The crack of the bat sends a sharp one-hop ground ball to the shortstop, who backhands the ball and fires to the first baseman. Across the gym, two scouts from Springfield College are watching intently. The first scout is aiming a radar gun at the shortstop, tracking and calling out the velocity on his throws. The second scout is writing numbers in a notebook.
This is the scene at a Sunday evening baseball showcase at the D-BATS baseball training facility in Cheshire, Connecticut.
For any amateur baseball player who dreams of one day making it to the big leagues, that path more than likely travels through the cutthroat recruitment world of NCAA Division I college baseball. In order to get the attention of college recruiters, simply playing through Little League and the high school circuit is often not good enough. Athletes with the time, money and commitment can reach their potential through new paths such as personal development trainers and elite travel teams along with traditional American Legion and other local organizations.
Alex Denoyelle is one of the scouts from Springfield College who attended the D-BATS showcase. Denoyelle said that he attends lots of showcases, often making his first connection to the potential prospect at the event. If he likes what he sees, he will then exchange contact information with the player and go to watch them play in live action.
“We try to go to as many showcase events, find an athlete that stands out, contact them and then see them play in games,” said Denoyelle, who played catcher at the Springfield, Massachusetts, college.
COVID-19 made showcases and elite travel teams that much more valuable because the virus led to the cancellation of the 2020 high school baseball season in Connecticut. American Legion baseball has 53 teams in towns throughout the state, and its games remain as a standard destination for scouts seeking players and players looking to get noticed.
There’s definitely some gap where kids don’t get the love they deserve.
– Alex Denoyelle, Springfield College baseball scout
Denoyelle noted that there are situations where athletes who only play high school ball fail to get noticed, even though their talent should have warranted a look from scouts.
“There’s definitely some gap where kids don’t get the love they deserve,” Denoyelle said.
David Stimpson Sr. is the president of the South Meriden Youth Baseball League in Meriden, Connecticut. He also is a coach and the father of three young players.
Stimpson Sr. praised American Legion baseball, and highlighted its importance for athletes as they get older.
“Legion ball is where you want to be when you’re 17 or 18 (years old),” Stimpson Sr. said.
Ed DiPersio, of Meriden, is retired and spends his time as a part-time scout for the San Diego Padres.
Stimpson’s son, David Jr., has been working with DiPersio and D-BATS since he was 13 years old.
“Ed found me when I was 13, I topped out at 75 or 76 (mph when pitching), he took down all my info and ever since then I’ve been working with him,” Stimpson Jr. said.
He added that one of the benefits of showcases is that scouts are there with the sole intention of recruiting players for college ball. Scouts are also seeing players taking more reps at the plate, in the field or on the pitching mound than they would in a game.
“The college scouts are there for one reason at a showcase to recruit, at a game they don’t get to see how consistent you are and they might not even be there,” Stimpson Jr. said.
He added that another benefit of showcases is that scouts get to see a player take reps at multiple positions. At this showcase, scouts observed Stimpson Jr. as he practiced drills, including fielding ground balls at shortstop and third base, throwing across the diamond to first base, turning double plays with the second baseman, pitching and hitting.
“During a game, I could be at shortstop the whole time and only get one ball hit to me. That’s not enough data for a scout to work with,” Stimpson Jr. added. “Here, I get to field at least a minimum of two (repetitions) for each drill that they have us run, and these drills are meant to show (the scouts) our versatility.”
Stimpson Jr. said he appreciates the variability in fielding tasks.
“They have me doing a wide range of plays, from routine grounders, to line drives, to backhands, to double-plays,” he explained.
Stimpson Jr. praised DiPersio for his commitment to working with local youth ballplayers and helping guide them towards a successful career at the highest levels of the game.
“Mr. D. has been doing this for, like, 50 years, helping out young athletes like myself,” Stimpson Jr. said.
One of the many young athletes who attended DiPersio’s camps nearly a decade ago was Matt Batten. DiPersio used his connections to land Batten a scholarship on Quinnipiac University’s baseball team, a NCAA Division I program in Hamden, Connecticut. Batten became the all-time leader in both hits and stolen bases for the Bobcats and is now playing in the Padres’ farm system, thanks, perhaps, again to DiPersio’s role as scout for the National League team.
Another feature that D-BATS offers is state–of-the-art technology to pinpoint weaknesses and develop tactics to improve. A hit-tracking machine is one such device. It analyzes the velocity of the ball of the bat, the launch angle and other metrics that reveal attributes such as power. Software calculates where a ball would land and predicts the outcome of contact.
Scouts use that data as well as the “eye-test” – seeing a player compete – when determining recommendations to college coaches or pro teams.
A LEGION OF ATHLETES
There are several teams located throughout Connecticut that play as part of the Legion circuit. Post 88 is the Hamden-based Legion team. Luke Devoe, coach of Hamden’s Post 88 team, said that he enjoys coaching American Legion baseball because he feels it is the best compromise between playing for a hometown team and playing against the highest possible level of competition.
“Coaching Legion baseball has offered players the ability to play at an elite level against strong competition while still being able to represent their hometown,” Devoe said.
The American Legion incorporated a baseball league beginning in 1925. One of the major proponents of such a league was Major John L. Griffith, who was also commissioner of what would come to be known as the Big Ten. The American Legion became the first program anywhere in the world that offered a national baseball tournament for teenagers.
Devoe added that there are many options outside of expensive AAU teams that have changed the landscape of the game in many ways. For one, AAU’s reputation as the best of the best no longer holds true.
“This watering down of the AAU brand has diminished what was once a dominant market but also added more challenges in retaining kids at a town/travel level,” Devoe said.
Stimpson Sr. described another situation in which connections with a personal development coach helped to advance an athlete’s career. Stimpson’s daughter, Ashley, had worked for years with Paul Cambra, the owner of Ultimate Sports, a training facility in Wallingford, Connecticut. Cambra had developed a long-standing relationship with Marlon Hidalgo, the head coach of the Cheshire Flames, a travel softball team. When Hidalgo reached out to Cambra asking if he knew of any first basemen to try out for a roster spot on the Flames, Cambra arranged for Ashley to try out for the Flames, and she earned the roster spot.
THE GRIND PAYS OFF
Jake MacKenzie is a Wallingford native who attended the private prep school Choate Rosemary Hall in that town, played college baseball at Fordham and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Boston Red Sox in 2020.
“Ever since I met him, his main goal has been getting me into college. And, that’s the main goal of a lot of these travel teams.”
– Jake MacKenzie, Wallingford resident, former Fordham baseball player, currently in the Boston Red Sox farm system
MacKenzie credited his time with the Connecticut Grind for his development, and said his coach, Matt Untiet, worked to secure his position on Fordham’s roster due to his relationship with the New York school’s coaching staff.
“I’ve been working with him (Untiet) from probably 14 to 16, which are the main years for getting recruited,” MacKenzie said. “Ever since I met him, his main goal has been getting me into college. And, that’s the main goal of a lot of these travel teams.”
And it’s not just any college. It’s a Division I school with a long and storied tradition in baseball.
“Without him, it would have been really tough for me to go and play Division I at Fordham,” MacKenzie added. “He really facilitated a relationship with many of those coaches.”
The landscape of amateur baseball continues to change with personal coaches, elite travel teams and player development camps joining more traditional paths such as high school and American Legion baseball. Add analytics and sophisticated software to the mix and it becomes clear that the old days of learning to play on the sandlot are now in the distant past.