Showtime Baseball will have three teams in a new national baseball league designed to streamline scheduling for programs that travel to face top-notch competition.
The World Scout League, which will debut in 2012, hopes to include hundreds of the top teams at five age levels. Showtime plans to have its top teams in the 18-and-younger, 16-and-younger and 14-and-younger age divisions play in the new league.
Showtime, a decade-old club based in Battle Ground, will play in a league that involves other top teams from Washington and Oregon. League play will take place during June, with regional playoffs and the World Scout League national tournament scheduled for July.
“It’s a good thing for our kids, our program, and our community,” said Showtime founder Billy Hayes.
Joining this league replaces several expensive trips that Showtime was planning to make to high-level invitational tournaments, Hayes said.
“We feel honored to be invited,” Hayes said. “This is something the kids earned with their hard work and dedication. It’s a reward for them.”
So far, Showtime is the only club from Southwest Washington in the new league. It was the first club from the Pacific Northwest invited to join the league, Hayes said.
The World Scout League is accepting team applications through the end of December. The schedule has not been released, but Hayes said Showtime plans to host one of the local league tournaments.
The World Scout League was formed by Prospect Wire founder Matt Bomeisl and Team One Baseball founder Jeff Spelman. In a press release, they described their new venture as a way to bring some order to the summer club baseball scene.
As its name indicates, the World Scout League is designed to give top prospects one place to play and get seen by scouts for colleges and professional baseball teams. Hayes said the advantages of the new league go beyond a vehicle for getting Showtime players seen by scouts.
“For our younger players it’s a developmental opportunity,” Hayes said.
Teams in the World Scout League can still play in other high-level tournaments if they choose.
One unique aspect of the WSL is that the league will have official scorekeepers at each game and the statistics will go directly to the World Scout League website.
