Baseball's summer showcase season opens

For a player like Lachance — who already two college offers, one from the NCAA Division I program at Saint Mary’s College, and another from the Division III program at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon — Friday’s appearance was a chance to gain even more exposure. But for Scatena and Burlingame outfielder Dylan Kall, who are still looking for their first college offers, the showcase is their first best opportunity of the summer to open some doors.

“Hats off to [Scatena],” Lachance said. “I feel like he’s someone who’s really underrated on the Peninsula and in the Bay Area. … I’ve played with him for three or four years now so to see him develop into what we’ve seen tonight. … It’s good to see all his hard work unfold, especially with all those college coaches in the stands.”’

Over 30 scouts were in attendance Friday at River Islands Field, mostly college coaches.

There are several concurrent showcase events in the area to choose from. Alpha Baseball is holding its showcase at Stockton’s Banner Island Ballpark Friday through Sunday. And Many Division I scouts will be buzzing about the Norcal World Series showcase at Klein Family Field in Stockton, where Woodside left-hander Henry Pelzman is scheduled to pitch this weekend.

The Bay Area World Series showcase — celebrating its 20th anniversary — features nine teams, including a Peninsula squad with players from Aragon, Burlingame, Crystal Springs, Hillsdale, Serra and Sequoia. Peninsula’s Friday opponent South Bay featured players from Sacred Heart Prep. 

“We’ve got 30-plus scouts here to watch the kids,” said Blaine Clemmens, Bay Area World Series Showcase founder and director. “So, my job is to put enough talent on the field in an event like this, at a place like this, that those 30 people want to show up to see these kids who are looking to get recruited.”

The two Serra players — Noah Greenspan and Sammy Rivas — looked comfortable motoring around the bases in the early innings of the eight-inning showcase. In the first inning, Rivas stole second base and took third on an opportunistic tag-up play on a fly ball to right-center. In the third, Greenspan scored on an RBI single by Crystal’s Sam Young, who later came around to score when Rivas pounded a triple over the right fielder’s glove.

The scouting exposure for a player like Young, who plays at a small school like Crystal, the showcase circuit is paramount.

“It’s awesome for the smaller school guys because they don’t usually get to play in front of a lot of scouts like this,” said one Division I coach.

The highlight of the game was a defensive gem at third base by Makai Susor, who recently finished his junior year at St. Ignatius. The San Francisco native is one of seven players from the CIF Northern California Division II champion Wildcats on the Peninsula squad, and he stole the show in the bottom of the sixth to get an out with Scatena on the mound, backhanding a hard two-hopper with an olé play and a laser throw across the infield.

“I’m uncommitted, so for me this showcase is just a great place to show my talents,” Susor said. “We’ve got a bunch of S.I. guys on the team, so it’s just fun to play with my friends.”

The showcase in invaluable to smaller colleges as well, such as the Division III program at Claremont McKenna, where the field of recruits is narrowed by the strict academic standards.

“It kind of opens you up to 80 players that you didn’t know about before,” Claremont McKenna coach Quinn Heiner said.

Sequoia left-hander Ian Holt pitched the second inning of the game. Hilldale’s Jake Belloni and Josh Mayol were in the starting lineup, with Mayol raking a single to right field.

“Every batter gets to bat and play in nine games,” Clemmens said. “So, the first day you shake some nerves out, you come back tomorrow and do batting practice and play another game … and be comfortable to be who you are. It can be a tough environment for some kids to be in front of coaches and scouts that haven’t been and are all pressing to get college notoriety, and that’s what they’re working hard to do. So, we’re here to help them achieve their dreams.”