Baseball scouting service coming to Windsor

By Dylan Fremlin

Local high school baseball players are being given a chance to showcase their talent.

A one-day scouting event takes place at Central Park Athletics in Windsor on April 10. Prep Baseball Report is a scouting service that spans 24 U.S. states and Ontario. With more than 450 colleges and pro scouts subscribing to the PBR services, a player can expect to receive the exposure needed to make it to the post-secondary level. PBR videotapes all participant performances, and the edited performances are hosted on prepbaseballreport.com. All players can receive an entire scouting report complete with verified statistics, a picture and video. PBR also links any stories written about a prospect to their profile.

“We’re always in touch with colleges,” said Ontario PBR scouting director Chris Kemlo. “After an event we ship all of our stats to 250 or 300 college coaches.”

PBR does whatever they can to get worthy prospects in front of schools and get the word out about player abilities. Events usually carry upwards of 100 players. In the last two years nearly 20 players have committed to play for schools. PBR also releases annual prospect rankings to ensure their top prospects will not be missed and has a section dedicated to the MLB draft for pro scouts.

It costs pitchers $150 to attend the event while position players cost $175. For players who want to show off both positions, the cost is $225. This summer PBR is putting together a team of Grade 9 and 10 students and bringing them to Indianapolis for a PBR showcase.

“There’s a lot of talent here,” said Kemlo. “We really want to bring a strong team to this event.”

Two local players from the 2016 PBR class have committed to schools. Right-handed pitcher Mitchell Clark (Sandwich Secondary) has committed to Canisius College in Buffalo, New York and shortstop Shane Paradis (Sandwich) has committed to Northern Kentucky University. According to local baseball players there are not as many opportunities to get exposure in Canada as there are in the U.S.

“I find that, just like everything in life, you must do it yourself,” said former Northeastern Junior College pitcher and Harrow native Mitchell Bouchard. “I made a video of myself pitching and emailed a few schools.”

Bouchard said he had Division 1 schools talking to him but didn’t have the grades to play Division 1 baseball. He was a pitcher for two years at Northeastern Junior College and two years at Dakota State. Bouchard attributes his filming abilities with landing him his scholarship.

”It is a difficult process, but even if you are from Windsor or Harrow you can do it,” said Bouchard. “Just put yourself out there.”