Do You Have What it Takes to Play Ball in College?

I ran into Glen Ellyn resident Mike Stout a few weeks ago at the annual Northwest Suburban Baseball Tournament held at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.

The tourney features all-star teams that consists of seniors from various suburban conferences who’ll be graduating in the spring of 2012.

Mike attended the tournament because his youngest son, Chris, who’ll be a senior this fall at Benet Academy, was a member of the East Suburban Catholic squad.

Given the plethora of talent gathered at this venue, coaches representing every Midwest college and university imaginable were on hand—with notebooks, JUGS speed guns and stop watches in hand—in search of players who might be a good fit for their particular team.

I spotted coaches sporting caps from, for example, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (and SIU Edwardsville), Bradley, Michigan State, Missouri, Indiana State, Wright State, St. Olaf, Valparasio, Beloit, Concordia and Carthage. Coaches from schools closer to home, such as North Central College, Aurora University, Benedictine University and Elmhurst College also were on hand.

Mike’s oldest son, Eric, graduated from St. Francis in June following a stellar baseball career. (Eric also played basketball for the Spartans.) was the pitching ace at St. Francis, which enjoyed its best season in school history this past spring and advanced to the Class 3A supersectionals.

Butler University, better known for its nationally acclaimed men’s basketball team, recruited Eric to pitch for its baseball team next spring.

During our conversation, Mike and I got around to talking about all the coaches I noticed scouting the tournament. Mike has observed first-hand his son being recruited by Butler and other schools, and he made an interesting point about the recruiting process that caught my attention.

“Even when you don’t think they (college coaches) are watching you, they are,” Mike said.

High effort, high energy needed

Joel Southern, the head baseball coach at Elmhurst College, and Ed Zeifert, an assistant coach at Benedictine University, were among the coaches scouting the event. I asked them about Mike’s observation and both agreed they are always looking for a little something “extra” that makes a player stand out.

“Absolutely,” said Zeifert, an infield/hitting coach with the Eagles who joined the staff before the 2008 season. “One of the things we talk about all the time is character. And there are always things that can turn us off pretty quickly.

“I have a buddy who coaches at a community college in the region, and he says, ‘One of the things I always tell my kids is you never know who’s watching. It’s easy for someone to write ‘no’ next to your name.’ And it is. It’s super easy.” 

Southern, who completed his fifth season at Elmhurst in May, said he and his staff are “always evaluating” potential recruits.

“We’re looking for guys that are going to bust their butts,” he said, “whether you’re No. 1 on the roster or No. 30 on the roster.”

Pitchers rarely catch popups, but Southern says he takes note when a pitcher does make an effort to catch a foul popup.

“I love to see a pitcher bust his butt on a foul popup,” he said. “It tells you something about that player. If I have to tell you to hustle, then you probably don’t have the passion and the motivation we need.”

Generally speaking, coaches such as Zeifert and Southern are looking for college-ready players, whether they’re pitchers or position players.

“We want a guy who understands how to play the game aggressively,” Zeifert said. “We’re not in to (a player) sitting back and being flat-footed. I want to see a kid with high energy and high effort.

“I want him to have some presence. How does he react to success? How does he react to failure? I want a kid that’s ready to play. I want a kid who comes in as a freshman and is ready to challenge my juniors that have started for two years.”

“We’re looking for guys who can play,” Southern added. “We have to make some pretty quick decisions on whether a guy can play for us. Do we make mistakes (evaluating players)? Sure. But you’d be surprised how often we’re right.

“Can a guy move well? Is he fluid? Does he have athleticism? I like guys that are athletic and are going to be coachable. In the outfield, can he track a fly ball?”

And what does Southern look for in a hitter?

“I don’t look so much at the minute details and mechanics,” he replied. “The (baseball) Hall of Fame is full of people who hit a bunch of different ways. Can the guy hit? Can he get the barrel (of the bat) on the ball? And you have to be able to identify pitches.”

Recruiting season never ends

Every college baseball program has different ways of doing things, but one thing remains constant, especially in regards to Division III programs like Elmhurst and Benedictine:

Recruiting is an ongoing process.

Both Elmhurst and Benedictine staffs are wrapping up recruiting players from the just-graduated Class of 2011 for next spring. They’ve now turned their attention to the Class of 2012; hence the large turnout of coaches at events such as the Northwest Suburban Baseball Tournament.

“I don’t think you’re ever done recruiting,” Zeifert said. “We’re just trying to get better. And you’re never, ever done looking for arms (pitchers). I’d have nine guys throwing 90 or 92 (mph) and I’d want 10.”

Southern explains that there is a 2½-week stretch from late June into early July where there are, in his words, “A ton of scouting events that we feel we have to do” around Illinois and the Midwest.

Zeifert concurs.

“There are events in the summer; there are summer teams playing constantly,” Zeifert said. “There’s fall events and showcases; there’s winter events and showcases. And then the high school season is in the spring.”

NCAA rules prohibit schools from making direct contact with a recruit from the incoming high school senior class—i.e., by phone, e-mail or a face-to-face meeting—until July 1. (Schools were only allowed to send correspondence to recruits by mail prior to July 1.)

Now that the July 1 date has passed, it’s all systems go. When classes resume in the fall, Elmhurst College and Benedictine University will start bringing recruits they have pinpointed to their respective schools for on-campus visits.

Southern estimates he conducts more than 100 separate on-campus visits with recruits each year.

“Once a visit is done,” he said, “you have a pretty good feel whether they have a high interest (in attending) or not at least 50 percent of the time.”

Although determining whether or not a recruit can play at the college level, and is a good fit for the team, are Jobs 1 and 1A for coaches, it’s important that recruits also have a track record of success in the classroom.

Division III schools don’t offer athletic scholarships and often have more stringent admissions requirements than Division I or Division II schools, which do offer scholarships. Thus, Division III coaches pay close attention to a recruit’s academic benchmarks such as his ACT score and overall grade-point average.

“We may be in love with a player, and he may have no brains,” Zeifert said. “We’re not in an academic institution where that works. Other academic institutions, it may.

“For us, it’s about, ‘Can you play? Is he going to be successful at our university? Can he walk out of our institution with a degree?'

“If he has a 16 (ACT score) and a 2.01 (GPA), we’re probably going to stay off that kid.”

Therefore, if you’re an aspiring prep baseball player who desires to take his game to the next level, take it from these coaches: You have to make the grade on the field—and off.

And remember: They’re watching you, even when you think they’re not.