Stopwatches, fastballs and low profiles were all on the Binghamton University baseball field Wednesday afternoon, as BU hosted its 14th annual Scout Day. As part of the event, scouts representing multiple Major League Baseball organizations evaluated members of the baseball team in speed, defense, batting and pitching in hopes of finding professional baseball’s hidden gems.
“Many years ago, you felt like you had to go south of the Mason-Dixon line to play professional baseball, and that line of thinking has gone by the wayside now,” Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki said. “Bottom line is these [scouts] make their money and look good in the eyes of their organization if they can find guys that no one knows about at a school like Binghamton or a school in the American East conference — because most everyone knows about the guys in Clemson or Florida State.”
Major League attention is hard to come by for most collegiate baseball players in the Empire State due to New York’s location in a cold-weather climate. But thanks to the professional success of past Bearcats like pitcher Mike Augliera, a fifth-round pick in the 2012 MLB entry draft by the Boston Red Sox, as well as outfielders Bill Bereszniewicz and Jake Thomas, BU has made a name for itself in the world of collegiate baseball.
“We don’t get a lot of guys right out of high school who are ready to be drafted into professional baseball,” Sinicki said. “I think the scouts have an appreciation for the fact that we develop our guys once they get here on campus. You can have a young man in your office and his family and point to the fact that we’re having guys year in, year out not only drafted out of this program, but out of the conference and out of the region.”
Dressed in logo-less garb and tinted sunglasses, scouts clocked the 60-yard dash times of the Bearcats before wielding radar guns to track the pitching and swinging speeds of some of BU’s top performers. While the observations and judgments from professional talent scouts can create a stressful atmosphere for most student-athletes, senior infielder Reed Gamache wasn’t intimidated by the spotlight.
“[We want to] go out there and have fun and show off our skills,” Gamache said. “Everyone’s so excited to get in front of these pro scouts, and it’s truly exciting because we don’t get the opportunity to do that being out here.”
Since 2007, Sinicki and his coaching staff have produced 16 MLB picks and pro signees — a testament to BU’s commitment to developing talent on the diamond in an oft-overlooked region. In the first round of the 2015 MLB draft, nearly half of the picks never saw action past the high-school level.
“It’s about our staff finding the right players to bring into the program,” Sincki said “Guys who we feel are coachable and guys who have the skill set that can be developed to hopefully play at the next level.”
Gamache echoed the sentiment of his head coach.
“[There’s] great coaching here. Coaches recruit players that have good attitudes, just good all-around people and it builds a good atmosphere,” Gamache said.
Though hesitant to discuss their affiliations or intentions, the attendance of the pro scouts can only help to keep Binghamton on the radar as a premier mid-major program, while doubling as a potentially life-changing opportunity for BU athletes just one swing, catch or dive away.
“This is one of my favorite days of the year,” Sinicki said. “It’s an opportunity for our guys to get out there, have some fun and all it takes is one team to really like you to get into professional baseball.”