Podcast: Baseball U CT Director Pat Vigilio on travel ball

Baseball U CT Director Pat Vigilio (left) helped develop UConn pitcher Ian Cooke. (Baseball U CT)

The latest guest on The Base Path Podcast is the director of one of the top travel ball programs in New England.

Pat Vigilio helped start Baseball U CT in 2006, and he remains the program director today. Baseball U CT has produced an average of 20 college baseball players per year over the last decade with multiple teams at the high school level.

In his nearly 20 years with Baseball U CT, Vigilio has seen the travel ball industry grow to the point that it has almost become a mandatory piece of any college prospect’s training.

“I think what’s happened with travel baseball is that everybody’s looking to go to those (showcase) events,” Vigilio said. “Some of the events are getting larger, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the events are getting better. It becomes watered down. So, unless you have a reputation of going to those events, you could be playing on obscure fields in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

Watch the podcast with Vigilio

“You may not have anybody recruiting or scouting any of your players or even watching your team. So having a reputation of being able to help players, and having good players and student-athletes will help put those kids in the right light for a college coach.”

Baseball U CT is one of the rare travel ball programs that still requires players to practice as a team several times a week.

“We’re finding that because the kids are playing more games at the younger level, they’re not as baseball-knowledgeable or baseball-savvy as they were when they used to come in 15 years ago. So, we’re having to teach a lot of basic skills that you would probably be taught at 9-, 10-, 11-, or 12-years-old. The real fundamentals of the game from a younger level have really broken down.”

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Listen to the entire podcast with Baseball U CT Director Pat Vigilio.