Players are not permitted to wear travel team uniforms (including hats) or any clothing with their names on it. Sweats/shorts, a t-shirt and other than a PLAY hat is fine. Players will be given a number when they check in for the tryout. Batting helmets with a PL sticker may be used. Parents are not allowed to watch the tryouts. Parents may help their player get checked in at Starters or the Savage Dome but must then exit the lobby area. Hitting, Pitching & Catching Tryouts will be held at: Starters Sports Training 1698 Vierling Drive East Shakopee, MN, 55379 952-233-7378 (Hwy 169 & Marschall Road) Points to note: Please do not attempt to check-in prior to the player s designated check-in time. If you arrive early, please wait in the parking lot until the listed check-in time. There will be volunteers assisting players in and out of the building. Age appropriate Metro Baseball League (MBL) compliant bats need to be used during the hitting portion (see www.mbl.bz for bat regulations). Each player must bring a completed and signed Player Commitment Agreement form to the tryout (can be found under the 2018 Tryout Details link on the website. Each player must bring a $250 check made out to P.L.A.Y. with for their volunteer deposit. This volunteer deposit must be turned in as part of the tryout process. Infield, Outfield & Running Speed Tryouts will be held at: Savage Sports Dome 13450 Dakota Ave Savage, MN 55378 Points to note: Due to limited space, parents may not remain in the dome lobby during tryouts. All players at each age will be evaluated by paid evaluators contracted by Starters Sports Training. Coach/Board volunteers from our program will also be used to catch balls, feed the ball machine, throw to catchers and to record running times. These volunteers are not involved in the evaluation of players and do not have a player at the age level during which they volunteer. Updated: March 8, 2018 Page 1 of 5
Tryout Evaluation Components P.L.A.Y. Travel Baseball Players in ages 10u-13u will be evaluated on the following baseball skills: 1. Hitting 2. Infield 3. Outfield 4. Situational Fielding 5. Pitching 6. Running Speed 7. Catching Required for 9u and 10u. Optional for 11u 13u (but expected of all players who hope to play Catcher during the season). Not used in the overall player ranking but used for team balance during team selection. Players in ages 14u-15u will be evaluated on the following baseball skills: 1. Hitting 2. Fielding / Defense 3. Running Speed For the Fielding / Defense Part of the Tryout each player will choose 3 of the following 6 areas to count for their overall score: 1. Middle Infield 2. 1 st Base 3. 3 rd Base 4. Outfield 5. Pitching 6. Catching Note: All players will participate in the infield and outfield stations at the dome. Only players who choose Pitcher or Catcher will participate in those stations at Starters. When evaluation scores are compiled, only scores from each player s three selected positions will count towards their overall score. The information listed below explains the tryout process. Please note that each player will have approximately 15 minutes to warm up and practice before the tryout begins. FIELDING / DEFENSE For each Fielding area evaluated the score will be comprised of two components Mechanics and Throwing. The scoring range and categories within each component are shown below. Technique and Footwork Accuracy and Arm Strength Updated: March 8, 2018 Page 2 of 5
The tryout set-up for each Defensive position are summarized below. Infield / Middle Infield: (Players will rotate from 1B to running 2 runners, to SS) The player will be positioned at Shortstop. He will receive 2 warm-up ground balls and 6 evaluated ground balls. All throws will be made to 1B. He will field one ball to his left, one to his right, one directly at him and one slow roller in front of him. The last two ground balls will be right at him with a batter running from home to first base. 1 st Base: (Players will rotate from 3B to P, to 2B to 1B) The player will first catch 2 balls thrown to him from 2B and 3B. The throw from 3B will be intended to be a throw in the dirt that he will have to scoop or come off the bag to field. He will then have 3 ground balls hit to him: the first 2 he will throw to 3B, the third one will be hit to his right requiring him to the throw to the Pitcher covering 1B. He will then field a bunt and throw to the 2B covering 1B. 3 rd Base: (Players will rotate from 1B to 2B to 3B) The player will receive 2 warm-up ground balls and 6 evaluated ground balls. He will have 2 balls hit to his left that he will need to field and throw to 1B. He will then have 2 balls hit slowly right at him that he will need to charge and throw to 1B. He will then have 1 ball hit fairly hard at him that he will throw to 2B to start a Double Play. The final ball will be a bunt (the fungo hitter will roll the ball) which he will need to charge and throw to 1B. Outfield: The player will receive 2 warm-up fly balls, 6 evaluated fly balls and 1 ground ball and will make throws to a target. He will field 2 balls going back to his left, 2 going back to his right and 2 going straight back. The ground ball straight will be hit right at him with a throw to the target. SITUATIONAL FIELDING The scoring range and categories are shown below. The Overall score will reflect performance in the following categories: Mechanics, Footwork and Defensive Acumen (does the player go to the right spot based on the situation?) Each player will be evaluated on game type situations on two different fields. At each field, two positions will be evaluated. Players will not be notified which two positions are being evaluated at each field. They will all play and be scored while playing 1 st Base, 2 nd Base, 3 rd Base and Shortstop. During each position they will encounter 3 different controlled hitting situations with live runners. Each tryout participant will encounter the same scenarios as all other tryout participants. Players will be evaluated on their ability to make the correct game decisions that they would be expected to make during an actual game. Situations will be generic enough to allow for those who do not usually play one of these four positions regularly. Evaluators will be looking at the overall player actions during each situation, these evaluated actions will include: Was appearance, position, and readiness good? Did player have good footwork? Did player make good decisions upon contact? Did player defend the position successfully? Did player field his position correctly when hit to outfield? Updated: March 8, 2018 Page 3 of 5
RUNNING SPEED Each player will run from home to first base. After everyone has made the run to first each player will then run from first base to third base. Bases will be set at age-appropriate distances (per MBL rules). Then everyone will run a final sprint at the following distances: 9u-12u = 40 yard dash; 13u-15u = 60-yard dash. Times will be recorded to the nearest hundredth of a second. The total time will be recorded as their Running Speed. All speeds will then be ranked from fastest to slowest, the Fastest 10% of players in the age group will receive a score of 10, the next 10% will receive a score of 9 and so on. HITTING For each Hitting station evaluated the score will be comprised of two components Contact and Mechanics. The scoring range and categories within each component are shown below. The Contact score will reflect overall performance for all swings made: (well hit balls w/ power) (line drives) (hard hit ground balls / hard hit fly balls) (pop ups or weak grounder) Marginal Contact (ticks, foul backs) 0 No Contact Stance, Balance, Use of Lower Body, Bat Speed/Timing/Control Each player will be able to warm up with tee work and soft toss before the tryout begins. He will then move into the first evaluation cage and receive 2 warm-up pitches. The player will then have a minimum of seven (7) live pitches to swing at (underhand soft toss, from a standing position, from a distance of approximately 15-20 feet). Once the player is finished in the first cage he will move into the second batting cage. The player will then have 2 warm-up pitches and a minimum of seven (7) live pitches to swing at (overhand toss, from a seated position, from a distance of approximately 25-30 feet). In the event any pitch is unhittable in the judgement of the evaluator and/or pitcher in either of the above stations, No Pitch! will be called and that pitch/result will be disregarded. Players will then proceed to the third HitTrax cage where each player will hit five (5) baseballs off the tee to record baseball exit velocity using Hit Trax technology. This data will be recorded solely as a data point for head coaches to see during team selection and is not included in a player s overall tryout score. Updated: March 8, 2018 Page 4 of 5
PITCHING Mechanics and Balance Accuracy and Arm Strength Each player will have 8 warm-up pitches from the first mound that are not scored. He will then move to the second mound and have 8 pitches that will be scored. Players will be throwing to a target. Players can throw from either the wind-up or stretch, whatever they feel the most comfortable with. Players at 13u and older will be asked to throw off-speed pitches of their choosing for pitches #6-8. CATCHING Receiving and Blocking Footwork, Accuracy and Arm Strength Each player will be scored receiving 3 pitches (9u-10u) or 5 pitches (11u-15u) from a ball machine. They will then be scored receiving 3 pitches and making throws to a target representing 2 nd base. Finally, they will be scored blocking 3 pitched balls (tennis balls will be thrown). We will have catcher s equipment available, though players are encouraged to bring their own if applicable. Note (9u-13u): The catching scores WILL NOT be used in the player s overall total score. They will be used to ensure we balance the AA and A rosters with comparably skilled catchers. Updated: March 8, 2018 Page 5 of 5