And while the coronavirus health crisis and social distancing precautions have unfortunately limited us from hosting large-scale events at this time, we were thrilled to still be able to provide our high school players (14U-17U) an incredible opportunity at our inaugural Prep Baseball Report Indiana Bulls Scout Day.
More than 150 Bulls players put their speed, skills and swings on full display Monday, June 8. The full pro-style scouting combine had our college prospects running 60-yard dashes, hitting batting practice and partaking in fielding, throwing and position-specific drills for a national audience. The high speeds and strong showings were especially impressive as our players have unfortunately been forced to work out and train on their own with team activities limited so far this year.
Full statistics and results from the day are now online and any of our players who didn’t already have an account have now received a full PBR profile with their stats and information in the network’s national database.
Prep Baseball Report is the nation’s undisputed No. 1 resource for amateur baseball coverage, scouting and exposure. Their mission is to help high school athletes achieve their dream of playing baseball at the college level and beyond — making them a perfect partner for the Indiana Bulls.
While the NCAA has banned in-person recruiting visits by college coaches through at least the end of August, the technology and platform available through PBR provided an innovative solution for increasing our players’ exposure during this time.
A huge thank you is due to PBR Indiana Executive Director Phil Wade and Indiana Director of Scouting Blake Hibler — also known as Head Coach Hibler to our 14U Gray Bulls. The duo was on hand to manage the all-new livestreaming aspect to this year’s Scout Day, which went off without a hitch.
For the first time, this year players had their scouting combine performances broadcasted live as four cameras and audio capabilities captured all the action for scouts and college coaches around the country.
In a typical year, approximately 60 or more college baseball programs would be on hand to evaluate our players’ combine performances. This year, more than 100 schools across America — including every Division I program in Indiana — signed up to watch live. And thanks to PBR’s reach and reputation, nearly 800 subscribers in their nationwide network now have full access to the video, stats and player profiles from our event.
Nobody is as disappointed as we are that these players have missed out on this year’s high school baseball seasons. That made our scouting combine experience even more important. It was our players’ first opportunity of the year for high-level exposure to the college programs they dream of going on to play for.
We pride ourselves on the Bulls’ track record and reputation of helping our players achieve those dreams — and we aren’t going to let the COVID-19 crisis impact that mission. Indiana Bulls players and parents have come to expect the highest levels of talent development, competition and valuable exposure to next level of the game.
We’re working hard to ensure that value is still delivered amid a disrupted season this year, and our partnership with PBR for Scout Day was a great step to make that happen.