Showcases give exposure, bring in dollars

For the second consecutive weekend, Fort Scott Community College's baseball team is hosting a showcase event at Dave Regan Stadium and Lions Field here and JayCee Ball Park in Pittsburg beginning Thursday morning. There will be 27 teams from six states, including the Kansas Indians, the summer team that represents Fort Scott. Teams participating will come from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska and Texas.

Games begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at Dave Regan Stadium and Lions Field and at noon in Pittsburg. The Kansas Indians are scheduled to play at 10 a.m. and 12:15 Thursday, first against Mac-N-Seitz Jackson, then versus Sluggers Red. They will also play at 3:45 p.m. Friday versus Sluggers Blue, and 9 a.m. Saturday against 417 Baseball III. All four games will be played at Dave Regan Stadium.

FSCC hosted a similar event last weekend at all three sites.

"Last weekend was a successful weekend of baseball in numerous aspects," FSCC head coach John Hill III said. "All 52 games were played in spite of morning rain occurring on two of the four mornings, causing only one delay on Lions Field. After four hours of raking and field work, the FSCC coaching staff got the field ready and the five scheduled games were played with only a slight delay."

Hill also pointed out the economic impact of last week's event, with this weekend's event expected to provide a similar boost.

"Twenty-six teams from four states came to Fort Scott to play and many stayed two or three days in local hotels and ate in local establishments while purchasing gas locally," Hill said. "The players on the teams had the opportunity to play in front at least 17 different colleges with coaches in attendance to give them opportunities to be recruited.

"Fort Scott Community College had over 285 prospective students play on its campus in addition to those students' families attending games. All in all, the weekend was a win-win-win for the community, the college and for the kids playing in the tournament."

Fifty-six games are on schedule for this weekend. Each team is scheduled to play four games. This is not a tournament, so no champion will be declared. The purpose of the showcase is "for kids to be seen playing in front of college coaches," according to Hill.

Hill said he personally saw coaches from Wichita State University, the University of Missouri, Baker University, Pittsburg State, Missouri Southern, Washburn, Emporia State, Drury, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Neosho County, Independence, Coffeyville, Butler, Barton, Hutchinson and Cowley College in addition to his own staff.

The teams will have mostly players of 17 or 18 years of age but a few of them will have 16-year-olds.