The East Coast Professional Showcase is the middle event of the three major showcases on the summer circuit, bracketed by the PG National Showcase in mid-June and the Area Code Games next week in Long Beach, California. The East Coast Pro, as well as the Area Codes, are run and organized by professional scouts, who also select each of the geographically based teams.
There are about 150 players at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa for the four-day event, virtually all from the East Coast, including some players from Canada and Puerto Rico. Twenty-four of the 26 players on the East squad for the PG All-American Classic are showing their talents in front of the 300-400 assembled scouts. Only outfielder Kyle Jacobsen, who is at the Connie Mack World Series, and Puerto Rican outfielder Jonathan Rodriguez are missing. Three West squad All-Americans – catcher M.J. Melendez (Montgomery, Ala.), outfielder Jacob Pearson (Downsville, La.) and righthander Blayne Enlow (La.) – are also in Tampa.
All six teams opened the first game by taking a pro style batting practice, followed by a trio of seven-inning games, with each team also taking showcase style fielding drills prior to these first games instead of the traditional in/out defensive routine.
Batting Practice Highlights
Outfielder Cole Brannen (Elko, Ga.) took perhaps the best batting practice of the day, starting off loud with a third pitch home run and continuing to drive the ball hard the entire round. It was a bit different swing than his game approach in that it was much more pull oriented but it was very impressive.
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