| |
12/14/07
IPB announces partnership with FTP
International Performance Baseball is pleased to announce a new partnership with Five Tool Prospects (FTP).
IPB specializes in professional baseball combines and showcases and will be including a Five Tool Prospects Professional Evaluation in the entry fee for specified events. Among IPB's most popular events are the World Free Agent Spring Training©, Baseball Combine, and Florida Fall League, which offer games against Major League organizations. IPB also offers youth programs and individual evaluations. You can find out more about IPB by clicking on the AFFILIATES tab on the top of the screen or by visiting their website at www.performancebaseball.net.
"IPB is top notch organization," said FTP President Jason Wuerfel. "Their events give players an opportunity to showcase their skills over the course of three days to three weeks. Where most tryouts make kids run a 60-yard dash and kick them out the door if they can't run a 7.0 flat, IPB integrates professional instruction in a showcase setting over an extended period of time, making sure that everyone gets a fair shot. Their staff is comprised of independent league managers and coaches and they play games against affiliated organizations. If you're a player trying to break into professional baseball, an IPB event is the only place to go."
IPB's experienced staff starts with CEO Matt Stark. A first round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1983, Stark spent three years as the hitting coach for the Florida Marlins AAA affiliate Albuquerque Isotopes and is now the International Scouting Supervisor for the Seattle Mariners. Event staff includes Brad Hall, pitching coach for the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier league; Jeff Isom, manager for the Milwaukee Brewers low A affiliate West Virginia Power; George Tsamis, manager of the St. Paul Saints of the American Association; Les Lancaster, manager of the Souix Falls Canaries of the American Association; Kash Beauchamp, manager of the Wichita Wing Nuts of the American Association; Eduardo Dennis, field manager of the Rio Grande White Wings in the United League; James Frisbie, manager of the Bradenton Juice of the South Coast League; and Chris Carminucci, manager of the Atlantic City Surf of the CanAm League.
"We are happy to team up with FTP stated Matt Stark CEO of IPB" "We believe this will enhance an enable players that attend our events to be exposed quicker! The created profile on each player is accessible to Major League scouts, professional managers and coaches and any other baseball representatives. This simply will lead to more players signing professional baseball contracts."
"There is no other event where you can get this kind of exposure," said Wuerfel, and Wuerfel should know - he attended IPB's very first event, the World Free Agent Spring Training in 2003.
"I was a college catcher playing at the University of Michigan playing behind three guys who were, and still are, top notch prospects," said Wuerfel. "Not many scouts want to give you a look when you get less than 50 at-bats per year. So when I heard about IPB and the World Free Agent Spring Training, I was excited to prove that I had what it took to play professionally."
After WFAST Wuerfel signed with the Elmira Pioneers of the CanAm League and had professional stints with the Mid-Missouri Mavericks and Ohio Valley Redcoats of the Frontier League before retiring in 2005.
"My career was shorter than I would have liked," joked Wuerfel, "but I wouldn't have a career to talk about if wasn't for IPB and the World Free Agent Spring Training. I traveled the country going to tryouts and begging anyone who would listen for a shot to play, and I got that shot because of IPB and WFAST."
Since the first IPB event that Wuerfel attended in 2003, IPB has gone on to establish several more showcase events including the Baseball Combine, Florida Fall League, Florida Winter League, and most recently, four Mini-Showcase events.
"Players are going to get professional instruction, professional connections, and professional exposure," said Wuerfel. "And now that IPB and Five Tool Prospects have partnered together, players who attend these events will get a professional evaluation put on their player profile for any coach or scout to see, and it isn't coming from just any instructor, it is coming from IPB, and that really means something."
After players receive a professional evaluation, they will also be eligible to get ranked in our 'TOP PROSPECTS' section.
There are a limited number of spots open in IPB's events, so make sure to give them a call at (562) 902-9416 and send an e-mail to info@performancebaseball.net.
11/20/07
Another IPB Staff Takes New Managing Job
Sioux City, IA – The Sioux City Explorers announced today that former major league pitcher; Les Lancaster (pictured) has been named field manager of the Sioux City Explorers. Lancaster is the 5th manager in team history and replaces Ed Nottle who stepped down following the 2007 season. He will assume the team’s managerial duties immediately and will be in charge of all player development.
Lancaster comes to the X’s with some impressive credentials after spending the past three seasons in the Golden Baseball League. While in the Golden League, Lancaster made the playoffs two out the three seasons and won a league championship in 2006 with the Reno Silver Sox. Prior to the Golden League, Les managed Adirondack (1999 & 2000) and Lincoln (2001 & 2002) of the Northern League and Coastal Bend (2003) from the Central League. In addition to his championship in 2006, Lancaster also led Adirondack to a championship in 2000 and has made the playoffs in 6 of the 8 seasons he has been a field manager. Les also received managerial honors by being named Independent League Manager of the Year in 2000 and Golden League Manager of the Year in 2006.
“It’s an honor to be associated with the Sioux City Explorers,” comments Lancaster. “They have a long history of baseball tradition and I’m here to help them get back on a winning track the way it was in earlier years. I look forward to the opportunity of helping bring a championship to Sioux City.”
A prep star in Nimitz High School in Irving, TX in the early ‘80’s, Lancaster played one year at Dallas Baptist College before transferring to the University of Arkansas where he spent three seasons with the Razorbacks. The Chicago Cubs signed Lancaster in 1985 and it took less than three seasons before he landed a spot on the big-league roster. Les was both a starting pitcher and reliever for the Cubs from 1987 to 1991 and shared the team’s mound chores with greats like Greg Maddux, “Goose” Gossage, Rick Sutcliffe and Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams.
Les enjoyed his best season in 1989, making 42 relief appearances and posting a 4-2 record with 8 saves and a miniscule 1.36 ERA. He helped lead the Cubs to the National League East Division title and was named a post-season all-star. After two more years in Chicago, Lancaster moved onto Detroit in 1992 and then onto St. Louis in 1993. As a major leaguer, Les accumulated a 41-28 Major league record with a career 4.05 ERA while also recording 22 saves. He appeared in 323 Major League games and struck out 408 batters while walking only 261. He continued to pitch following his major league time with various independent teams and overseas in Taiwan, Mexico and Italy.
Wichita, KS 11/9/07
IPB Staff Member takes American Association Wichita Managing Job!
The field manager for the Wing Nuts, also introduced Friday, is Kash Beauchamp. He was drafted No. 1 overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982 but never reached the Majors.
"I'm the only guy in history to get a whole scouting staff fired, when Toronto selected me over Kirby Puckett," Beauchamp joked Friday.
He has managed at five stops in two independent leagues, covering eight seasons, and served as the Montreal Expos' hitting coach after his retirement as a player in 1995. He played at the Triple-A level with five organizations.
Beauchamp couldn't resist the opportunity to build a team from scratch and said he has already acquired three players. The team's pitching coach is Luke Robertson, brother of Nate and Josh.
"Not every player can play for me," Beauchamp said. "I demand more out of my players; I'm probably more of a Bill Parcells guy than a guy who's going to coddle his player. I'm a fiery manager."
Beauchamp said the team will likely try to sign former Major Leaguers coming off serious injuries, along with young players looking to reach the highest level.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holdren Pounds 23 Home Runs After Getting
‘Swagger Back’ at IPB’s World Free Agent Camp
Stephen Holdren admits his confidence was shaken when the Kansas City T-Bones released him at the end of Northern League spring training in 2006. That’s when he signed up for International Performance Baseball’s three-week World Free Agent Spring Training (WFAST) camp in Cocoa, Florida.
He already knew something of what IPB could potentially do to resurrect a baseball career that had started and stopped and started and stopped during college at Butler County Community College (El Dorado, KS), Texas A&M and the University of Texas-San Antonio. The outfielder had been at IPB’s Pro Prospects Tour event in Arizona in the fall of 2005 and had spent a week or so with hitting instructor (and former professional player) Kash Beauchamp at his home in Oklahoma City.
“I got my swagger back (at Cocoa),” Holdren, still only 24, says. Now, after two years in the Frontier League he once again looks like a solid candidate to play in a major league organization.
The lefthanded-hitting Holdren, who lives in Overland Park, KS, led Gateway (Sauget, IL) to the playoffs this summer with an offensive display few others could match in the Frontier League. At 6-foot-2, 225-pounds, he led the league in both triples (8) and slugging percentage (.616), slugged 23 home runs (second), drove in 73 runs (tied for fourth), ranked third in extra base hits with 47 and hit .311.
The production was vastly improved over his rookie season when he hit six homers and drove in 20 runs while playing for both Rockford, IL and Windy City (Crestwood, IL).
“This (2007) is what I knew I had in me,” Holdren insists.
International Performance Baseball Field Coordinator Matt Stark also felt rewarded for what he initially saw in Holdren. “The first time I saw him I thought he was a major league prospect,” says Stark, who will be looking for more success stories during the new Florida Fall League and at two other IPB camps later during the offseason.
Stark liked the player’s raw power and arm strength and also knew Holdren could run. “His mental makeup was declining,” Stark remembers. “The last time (Cocoa) we got into him a little bit.”
“It’s like you are on an island,” Holdren says of his struggling days. “You don’t know if you will ever put on a uniform again.”
Those days seem behind for him, and he feels the same thing will happen for others who attend International Performance Baseball camps. “They (instructors) go above and beyond,” he praises. “Everyone who had the talent they got signed (to a professional contract).”
International Performance Baseball Grad Johnny Coit
Hits for Cycle in Second Game With New Golden League Team
It has not always been a smooth ride for Johnny Coit, but the persistence of the 22-year-old from El Cajon, CA—and his father—to be given a chance to catch in professional baseball is paying dividends, as evidenced by the onetime Cal State Northridge player hitting for the cycle in a Golden League game last weekend.
Coit, a left-handed hitter who stands only 5-foot-9, got his break to play professionally by attending International Performance Baseball’s annual three-week World Free Agent Spring Training camp in Cocoa, FL last March.
“Johnny and his dad called a couple of months before the camp,” IPB Chief Executive Officer Matt Stark recalled Tuesday, while discussing Coit’s natural cycle of a single, double, triple and finally a three-run home run in only his second game for the Fullerton, CA-based Orange County Flyers.
“Cal State did not see eye to eye with Coit on his catching potential, and played him in the outfield,” said Stark. “Johnny and his dad thought catching offered his best chance (as a professional).” Stark, a former major league catcher, worked with Coit prior to the Cocoa camp and agreed.
“He signed early in WFAST,” Stark said, an indication of his impressive showing. Coit has been assigned to teams in three separate independent leagues (American Association, Frontier and Golden) in the last four months, landing with Orange County only last Friday.
Coit, being used primarily as a catcher, hit .266 in 31 games for St. George, UT of the Golden League. Less than 48 hours after the Roadrunners released him, he had his breakout 4-for-5, seven-runs batted in game against St. George. Orange County routed St. George 14-3 before a capacity crowd of 3,500 at Fullerton’s Goodwin Field in a game now being called “Coit’s Revenge”. Although back in the outfield for now, Coit is hitting .385 (5-for-13) for his first three games for Orange County.
IPB’s next camp, also at Cocoa, is the Florida Pro Prospects Fall League September 17-October 7. Players can get full details on the instructional/tryout camp, which will feature games against major league instructional league teams, at www.PerformanceBaseball.net.
July 24, 2007
Quartet of March Performance Baseball Signees
Putting Up Great Numbers Three Months Later
As recently as March, pitcher Derek Bennett, catchers Jose Rodriguez and Johnny Coit and infielder Chuck Sindlinger went off to the International Performance Baseball (IPB) World Free Agent camp in Cocoa, FL hoping their skills would attract some a professional offer.
Three months later they were not only fulfilling their dreams by being paid for their skills, but were racking up impressive statistics for teams as widespread as Texas, Utah and Nevada. Several other players from the three-week tryout/instructional camp also are playing in professional leagues.
Former major league pitcher Les Lancaster’s eyes lit up when he saw Rodriguez’s strong arm and power while playing against minor leaguers at several major league training camps. He could visualize the 6-foot-3 backstop from Downey, CA helping his defending Golden League champion Reno Silver Sox. Rodriguez has not disappointed, hitting .333 through June, then starting July with a 4-for-5 performance that lifted his average another 31 points (.364). Rodriguez has 16 runs batted in and has scored 17 runs in his first 18 games.
Chuck Sindlinger has settled into the regular shortstop job with Reno, and the 23-year-old prospect out of Long Beach State ended June with a .308 batting average. Coit, a product of Cal State Northridge, also is in the Golden League, hitting .318 for St. George, UT.
Bennett is having the best early success among the pitchers signed at the Cocoa camp. An Oklahoman, he is the closer for Rio Grande Valley, TX of the United League where he has a 3-0 record and eight saves while not allowing any runs and limiting hitters to a .134 average in his first 19.1 innings.
Several other players signed out of earlier IPB camps also are fairing handsomely. Lefty Brian Logan is 2-1 with a save, a strikeout an inning and a 2.45 earned run average for Southern Illinois (Marion), which has been drawing some 5,000 fans a game in the Frontier League. Jeff Mault has won all three of his decisions and posted a save in eight appearances in the same league, playing near Chicago for the Windy City Thunderbolts in Crestwood, IL. Carl Scheafer is 4-1 as a reliever for Pensacola, FL of the American Association and Kyle Zaleski is 1-2, but has a 2.57 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 21 innings for Joliet, IL of the Northern League. Nick Prosise is the regular catcher for South Georgia (Albany) of the South Coast League, hitting .297. The 23-year-old has 10 doubles and 25 RBI in 35 games.
IPB’s next camp, also at Cocoa, is the Florida Pro Prospects Fall League September 17-October 7 which will feature games against major league instructional league teams.
June 30, 2007
Four More Get Professional Opportunities by Attending
10-Day International Performance Baseball Camp in Arizona
WHITTIER, CA (June 20, 2007)—Second baseman Brandon Carter needed a second opportunity to jumpstart his career while Brandon Davis was looking for an initial chance to show he could play professional baseball after catching for Georgetown University.
They had one thing in common, other than their first name.
Carter and Davis signed up for the 10-day Baseball Combine at the San Francisco Giants’ spring training home in Scottsdale, AZ. It was a combination of instruction and games against several teams of major league baseball’s extended spring training hopefuls, the type of camps International Professional Baseball of Whittier has been running for the past five years.
The camp ended less than two weeks ago, but Carter and Davis already have signed professional contracts and both have six games under their belt in the new South Coast League, which has teams in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida.
Two other players also have been signed out of the IPB camp, with others awaiting offers or re-directed to college baseball programs or given training programs which will enhance their potential.
“Carter and Davis are excellent examples of what we do for young players who come to us to fine tune their game or give them exposure to professional leagues,” said onetime major league catcher Matt Stark, who runs the IPB camps. “We have helped well over 100 players get contracts in our first five years.”
Carter, 24, an undersized but scrappy infielder from Sacramento, CA, had played briefly in the California-based Golden League last summer, hitting .207 in 29 at bats for Reno, NV. The left-handed hitter had six hits in his first four games for the Anderson (SC) Joes of the South Coast League after signing out of the Arizona camp, and is hitting .261 (6-for-23) with two doubles, a home run and two runs batted in. He also has drawn four walks.
Davis was overlooked in the free agent draft despite leading Georgetown as a junior one year ago with 40 RBI in 52 games and throwing out 29 base-stealers. The 5-foot-10, 22-year-old from Poway, CA is hitting .300 (6-for-20) with two runs batted in and an impressive .417 on-base percentage with the Joes.
Shortstop Jon Ashworth, who went to the University of Central Arkansas and is from Little Rock, has seen limited action (1-for-4 in five games) for Bradenton, FL of the SCL. Southpaw hurler Kenneth Salyer, an El Cerrito, CA product by way of San Francisco State University, allowed only two earned runs in his first start for Anderson although he was tagged with a loss.
International Performance Baseball’s next camp will be a program in Florida starting in mid-September. Details are available at www.PerformanceBaseball.net.
March 2007-Cocoa, Florida
International Performance Baseball is happy to announce 14 player's signed professional baseball contracts representing 7 Independent and Foreign professional leagues during it's most recent World Free Agent Spring Training. This event has accumilated 75 player's being signed directly out of the event in the last 4 years. The WFAST group competed well during the event going 9-5-1 overall and ending up with a 2-2-1 record against Major League organization teams. The turnout for scouts went well as there were 2 games that had every Major League team represented. Feel free to inquire about player's being signed during the WFAST 2007 event.
Pro Prospects Blue Team Loses in Semi-Finals of MSBL Tourney
Phoenix, Arizona- October- 2006
Another successful Pro Prospects Tour event concluded with International Performance Baseball showcasing 2 teams in the National open MSBL tournament. The Blue team certainly stood the test of 8 games in 4 days. Led by former major leaguer Les Lancaster (Manager of the Year in the Golden Baseball League) the Blue team reached the semi-finals of the tournament before being defeated by one of the better open amateur teams in the United States, Tinsel Town Terror (CA) 7-4. Representatives from professional Independent leagues and MLB organizations were in attendance and participated as staff members/ instructors. The October event is the last showcase of the 2006 calendar year. IPB is set to start off the New Year in 2007 with it’s Pro Prospects New Year Showcase in Florida, January 9-16.