This is a show about people, baseball, culture, and how to create a winning lifestyle. This is the fifth episode of the Closing Pitch. Spiker Helms and David Birkby discuss how to develop and maintain your relationships. They use Mr.Rogers as a focal point for this discussion when creating relationships. Relationships help create a successful life in your personal and work life.
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This is a show about people, baseball, culture, and how to create a winning lifestyle. This is the first episode of the Closing Pitch. Spiker Helms and David Birkby explain what this show will discuss, their goals, and future content.
Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiker/id1308056021?mt=2
One big consideration when choosing a team vs a program is the winter training setup. I could speak endlessly on the experience and knowledge of our staff and go into depth on our philosophies, but I feel like the best way to explain our temp and rhythm is for you to experience it yourself by the posts below.
Steve Hacker Delivers Life Lesson About Evaluations
audio is not great on this video, turn up to listen
Med Ball Train
core strength, stability, team communication
Punching Bag Swings
Explosion Workouts With Pummel Balls
16U Players Gets 90 mph on Exit Velo with Wood
Clips Inside Winter Training
Learn More about what people are saying about our program. (Click Here)
We felt it would be a great idea to share a recruiting story. We know there are a lot of players who are trying to find their path towards college baseball, AND everyones reasoning is different based on their needs and wants. One of our interns, Todd, is going to share his story on how he reached college baseball. We know you will find value and a lesson or two in his story. This is not the only way or path to playing a college sport.
-Spiker
How I Got To Be Recruited, A Close Look On The Steps I Took
by: Todd Marshall
“I will be committing to Notre Dame College.”
Those words were the biggest relief for me as a baseball player because I never thought I would have gotten a baseball scholarship after 5 years of trying to be recruited.
My first ever baseball camp was in 8th grade when our team was able to do a Prep Baseball Report (PBR) for free. That was the first time I got my name out nationally, but it was not the last time. I would go to at least two to three camps every year hosted by Ohio University or Indiana State or Murray State because I liked both those schools the most. Obviously most baseball player’s dream is to go Division 1 and that was mine as well, but I knew schools like Vanderbilt or Clemson were not realistic.
After one camp my freshman year; Ohio University told me to get my fastball up to 85 then we can have a discussion. After that camp, I did not hear a word from them until right before I committed to my current school.
Indiana State was interested in other players and told me my fastball velocity needed to be higher for them to be interested.
Murray State told me that if they had more scholarships to give out, they would have worked out something with me.
When those schools told me that they wanted higher velocity on my fastball before they offered, it made me realize that I need to start looking at schools Division 2 and lower.
I always let my dad do the recruiting for me so I could focus on playing and performing, but he always made me ask questions and write letters to the head coaches. The funny thing about writing letters is that I always heard, “Handwritten letters show the head coach that you care about the school. Usually, they will respond immediately.” I did this, but never heard anything back.
So from 8th grade to Junior year spring, I had not heard a word from any college. My dad decided that this camp in Kansas would be my last camp to try to get recruited. So, I signed up for the pitching section of the camp. Little did I know, when I arrived on the showcase mound I was only given seven pitches to impress the college scouts.
Randomly during the early months of summer, I was at Burger King with my dad when I got a phone call from Hannibal, Missouri. I picked up and I said, “Hello.” The man on the other side of the phone call said, “Hi is this Todd? I am the head baseball coach at Hannibal LaGrange University and you impressed me at the camp in Kansas, do you have some time to talk?” Wow, I have never been more excited to talk on the phone for almost an hour. After that phone call, more college offers started coming in from Goshen College (from that camp), Capital University (pitched at their home field), Notre Dame College (pitched against the Grad Assistant’s team), and Ohio University (got a letter but declined).
If you have trouble getting college offers, make sure you continue to put your name out there whether it is on Twitter or go to camps. To get a better understanding of how to become the driver in your college recruiting, listen to The Closing Pitch (Episode 18, The Tactical Guide to Recruiting) on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Give this podcast a subscribe because this podcast is about people, culture, and how to create a winning lifestyle. Dave and Spiker also touch on topics that involves the baseball club scene.
Baseball is a game where even the best hitters fail about 70% of the time at the plate. Even your favorite MLB player has experienced a slump. There isn’t a specific remedy to get out of a slump, but I thought it would be good to try a little exercise. We are going to tell you methods for players and coaches to try to end a hitting slump.
If you are a player (DIY):
Don’t Overthink It- The worst thing you can do if you are in a slump is to start pressing at the plate. In most cases, a slump is caused by a mental flaw not a mechanical flaw in your swing. A lot of the time when you step into the batter’s box you are your own worst enemy. The best hitters don’t dwell in the past, they take it one pitch at a time.
Visualize Success- It may sound simple and useless but visualizing success is very important in baseball. If you visualize success it gives you a boost in confidence and helps you mentally prepare for your at-bat. Every mental rep your muscles are firing just like they would in the game.
Sweat It Out, Go to the Cages- Another seemingly simple solution. Going to the cages can do many things for you. It can help boost self-confidence seeing you succeed even if it’s in the cages. Also, you can work on any mechanical flaw that could be there. One of the hidden gems of getting out of a slump is bunting baseball repeatedly….Try it!
If you’re a coach or parent helping a player:
Positive Reinforcement- A struggling player needs a strong support system. If a player knows he has the coaches’ support it could take a lot of stress off their shoulders. If the players are feeling stressed they are less likely to break out of it, you need to take as much off their plate as possible.
Sit the Player for a Game- This might not be the player’s favorite thing but it gives you the chance to let them take a mental break. In this method, the player must know that you’re not giving up on him. It can be good to have a player just sit back and analyze the game without the in-game stress. I would have a conversation before the game.
Bunt for a hit: As recommended above for the player, try bunting for a hit. The goal is for the player to see the ball hit the bat. If he gets on base…GREAT! But, the expectations need to be low. We just want them to get the bunt down.
At the end of the day, you need to know that every player at one point in their baseball career goes through a slump. Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports, if it was easy everyone would play. Also, a key is to know that every time it’s not mechanical if you go into your at-bat thinking “Oh, I need to fix this, this, and this,” it will be much harder to find success. Instead, visualize success on the on-deck circle. Coaches remember that players need positive reinforcements throughout their careers. This goes for teammates as well, support your brothers on the field.
The pandemic change in college sports is still receiving tremors from the shutdown.
I am sure everyone has heard about how it has delayed the major professional sports but how has it influenced collegiate athletics, specifically, college baseball? In this article I want to address this situation, so as a player or a parent of a player you will be in better understanding of the landscape.
College baseball is not a money machine like college football or college basketball. There are only a select few programs in the country that generate revenue from their college baseball program.
The 2020 season being cut short has already taken a toll on some of the schools that do not generate revenue. A few college baseball programs have already been shut down or have been close to shutting down. For example, Furman University shut down its baseball program and Bowling Green State University just reinstated its program after the community raised $1.5 million to keep afloat.
The Furman shut down has led to all of their players scrambling to find new homes to finish their careers. While Bowling Green currently has 29 players in the transfer portal. Recently the Mountain West Conference canceled its 2021 conference tournament to cut costs on participating schools. Athletic departments are still shuffling trying to figure out how to survive this pandemic, especially with the college football season still a question mark.
The abrupt ending of the 2020 college baseball season has caused the number of scholarships to rise for each school for the 2021 season. The normal scholarship allotment of 11.7 will only apply to players that were projected to be on the roster for 2021. This does not include the 2020 senior class because they all have been given one extra year of eligibility. Another aspect that affects the scholarships in college baseball is the shortened MLB draft. The 2020 MLB draft will only consist of 160 selections in 5 rounds, whereas the 2019 MLB draft consisted of 1217 picks in 40 rounds. This means there will be even more players coming to college baseball or staying another year because there is a huge drop in selections. A positive of this for college baseball fans is this means that rosters will be more loaded with talent than ever.
College baseball is in the process of discussing a new schedule due to the pandemic. The proposal for a new schedule is meant to continue the growth of college baseball and to help athletic departments financially. A panel of coaches is recommending starting the college baseball season in the third week of March instead of February and pushing the College World Series back to mid-July.
They have recommended this because they believe it does not make sense financially or medically to play baseball in February. This change would put a big cut into travel expenses for northern teams. They wouldn’t have to travel as much to get away from the weather. This could also lead to more spectators at games because Winter sports will be over and hopefully better weather.
Another major impact in scheduling are the college summer leagues like the Cape Cod and Prospect League. This would push the college season back into these seasons which will take players out of these leagues. These leagues are important to the college game because players that do not get playing time at their school get the chance to get quality reps.
Overall, this pandemic has sparked mass change in college baseball. It will be interesting to see how programs handle the student-athletes that received an extra year of eligibility and how they’ll manage rosters. This story is far from over.
Getting recruited to play college baseball is a very difficult and impressive achievement. Like everything else in the world recruiting has been greatly impacted by COVID-19. It has made the recruiting process even more difficult for aspiring athletes. High School baseball seasons across the country were canceled and many places haven’t begun playing in the summer yet. How can a college recruit a player if they can’t see them? I’ll tell you how.
Recruiting Update for different college levels: Division 1: In-person recruiting suspension has been extended to July 31st but athletes can participate in virtual visits. Division 2: A quiet period (a period where institutions can have no contact with student-athlete OFF campus) will take place from June 1st through the 30th. Division 3: Up to the schools to decide how to handle recruiting. NAIA: Up to the schools to decide how to handle recruiting. NJCAA: In-person recruiting ban was lifted as on May 15.
How this impacts you: This pandemic has had a major impact on the college recruiting scene. Most college programs are unable to come to watch student-athletes compete. This especially hurts rising seniors because their high school season was canceled and if you are playing Summer ball most programs are unable to attend. Another major impact is if you are being recruited and are uncommitted you may not be able to take a campus visit. Your college decision could be one of the toughest decisions of your life and it’s tough to make that decision without stepping foot on campus.
How you can get noticed during this weird time and what the future holds: Social Media as we all know has taken over the world. Coaches right now are using social media to find potential recruits. The Tigers have been preaching the best way to get noticed right now is Twitter. When a coach sees a tweet that draws their interest, they will most likely visit the Twitter page. We say that your page needs to contain these three things:
Website URL with measurements, GPA, etc.
Clean Bio that gets to the point.
Pinned tweet of your best video with metrics.
Overall, college recruiting for 2020 will be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Though it may seem like there are fewer opportunities to be seen by college coaches, there is still plenty of opportunities to be seen. You just have to use the resources that are available to you and take advantage of it.
Movies portray scouting as scouts from various colleges and professional teams driving across vast distances to see this one player, but what if I told you times have changed. In my personal experiences, I have noticed some friends and former rivals showcasing their skills (pitching and hitting) on Twitter to attract scouts that can’t attend their games.
The account that showcases their videos is called FlatGround and they will retweet your video on their page. They mention you need to add variables such as: spin rate, velocity, grades, height/weight, any data saved by any company that tracks measurable for your video to gain traction.
Blast Motion technology allows you to track your swing by adding their device to the knob of your bat. It gives you real time data via an app that detects your bat path, power, and timing while providing drills that could help improve your swing. Not only does it track baseball, it also tracks softball, and golf (must purchase each sport individually).
Spiker deep dives into how technology has really changed the landscape of scouting. Here are two episode I highly recommend that center around organizations finding players.
Spiker Helms got the chance to sit down with former University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s head baseball coach Darin Erstad. They discuss the recruiting process and what he looks for when recruiting for a player. Before his time with the Cornhuskers, Erstad spent 14 years playing professional baseball for the California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Astros. This article by itself will not only help you in recruiting but help you have an edge on your competition.
Spiker Helms: Hi everybody, welcome back to another edition of Tiger TV. I’m your host, Spiker Helms. I’m here at the University of Nebraska with head coach Darin Erstad. Thank you, Daren, for coming on.
Darin Erstad: My pleasure
Spiker Helms: I appreciate it so much. Guys, if you look back at previous episodes, we have episodes with the University of Iowa, Missouri State. Go back check those out. Also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, all the social media platforms. So, with that said, let’s head right into it.
Question 1: So, coach, at what point do you start recruiting a player?
Darin Erstad: Well it depends. You know, unfortunately, it’s getting earlier and earlier. I’m not watching sixth and seventh-grade games yet, but you know it’s getting into that. When they’re freshmen you start building your database, start building relationships, and getting guys on your radar. Very very special cases maybe you all will offer some at that age, but as you get into your summer before your sophomore year and start to get evaluated a little bit harder, start making unofficial visits, and then it can ramp up as a 10th grader. We know some are a little bit later, and they’ll come in as juniors in the late bloomers. We always save room for a little bit of that and you know it’s just a matter of building your database and finding out who’s interested in your university and then getting to know the people. I think that’s the biggest thing right now is getting to know the kid, getting to know the family, what they’re all about, but we do start that at a very young process.
Spiker Helms: Developing that relationship.
Darin Erstad: No doubt about it. That’s what it’s all about.
Question 2: So, how many times does it take you to see a player on the field before you say “Hey, we want you to come on campus. Take a look around.” How many times will it take?
Darin Erstad: It could be one, could be ten. You know there are guys you see right away. You’re like that skill set plays the motor plays, you see that. Then there are other guys you watch you’re like, we have to see you then you watch them again. Then they grow, and well I better see that one more time. And then it grows on you again. So really every case is a little bit different, there’s not exactly one template you follow with every single kid, but the more you can see them, the better.
Question 3: And then, so kind of take you back to your high school days and say, if you are a high school guy right now. How would you approach a career?
Darin Erstad: Let me dust off the yearbook, that was a long time ago. You know, the one thing that I see that I think is very valuable is kids doing their homework. When you get the general email, let me tell you the truth, I get rid of those things. When I get 5080 of those a day, I mean it’s just it honestly it’s when those that catch your attention, that kid actually looked us up. That kid actually had made some connection and really did his homework on the school. Now I’m not just talking baseball I’m talking something within you know the academic part of it more or just Husker nation in general or, you know, just looks like it kind of catches your attention. So, I would have made a personal, I would have really done my homework and found what schools were really on my list, what do they have that I want, what do they have that is something I could see myself spending three, four or five years, whatever it is. And that’s what I would have done, and maybe those schools don’t like you. But you gotta start at the top just like when you set goals and you chase your dreams, go for the highest one man. And then if it doesn’t work out, you can always find different things to go to, but just for me, it’s all about a personal level, just like we want to get to know them personally. Well, the best way to do it is to reach out.
Question 4: So, it’s just it’s developing that one to one relationship just trying to get in the door and I mean camps you think camps are helpful?
Darin Erstad: It can, you don’t have to necessarily do and be nice to do, but it’s not a priority for us, but if somebody does it, it doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure. But what I always want to do is I want to find out about those kids, two, three years before they even come to campus and find out who they’re all about. Get to know them so when they get here, two weeks, two months into it, they’re like, that’s pretty much we signed up for we both know each other. And when you do that, that’s when you can have really meaningful relationships because you start building that trust earlier.
Question 5: That’s a perfect segue. So, when you are saying that talent is completely equal across the board. When you’re looking at a player like what character traits, do you look for, and then how do you find those?
Darin Erstad: Well, you get to know you talk to their parents. You know, you get to know mom and dad, but there’s not a mom and daddy get to know whoever’s taking care of you find out from their coach and you talk to area scouts, you get as much information as you can. But for me, I want to find that person gonna do the right thing all the time. Are the kids gonna make mistakes? Of course, they’re gonna screw up their kids as part of the deal. But when you can see that they have the teammate’s best interests at heart, and they’re trying to get better every single day that comes up. I can look in their eyes, and you can see that fire you can see that desire, but when there’s a lot of “I’s”, being talked about why did this I did that, I look for the guys that say “we”, “we did this we did this”, “our team”, little words like that make a big difference in your talks.
Spiker Helms: That’s crazy sort of just like conversation like everyone looks good, but then those little details that you’re looking for.
Darin Erstad: Absolutely that changes and you can see what their priorities are in a heartbeat.
Question 6: What is the best advice you’ve ever received as a player?
Darin Erstad: Be yourself. It’s so simple, but it’s the truth. We try to please so many people who try to please college coaches, we try to please scouts, we try to please everybody. Now, please yourself, be yourself. This whole journey of life from high school to college, you’re trying to find out who you are. And if you don’t, if you’re always trying to please other people, you’re going to never find out who you really are. And for me, that’s the best thing I ever did. And when you do that, you know that you’re just gonna go out and give it everything you have. And the only thing you have to do at the end of the day is look in the mirror and know you gave it everything you have every single day. It’s not what somebody says to you, a good job or bad job, you just have to be able to put your head on your pillow overnight knowing that you emptied the tank. When you do that, that’s the best thing you can do, and it frees up so much stuff in your life because you just know you’re gonna get the most out of your abilities. If it is Juco, NAIA, Division One, two or three, or all you just play high school baseball that is fine, but one thing you don’t want to have at the end of all this is regret. Most kids will have regret because while I wish I wouldn’t have done that, or I wish I would have done this. No just empty the tank. Just be yourself and have fun.
Spiker Helms: Coach it was a pleasure.
Darin Erstad: My pleasure Spiker.
Spiker Helms: Awesome interview. Guys, check out Nebraska, their schedule, I will link it all down in the show notes as well thanks again coach, and we’ll catch you later. See ya.
If you would like to watch this interview in its entirety you can subscribe to our YouTube channel and watch it here:
In an article written in June 2019 by Baseball America, Darin Estrad had stepped down as head coach after seven years. The article also discusses how he helped turned the program into a success for years to follow.
I get this question a handful of times throughout the year by players who are wanting the eye of a college scout. This question is interesting because it not only applies to reach a higher level of baseball but also in real life.
So, how do you get recognized?
The easy answer is “be good, and they will find you.” This is partially true, but it leaves the question teller thirsting for more and asking, “What’s considered good, and how are you found?”
The skill sets you need are defined by the abilities of the current roster the coach has developed. They are looking for pitchers who throw extremely hard and have a great location. They’re looking for athletic players who are fast, play good defense, and hit the ball extremely hard.
You might have an unbelievable talent to throw the ball hard, but what if all skill sets are equal?
We recently recorded a podcast where we speak on how to get noticed. The name of the episode is called the Tactical Guide To Getting an Athletic Scholarship. I believe this specific episode is about more than just obtaining a roster position on a college team. I view it as a guide to separate yourself from your competition. It’s to help you show your unfair advantage.
The advice given in this episode can easily apply to other areas in life with a little bit of creativity and ingenuity.
Please share this with someone who has a desire to win and grab the attention of a decision-maker.
I get this question a handful of times throughout the year by players who are wanting the eye of a college scout. This question is interesting because it not only applies to reach a higher level of baseball but also in real life.