While watching a weekend baseball clinic at BG this last summer, I got to talking to BG's ex-catching coach. I was telling him about this kid that we have pitching at our local high school and how he was a stud. When asked how hard he threw, i replied "he's been clocked at the consistant 86's as a junior and he is 6'6 so he has potential." The question right after that is "well is he a lefty or righty" and when i said righty his reply then was "oh." I told the coach he should take a look at him if they want a good prospect but he just played it off like nothing.
The pitcher's name is Alex Leugers and he plays at New Bremen High School. New Bremen recently won the district finals and at that game Alex pitched a no hitter. There were scouts there that clocked him at the consistant 87-88's and even clocked him at a couple 90's in the 7th inning. Currently Alex is 10-2 with a 1.02 ERA and 82 K's in 68 innings with only 17 walks and has only given up 15 hits all year. He is 6'6 with a huge upside. He accepted a baseball schollie to Xavier University. He had no interest from BG for some reason. Being that he only lives an hour and a half away you would think he would get some hype from BG but i guess they missed out. He is currently ranked as the 52nd prospect coming out of Ohio according to Buckey scout . BG just missed out.
Prospect BG missed out on
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UK Peregrine
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It's impossible to say why BG did not recruit Leugers. I'm sure the coaches have their reasons and I will not presume act like I know what they are. I've always felt like midwest Ohio was a largely overlooked area on the BG recruiting map. However, there have been some recent notables to come out of the area that come to mind. Namely Cory Eyink, Matt Lefeld, Kory Lichtensteiger, Kevin Huelsman, Jackie Raterman, Carin Horne and even Brandon Pardon. Although none come to mind right now, a few athletes come out of Wapak and Celina occasionaly too. It may be due to the fact that Bremen plays D-IV, I think, its been a while on Ohio baseball divisions for me. It may be that BG was no longer looking for a right-hander. It's just impossible to say and I'm sure the coaches had very good reasons and I'll respect that and not chastise them for not selecting a player from near my hometown and just wish Alex the best of luck at Xavier.
it was coach hoiles who i talked to. Not that i cared if they looked at him but the thing that kind of upset me was when he asked if he was a lefty or righty and i replied righty. He instantly say "Oh" and a couple seconds later he replied "It would be better if he was a lefty." That kinda just made me mad because he missed out on a good prospect once he heard he is a righty. I know teams prefer lefties because they don't come around as often but to not take a good tip that might help your program just because what arm he throws with is just stupid.
They don't "prefer" lefty or righty, but they always want to try to balance their staff. Actually BG has alot of pitching returning next year, and signed several "dual" players. BG baseball has an ABUNDANCE of kids from NW Ohio (13), including players fromCelina and Lincolnview from west central Ohio. With baseball scholarships limited to 11.7 for 32-34 players, coaches have to be VERY selective in what positions they recruit every year. Sometimes you have to bypass a better player, because you have a "need" at another position because of graduation, injuries etc. Just because they didn't offer someone a scholarship, doesn't mean they did not think he was a good player, but it is also possibl;e they just like someone else a little better.
Some more information that you might be interested in, and explain why they might be interested in a lefthanded pitcher, is that they have four (4) possible RHP pitchers they have signed for next year, that are ALL ranked AHEAD of Leugers in the Buckeye Scout rankings, in Marty Baird, Kevin Leady, Sam Capitella, and Chris Gacom, and another (Dusty Hawk) that is ranked right behind Leugers at 59. All of these are RHP, so you can understand that if they were to sign another pitcher, they would certainly be looking at lefthanders. Sometimes it pays to know your facts before you start complaining about Coach Schmitz and his staff. I might mention that both Baird and Leady are from NW Ohio.
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UK Peregrine
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Factman,
Two outstanding posts that I agree with almost 100%. However, one minor point I would like to make is that I would call New Bremen, St. Henry, Coldwater and Celina Midwest Ohio and not Northwest Ohio. When I lived in Minster the region largely identified itself as midwest Ohio and most closely aligned with Dayton. BG does an outstanding job recruiting in NW Ohio. Midwest Ohio on the otherhand I feel is more heavily recruited by UC, OSU, Miami, Dayton and Xavier. Based on when I lived in that area, a great deal of athletes were going to these schools and not to BG or UT. Probably a function of geography more than anything.
Two outstanding posts that I agree with almost 100%. However, one minor point I would like to make is that I would call New Bremen, St. Henry, Coldwater and Celina Midwest Ohio and not Northwest Ohio. When I lived in Minster the region largely identified itself as midwest Ohio and most closely aligned with Dayton. BG does an outstanding job recruiting in NW Ohio. Midwest Ohio on the otherhand I feel is more heavily recruited by UC, OSU, Miami, Dayton and Xavier. Based on when I lived in that area, a great deal of athletes were going to these schools and not to BG or UT. Probably a function of geography more than anything.
UK Perigrine-
I agree that area is not normally thought of as NW Ohio, and that is why I included the two kids from that area, but if you want to divide the state into quadrants, BG has 11 players from what I consider SW Ohio, including players from Celina, Lincolnview, Tipp City, Vandalia, Milford, Harrison, and Cincinnati. I really don't care where they come from, but more than half of the team comes from the western half of Ohio as you might expect.
If the person questioning our recruiting, would look at Coach Brown's (recruiting coordinator) lists and his knowledge of players in Ohio, I am sure they would be amazed. BG always recruits Ohio first and then fills needs with opportunities for players from surrounding states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, but I think most areas of Ohio are quite well represented with players on the Bowling Green baseball team.
I agree that area is not normally thought of as NW Ohio, and that is why I included the two kids from that area, but if you want to divide the state into quadrants, BG has 11 players from what I consider SW Ohio, including players from Celina, Lincolnview, Tipp City, Vandalia, Milford, Harrison, and Cincinnati. I really don't care where they come from, but more than half of the team comes from the western half of Ohio as you might expect.
If the person questioning our recruiting, would look at Coach Brown's (recruiting coordinator) lists and his knowledge of players in Ohio, I am sure they would be amazed. BG always recruits Ohio first and then fills needs with opportunities for players from surrounding states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, but I think most areas of Ohio are quite well represented with players on the Bowling Green baseball team.
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bc ziggy 58
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Time for my two cents from Fort Wayne. Found out recently that our staff was looking at a kid from this area.....Matt Sokolowski. Just for the record, he is indeed a "lefty" and has all the tools to be a big time pitcher. Any one out there have any updates, might we still be looking at him? I'm good friends with him and his family and anything I can pass along would be greatly appreciated. Especially for us fans in the years to come, if Matt decides to wear the orange and brown.
Converting Fort Wayne one fan at a time!!
just for the record. I pointed out that Leugers was ranked 52nd acording to Buckey Scout. The rankings were before the season started so I am sure that he would raise his stock a lot after the season especially after the great year he has been having. I don't think he has gotten a lot of looks just for the fact that New Bremen hasn't really been known for its baseball. He must be good because independent pro scouts were at the game last week with the jugs gun clocking him. Now that New Bremen is advancing farther in the state tourney, I am sure his stock will rise and coach schmitz will relize he missed out on a pretty good prospect.
Not that I know or keep up with high school baseball and the process of scouting player..... I don't, but a few thoughts on this matter.....o44life wrote: I don't think he has gotten a lot of looks just for the fact that New Bremen hasn't really been known for its baseball.
I don't know if this really relates or not, but I have a feeling that baseball recruiting may be like soccer recruiting. Talking to the Miami Women's Soccer coach last year and to others involved in the sport at higher levels, the colleges really recruit out of the select clubs and not the high schools.... for the reason you have stated.
The league and Division New Breman plays may be considered pretty soft. So a player may be a stud in that program or league, but due to the lack of talent in the league may limit any interest a stud may be able to attract. Until, as you have noted, they are making a run at the state title.... and then its too late.
This is really the case in soccer. There are only a few highs schools here in the Dayton-Cincinnati area that have the level of play and consistant quality to garner any interest.... even so, players will be recruited out of the clubs they play for in the Spring. This weekend will be a big scouting weekend for college soccer due to the large, high quality tournaments. Last Memorial Day the Miami Coaches went to a tournament in New Jersey to watch a few recruits. My boys are playing in the Warriror this weekend here in Dayton and I am sure there will be scouts there... for the high schoolers - not my kids (too young). I talked to one of them last year. Its very interesting.
Baseball is certainly quite different than soccer in regards to recruiting.... I am just proposing the comparison for discussion.
All of that aside, if this kid is getting looks from the pro scouts, he could ditch going to X and end up in Pioneer Ball out west or a Class A club somewhere.... which may be a faster ride to the Bigs than a few years in BG. That is a big hard decision for a family to make... A client/friend of mine's son was getting pro offers and scholarship offers last year and it was coming down to if the baseball scholarships would pay the entire ride, otherwise they were looking at the pro offers.
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SWVA BGSU Fan
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Has BG been able to fund the 11.7 scholarships? When I was a g/a for BG baseball (late 80's) BG was only funding 8. If I'm not mistaken, the entire MAC conference only allowed 8 as a means of controlling costs. Could someone tell me if this situation has changed? Thanks !factman wrote:. With baseball scholarships limited to 11.7 for 32-34 players, coaches have to be VERY selective in what positions they recruit every year. .
