A video is one of the most effective way of getting college coaches to notice you. Your video can be posted free of charge on West Penn Baseball Prospects' website. There is also no charge for college coaches to view the videos, so you are sure of getting maximum exposure.

The video does not need to be fancy. There are instructions on the website (see Making Videos)if you plan to make your own video. If you would rather have someone else do it we are aware of four people or places to have them done.

Dan Alderson, former head coach at Chartiers-Houston, makes videos for players. You can contact him at alderson@pulsenet.com.

Two of the local baseball schools also do videos. Check out All American Baseball Center (www.allamericanbaseballcenter.com) or the Bianco School Baseball (www.biancobaseball.com) and call them for more information. You do not have to be a "student" at either facility to have a video made.

We also understand that Julie Barancho in the Seneca Valley area does sports videos. Check out her website at www.treasure-your-photos.com and give her a call if you're interested.

If your high school has made a video for you, also be sure to send it to me for posting on the website. This will maximize your exposure. DVDs can be sent to Tony Villiotti, 63 Stancey Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15220

One of the difficult things about planning the All-Star Weekend for each year is that there is no "supporting cast" to form committees and the like, as there is with the typical baseball booster organization. The membership of the WBCA, of course, is comprised of the area's baseball coaches and they are all caught up in their own teams and seasons while the planning is taking place. Parental involvement is not practical because the All-Star teams are not selected until around the second week of May and by that time it is too late to look for volunteers.

The point of all this is that if you or someone you know might be interested in becoming an ongoing part of All-Star Weekend please contact me at wpabaseball@hotmail.com. We could use help in any number of areas (including both large and small tasks) ranging from helping with the large number of phone calls required, to writing press releases, to finding sponsors, to putting together the Game Program, etc etc. If interested get in touch with me and we can discuss it in more detail.

The Pennsylvania Coaches Clinic is hosting a golf outing on Saturday, July 17 (starts at noon) at the Apollo Elks Country Club. They are now accepting registrations for 4-man teams, hole sponsorships and prize donations. If you want to have a good time while supporting local youth baseball and softball, please consider attending. Registration forms are available at http://www.pacoachesclinic.com/.

The proceeds from the outing will benefit WPIAL All-Star Weekend, High School baseball and softball programs and Youth Associations and Organizations. For more information call Zach Jankowski at 727-787-8707 or 724-567-1727.

Here are a few upcoming events, none of which have any association with West Penn Baseball Prospects:

June 24 -- Dee Dee Osborne Showcase at Roxbury Complex in Johnstown, PA . Call 814-539-2421 for information

June 29/30 All-Star Baseball Academy Camp in Indiana, PA, Cost is $250, Go to www.allstarbaseballacademy.com for information

July 27/28 DeMarini Top 96 Camp at University of Pittsburgh, Cost is $395. Go to www.top96.com for more information

I just wanted to highlight the top performances at this year's Showcase. Here are the top 5 finishers (plus ties) in each of the measurables;

60 Yards

• Taylor Schmidt, North Hills     6.58 (Event record: Harry Austin, North Allegheny 6.50 2005)
• Jason Shirley, Norwin            6.79
• Brett Alberti, Blackhawk          6.90
• Brad Collier, Seneca Valley     6.90
• Luke Horew, Chartiers Valley  6.99

Pitcher Velocity

• Johnny Rossi, Center         90 MPH (New event record)
• Adam Dian, Vincentian        86
• Ryan Minter, Peters             86
• Logan Urtz, Center             86
• Tyler Dean, Mars                85
• Joey Poerio, Hampton         85

Catcher Pop

• Cody Gaertner, North Allegheny  1.88 (Event Record: Jordan Jankowski, Peters & Matt Kirkwood, New Castle 1.87, 2007)
• Matt Rubino, Hopewell               1.93
• Jon O'Neill, Chartiers Valley        1.95
• Dan Powell, Central Catholic       1.95
• Royce Kranz, Riverside              2.01

Outfield Throws

• Dan Petrella, Montour             89 MPH (Event Record: Gus Benusa, Riverview 91 MPH, 2008)
• Nathan Junk, Knoch                88
• Taylor Schmidt, North Hills       88
• Brice Nikithser, North Allegh     87
• Johnny Beatty, Mohawk           85
• William O'Block, Plum             85

Infield Throws

• Logan Urtz, Center                84 MPH (Event Record: Derrik Zeroski, West Allegheny 90 MPH, 2007)
• Matt Rubino, Hopewell           84
• Ryan Finnegan, Riverside       83
• Cayman Hoggard, Riverview   83
• Michael Fulton, Penn Hills       82
• Luke Horew, Chartiers Valley   82

Well, All-Star Weekend is over and everyone involved was breathing a big sigh of relief because of the weather. The All-Star banquet was held on Friday night at the Airport Marriott and was attended by about 250 people. Randy Cosgrove did his usual great job as Master of Ceremonies and Scott Stricklin delivered a great message as our Guest Speaker. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The Underclassmen Showcase was held on Saturday and, apart from about 15 minutes of rain, went off without a hitch. 123 players performed in front of representatives from 65 colleges and about ten professional teams. There was one milestone achievement during the Showcase as Johnny Rossi of Center High School became the first player in our six year history to hit 90 MPH from the pitchers mound. Taylor Schmidt of North Hills High School was the fastest player at the Showcase, running a 6.58 60.

The All-Star doubleheader was played on Sunday with Class AA defeating Class A and Class AAA beating Class AAAA. Evan Chiapetta of Beaver Falls and Dillon Haviland of South Fayette were selected as Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Pitcher, respectively. Kevin Welsh of Hopewell and Ethan Mildren of Laurel Highlands earned the same honors in the nightcap.

Many thanks go out to all who helped make the weekend a success. Special thanks to Mark Saghy for all of his hard work in planning and holding the weekend. We also want to thank Ibistek, Louisville Slugger, BWP Bats, Worth and The Game for their support, with the special thanks to Robert Kaschak and Todd Schiffhauer. We also thank the Pirates for their financial assistance. The game program also listed Black Bear Fundraising as providing financial assistance, but they never did provide that support.

I get questions from players and parents regarding which Showcases they should attend. As I’m sure many of you have learned by now, you can spend a small (or even large) fortune traveling around the country attending the many showcases and camps that are available to high school players. Whether it is worth a lot of money to attend multiple events is another question. It never hurts to attend as many events as you can, but there is a real question as to whether they are good values.

Since the ultimate goal of attending the showcases is to be seen by college coaches, I asked a number of college coaches what showcases they typically attend. This included a variety of schools (all in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Michigan) across all three levels of NCAA schools.

The Division 1 colleges with strong academic reputations tend to prefer showcases that are geared to the top academic kids. One college mentioned that they never miss the Head First Honor Roll camps  (http://www.headfirsthonorroll.com/). DeMarini also runs academic camps (http://www.top96.com/) that have received mention. Stanford’s camps were also mentioned by these schools. In addition, several coaches have banded together to form GPA Baseball  (http://www.gpabaseball.com/) which also has an academic bent.

Other events mentioned by Division 1 coaches were Area Code tryouts, East Coast Professional tryouts and Perfect Game. Some eastern coaches also mentioned Select Fest, an invitation only camp in New Jersey (http://www.selectfestbaseball.org/) and the All-Star Baseball Academy camp in eastern Pennsylvania (http://www.allstarbaseballacademy.com/college_showcase_series.cfm). All-Star Baseball Academy will also be running a camp in Indiana, PA at the end of June.

A number of the Ohio schools and some western Pennsylvania schools mentioned several Ohio showcases as ones they typically attend. These showcases are the Buckeye Elite showcase, the Buckeye Scout showcase and the Walsh Jesuit Showcase (also known as the Showcase for the Cure). I contacted each of them to ask if their events were open to western Pennsylvania players and received no response.

Local Division II and III schools tend to favor the local showcases, as they primarily recruit in their geographic area. Other than the Ohio showcases mentioned in the preceding paragraphs the following showcases received mentions, with the number of mentions in parentheses, from local and semi-local colleges: WPBP/WPIAL Showcase (10), Ed Santa Showcase (6), Legion tryouts (3), WPEBL Scout’s Day (2), Keystone Game Tryouts (1), Dee Dee Osborne Showcase (1).   

If you have any comments on showcase feel free to add them or email me at wpabaseball@hotmail.com

Quad A

North Allegheny vs Pine-Richland 6:00 Burkett Field

Triple A

Moon vs Elizabeth-Forward 3:30 Burkett Field

Hopewell vs Hershey 3:00 Veterans Field in Altoona

Double A

Burrell vs Mount Union 4:30 White Township Park in Indiana

Single A

Serra vs Mercyhurst Prep 4:00 Neshannock HS in New Castle

Class A

Serra vs Bishop Guilfoyle 4:00 at Seton Hill University

Neshannock vs Homer Center 4:00 at White Park (Indiana)

California vs Elk County Catholic 4:30 at Brockway

Class AA

Beaver Falls vs Martinsburg Central 4:00 at Chippewa Twp

Burrell vs Sharpsville 1:00 at Slippery Rock University

Bishop Canevin vs Mount Union 4:00 at Veterans Field in Altoona

Class AAA

Hopewell vs Punsxutawney 4:00 at Burkett Sports Complex

Moon vs Perry 2:00 at Burkett Sports Complex

Elizabeth-Forward vs Corry 6:30 at Jerry Uht Park in Erie

Class AAAA

Pine-Richland vs Allderdice 4:00 at Shaler

North Allegheny vs State College 5:00 at Shaner Complex in Centre Hall