SBT features talent from around state

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

JOLIET -- More than 60 college coaches and professional scouts descended on Plainfield South High School's baseball diamonds Saturday.

Crowding around fences, pointing radar guns and making the occasional note, each scout was getting an opportunity to view the state's best high school talent on the first day of the Suburban Baseball Tournament.

The SBT is a baseball showcase designed by former Lockport baseball coach Jim Hall to allow area players to compete with other top talent and get recognition from scouts as they prepare for their senior seasons.

"We have had over 60 scouts and hopefully we'll get more before the day is out," Hall said after the first round of games. "I think that getting kids exposure is the best thing we can do."

Hall said the first day went off without a hitch except for a little lack of cooperation from Mother Nature at the beginning of the day's games. Rain delayed the day for about 15 minutes.

"I'm happy with how everything is going so far and I hope that the parents are happy that their kids are getting showcased," Hall said.

Today is the second and final day of the tournament with games starting at 9:30 a.m.

Leaning over the green and yellow fence lining South's junior varsity field Saturday morning, University of Illinois- Chicago assistant coach Mike Nall spoke about what the showcase meant to his school.

"For us, to see this many kids in one place is really a great opportunity," said Nall, a pitching coach for UIC.

Nall has attended the SBT event before.

"We are here every year and every year there's usually one or two kids that we are able to get to come to our place out of this," he said.

The Flames have reaped much from recruiting area players.

"(The talent) has been good to us," he said. "We have won our conference the last seven years in a row."

The University of Michigan is a perennial Big Ten powerhouse and sent their assistant coach Matt Husted to the tournament to see if they could find talent to continue their program's tradition of winning.

"The Chicagoland area in general is very good," Husted said.

The coach then gave a run-down of what he was looking for from the athletes.

"We're looking at their speed, ability to hit, bat speed, arm strength, the way they field the ball and throwing arms," Husted said.

He went on to say the most important thing for a high school pitcher is the ability to throw strikes, "especially with their off-speed pitches."

The showcase offered scouts a chance to see how the high schoolers performed in a professional workout, which featured defensive, arm and speed tests.

Husted, Nall and other scouts will return to the diamonds today when the tournament concludes.