NC. The Diamond Devil program is very close to all of the SC colleges. My son wanted to play in SC and we chose the Diamond Devil program. He received exposure to the NC schools through 2 years of NC State Games, a Perfect Game showcase and two Impact Showcases in Chapel Hill and attending comps at the NC colleges.

John Rhodes with the Diamond Devils offers a high quality. Go to the Diamond Devils web site and review the history and success of the program. Review the alumni list and the colleges where former Diamond Devils attend and have attended. The Alumni list is quite impressive. In the fall, the Diamond Devils typically play in Charleston, Columbia, Atlanta, Rock Hill and in the Perfect Game Championship in Florida.

http://www.diamonddevils.org/

I understand that Gary Robinson will renew his Charlotte Express program this year. The Express program is also a very good program.

 

Are the Ondeck O's & the Copperheads fall showcase teams? Also, what are the criteria for participating on any of these teams?

 

The Ondeck teams and Copperheads are summer and fall showcase teams. I have heard that the Copperheads teams have pretty much assembled their summer teams, I don't know about Ondeck. They may pick some players up for the fall but generally, the players returning from the summer get on the fall team and open spots, if any, are then filled.

As I saw someone mention earlier about playing Legion in summer and showcase in the fall, the better showcase teams MAY not have room for the Legion players wanting to play just fall showcase. There would certainly be teams for them to play on but, if the player is a pretty good but not great player, it may limit the exposure. The scouts have a tendency to gravitate to the games that have the top teams playing. An example; we were at Charleston last fall for a Diamond Devils tournament. The DD's 18U and a top 18U team from Tenn. were playing. There were 20+ scouts at that game. Later that day, two 18U teams with poor reputations and records played and there were no scouts and I'm sure there were one or two decent players on those two teams.

Also, just from my observation, if you are going to play showcase ball, play at the highest level and age group team you can get decent playing time on. The scouts tend to watch the 18U teams and sometimes a 17U team if they are really good and are playing another great 17U team. So, particularily if you are a young Junior in HS and are good and have aspirations of playing in college - play with your High School Class or up an age, even if you are eligible for a younger age group. The older boys get more looks and the scouts really start to take notice when you're a Junior but if you are playing in your age group on a team with a bunch of Sophs, you may not get seen or even get much recognition if you do well.

 

Showcase Team Affiliations

I notice on the World Wood Bat website that a bunch of teams have major league names such as Dullins Dodgers, Carolina Cubs, PG Reds, etc. Are these teams really affiliated with the big league clubs? If so, how much can the big club do for these kids?