Baseball is all in the feet. At first glance baseball is a game of hands. You field with a glove, throw and pitch, and swing the bat with them both. So, naturally, much of the coaching, training is on the hands and upper body. For hitters, numbers from Blast, Rapsodo, Trackman and the like measure … [Read more...]
D1 college coach: 5 recruiting tips for parents
This is a letter to all baseball parents (or parents of any high school athlete) about the recruiting process. I might be as uniquely suited to write this story as anyone, as I was a recruit (way) back in the day, have been coaching/recruiting since 1992, have a high school-age baseball-playing … [Read more...]
Mazzoni: 9 facts you likely don’t know about college scholarships
There certainly is a lot of confusion when it comes to college baseball scholarships. Hopefully, these nine facts will help you understand the process a bit more. 1. College baseball teams usually carry a roster of 35 players, but are allowed to offer only 11.7 scholarships. So if you do the math, … [Read more...]
Mazzoni: Keeping coaching sane in a baseball world gone mad
As I write this column, I just watched a video where parents at a 7-year-old Little League game in Colorado brawled on the field over a disputed call. This is just a small showing of the tension that exists at all levels of youth baseball. The reason things have gotten out of control in the baseball … [Read more...]
Draft dilemma: Go pro or go to college?
To go pro or to go (or stay in) college? This has been a question that many top baseball players have faced over the years. For the best baseball prospects, they have a college scholarship in hand and have made a college commitment, yet they also are selected by a major-league team in the MLB draft. … [Read more...]
Mazzoni: The best baseball parents share these qualities
As a college coach, I so often get asked about the role of parents in the raising of a baseball player. People often assume that the parents of the players on our college team are hard to deal with, but the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. On occasion, we have a parent who … [Read more...]
Want to stand out at camp, recruit?
I’ve been a college baseball coach since well before any of the players reading this story were born. I’ve likely run and worked at as many showcases, camps and recruiting events as you have played games in your baseball career. So when I tell you what I would do as a player if I was to go back in … [Read more...]
Mazzoni: What college coaches want in hitting recruits
While I’m first and foremost a pitching coach, I have been working with, studying, coaching, scouting, and recruiting hitters my entire adult life. While each college coach has his own style of the type of player and hitter he is looking for, most of us fall into the following recruiting style: We … [Read more...]
A pitching coach’s thoughts on Tommy John surgery
Tommy John surgery is becoming an ever increasing part of my life as a college pitching coach. Here are some of my thoughts on TJS: … [Read more...]
What traits can we learn from influential leaders?
While New England Baseball Journal’s list of the most influential people in this issue includes people from a variety of walks of the baseball world, many of them share many of the same qualities that make them influential. And as each of us aspire to be the best we can in and out of the world of … [Read more...]
Observations from a summer on the road
Like most college coaches, the months of June and July are extremely busy recruiting for me. Between tournaments, showcases and camps, there really is not a day that goes by without 15-20 different events that you can attend. I’d say that our full coaching staff (I coach at Sacred Heart University) … [Read more...]
Your summer development plan
If you are the typical summer baseball player, age 13-18, chances are you are living the standard summer: playing on a travel team, going to tournaments, playing a ton of games on the weekend and trying to figure out this whole recruiting process as you go. Here is what I suggest your ideal summer … [Read more...]
