Over the next two weekends, some of the top high school junior baseball players from around the state are hoping to pique the interest of pro scouts and college coaches.
This weekend at Stevenson High School, 175 players will compete in the fifth annual Northwest Suburban Baseball Tournament. Eight conferences–including the North Suburban, led by Tribune second-team All-Staters Teddy Ogilvie of Stevenson and Clay Kovac of Mundelein–will field an all-star squad of their most talented juniors.
“Remember when you were in college, fixing up two of your friends, hoping they’d get married?” tournament director Harvey Foster said. “Well I’m trying to make a marriage between the college coaches and the players. But this is just the first date.”
Foster anticipates more than 100 talent evaluators from collegiate and pro levels will watch the four nine-inning games to be played on both Saturday and Sunday beginning at 10 a.m.
“The college coaches get to see the best hitters against the best pitchers,” Foster said. “A guy might bat cleanup for his team but find himself in the eighth spot for this tournament, and he will face at the very worst a school’s No. 2 pitcher.”
Meanwhile the C.F. Swingtown Baseball Academy expects the participants in its Illinois Baseball Showcase June 22-23 to get exposure to more than 75 coaches and scouts from the next level.
Teams from the SICA, Catholic, Public and Suburban Prairie conferences will play each other and squads from western, central and southern Illinois for a total of 12 games over two days at University of Illinois-Chicago.
Like the Northwest Suburban tournament, there is no cost to participate.
“The kids don’t pay and the scouts love it, because the most talented players, not just players who can afford it, are selected to play,” said Mike Kelley, general manager and one of Swingtown’s four owners.
Awards banquet: The 20 scholar-athletes, as well as the nine athletes of the month and 16 outstanding achievement award winners will be honored at the fifth annual Awards Dinner for Outstanding Student Athletes Wednesday at the Hotel InterContinental. The Athlete of the Year will be announced at the end of the evening. The event, co-sponsored by the Tribune and WGN-Ch. 9, will feature Illinois-Chicago men’s basketball coach Jimmy Collins as guest speaker.
Hockey news: Although the start of the high school hockey season is four months away, two leagues already have made changes for 2002-23. The Chicago Catholic Hockey League has added Benet and Montini to its roster, bringing the number of varsity teams to 10.
The Metro North, too, is expanding with the creation of a third New Trier varsity team. New Trier White will compete with New Trier Blue in the 11-team Metro North, while five-time defending state champ New Trier Green once again skates as an independent.
The Metro North also wants to schedule crossover games with the Metro West, Metro Northwest and Metro Central.
