Baseball camp sifts the elite from the pack

Reyn Rogers and Jonathan Stelly always wanted to play Major League Baseball, just as many kids do.

Despite working hard, they never reached that goal, settling for independent ball leagues instead.

Only recently, the two got together and began pitching ideas to help other kids who were looking to achieve their dreams of playing professional ball.

Around January of this year, Rogers and Stelly started Top Prospect Baseball, a baseball and softball improvement facility in the Covington area. It took some time, but after eight months of planning and organizing, they are hosting a showcase camp at Fair Ground Stadium in Shreveport on Saturday.

It begins at 8 a.m.

The camp offers an opportunity for any softball or baseball player to come out and showcase his or her skills. According to Stelly, 10 to 15 college scouts from Louisiana and Arkansas will be in attendance.

“We concentrate on players from 14-years-old to redshirts in college,” he said. “We figure out what their talent level is, just like at a major league camp.”

The pair notified over 300 schools across the U.S. soliciting players.

The cost of the camp is $200. Anyone registering the day of the camp will be charged $225.

After camp, Stelly said Top Prospect Baseball contacts Division I and II colleges to provide information on the athletes.

Likewise, Stelly and Rogers provide parents with feedback as to which schools are interested in their child.

“We tell them what schools we are calling, who they can talk to,” Stelly explained. “We do everything by phone. We want to make sure the parents are very involved and understand the reality of what we are doing because it is very important for all parties to understand everything.”

Although each camper will surely aspire to play Division I ball, Stelly said the camp is designed to help weigh the best options about what the player should do to advance his career.

“We try to straight shoot the kid,” he said. “If we have a senior who is a right-handed pitcher throwing 80 mph, we’re going to let him know, ‘Hey, this is a reality. You probably have a better chance at a D-II school or NAIA.’ Not everybody can play at LSU.”

“Players need to know that there are tons of colleges out there that don’t have the funding to go out there and recruit – smaller schools – that do offer books and a four-year education. The thing is how to find those schools. That’s what we do. We break down players’ talent level and focus on that area.”

Work is under way to create a Southeastern region baseball team to represent Team USA in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Stelly said. Regional teams from across the U.S. compete before international, independent and major league scouts.

Stelly said 13- to 14-year-old boys will be invited to be evaluated by professional and college scouts for open spots on a fall select baseball team Sept. 23 and 30.

A location for the event has yet to be determined. The tryouts will be free.

In time, Top Prospect Baseball will travel to Florida for a three-week training/assessment session.

“We are going to take the best of the best, a 40-man roster down where the Montreal Expos’ facility used to be,” Stelly said. “The ages (of players) are going to vary. We are looking to assess more seniors in high school since there are easily, on average, 40 to 50 professional scouts there.”

“That’s not where we’re at yet, but that’s our goal,” he said.

For more information, contact Top Prospect Baseball at (888) 202-9940 or e-mail Reyn@topprospectbaseball.net or Stelly@topprospectbaseball.net.