Baseball Showcase Event Coming to Cedar Rapids
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
As the high school baseball season came to a close last July Zach Kenyon had an idea.
That idea, to put together a camp that allows local players a platform to perform for scouts and college coaches from around the country, quickly went from a passing thought to a goal for the City High pitching coach.
Next week that goal will become reality when Trosky Baseball hosts a College Showcase Camp at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids.
“The camp itself has probably been a year in the making,” Kenyon said. “We started talking about this last fall right after our season got done. It was a lot of talking and how you actually get it set up kind of comes in different waves.”
The one-day camp that is set for August 18 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Mount Mercy is open to all high school and junior college players.
It will consist of skills testing while also giving players an opportunity to take part in live games while playing in front of and learning from coaches from around the country.
“You don’t see certain colleges get the opportunity to come through at the same time and watch kids,” Kenyon said. “Not only that but to get those coaches in to work the camp and not just spectate we felt was kind of a unique piece to this area and the state.”
An important element in Kenyon’s initial idea was attracting coaches from all divisions and from a wide variety of locations.
In the first year that has been accomplished.
College coaches ranging from NCAA Division I to Division III as well as Junior College and NAIA programs are expected to attend.
“One of the things that those coaches always said is ‘I’ve always wanted to get into Iowa to see what you guys have got’,” Kenyon said. “We give them an opportunity to come up and work a camp and also see the talent it’s a win-win for them and it’s a win-win for the kids in the state.”
The list of colleges spans the country.
Coaches from the University of Southern California, Cal Poly and San Diego State will attend along with Midwest programs like Iowa, Nebraska and Western Illinois.
Local colleges Mount Mercy, Cornell College, Kirkwood and Upper Iowa are all included as well.
“The coaches were all on board and between connections with Nate (Trosky) bringing in USC and San Diego State and some teams you don’t see very often,” Kenyon said. “Being able to get in front of that many different levels of the college game, NAIA, Division III, Junior College, Division II, Division I all coming in I think is a great thing to start out with.”
Kenyon expects more than 100 participants at the camp which has a cutoff of 110.
“We are really looking forward to having it, I think it’s a great opportunity for the kids in the area,” Kenyon said. “The outreach from the coaches even locally has been very well received. From the Midwest as a whole it’s been well received and we are excited to get over there and seeing the kids play.”