GLENDALE, Ariz. – A Perfect Game event like the PG National Underclass West Showcase which wrapped up its two-day run at the Camelback Ranch spring training complex late Sunday afternoon provides a perfect window into the ambitions of the young teenage prospects.
And it also helps show just how important a father’s guiding hand – especially a father who has been through the whole college recruiting process – can be in making sure his son is provided with the most beneficial opportunities.
Nolan Collins is right-handed pitcher from Southern California, a 6-foot, 150-pound junior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., who like the nearly 110 prospects at this event and the PG West Uncommitted Showcase is looking to catch the eye of college recruiters.
Demand is high and the number of scholarships available is finite, but the kids that are out here on a regular basis know the effort has to be ceaseless. There is a lot riding on their performances at an event like this, even though as high school juniors, sophomores and freshmen, they still have a lot of time to make their presence known.
“Part of it is because I want to have a lot of fun playing baseball, but really I want to see for myself how I play, and I know that college coaches can see how I play on Perfect Game-dot-(org),” Collins told PG when asked why he made the trip to the desert this weekend.
Collins was here in the company of his father, Tom Collins, who pitched at the University of Notre Dame in the early 1980s. Tom is watching his son’s progress with both the eye of a father and that of a former collegiate athlete who realizes how important the PG National Underclass West Showcase can be to his son’s progression.
“He’s starting his junior year and he’s just starting to go through the process,” Tom Collins told PG. “We liked the first Perfect Game tournament we came to, we liked the way it gives access to different coaches and access to different information, so we just think it’s a good way for him to compete with high-performance guys and also get some awareness built around him.
“This helps him understand that he can compete at a high level. I think it helps him understand the kind of talent that’s out there and I definitely think it helps with his confidence.”
Like just about every other Southern California prospect, Collins can enjoy playing the game the year-around, although he said after this event he would be shutting himself down until the first of February when the So Cal spring high school season begins.
“Once the high school season ends in late May or June, I usually go straight to travel ball with the Bombers,” he said. “It’s great at the showcases and tournaments, meeting new people and making new friends, and being able to play in front of the right people so you get seen.”
Collins, ranked as a “high follow” nationally and top-50 right-hander in California, began playing for the Southern California Bombers 2016 team this past summer and made an immediate impact.
He was named to the all-tournament team after the Bombers advanced to the quarterfinals at the PG/EvoShield National Championship (Underclass) – his fastball was gunned at 84 mph – in September and then helped the Bombers reach the semifinals at the PG California World Series (Underclass) in October.
The association with the Southern California Bombers organization has been an extremely beneficial, according to both Collins and his father.
“You always learn new things about how you’re playing and you also learn from your teammates, how they’re playing,” Collins said. “And on the other teams, too, if some guys is doing something really special you can learn from that guy.”
Added Tom Collins: “It’s a great team and it helped his confidence tremendously. It just helps him play at a higher level and just see the competition that’s out there … and the whole organization is great, the kids are great and it’s been a real positive experience for him.”
Tom Collins went on to suggest it was his son’s mental outlook that improved the most after he began playing for the Bombers in high-level Perfect Game tournaments, along with other more local events.
“He doesn’t let a bad inning or a bad outing affect him, and I’ve been very proud of him in that respect,” Tom said. “He’s been able to shake off the not-so-great performances but also not get too excited when he has a great performance. He’s very level-headed and he has a good understanding of the game and he knows you’re going to have good games and bad games.”
Sixteen-year-old Nolan Collins, who carries a 3.65 GPA to go with that 84 mph fastball, is serious about continuing his baseball career in college and has certainly left his choices wide open. On his PG Profile Page, he lists 15 schools of interest, ranging from Notre Dame, Duke and Boston College out east to Gonzaga, Stanford and Santa Clara on the West Coast.
His father, the Notre Dame grad, is going to be there to answer any questions Nolan has about the process.
“As it relates to the recruiting process, it’s just try to find the best academic school you possibly can find, and if you can play baseball there, that’s great,” Tom Collins said. “As it relates to baseball, be the best you can be, always work hard, always hustle, and the growth and maturity will come with time. It’s just to always compete and if he’s always competing then I think he will be true to he is as an athlete.”
Tom has worked with his son on the baseball side of things on a pitcher-to-pitcher basis, but admits he’s left the heavy-lifting to other coaches “because kids will only listen to their parents so much.” His impact isn’t lost on Nolan, however.
“He’s taught me how to play since I was 4 or 5 years old, and he’s also made me love Notre Dame,” Collins said. “He’s taught me a lot of what I’ve learned about baseball.”
It’s always interesting watching the game action at the events like the PG National Underclass West Showcase and PG West Uncommitted Showcase if only in the context of how easily the prospects interact with one another.
It’s that interaction with the other players that Collins enjoys the most, noting it only makes everyone better.
“I always hope I can come out and do the best as I can because I want to impress other people, and that’s the way I always come into this kind of event,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of progress over the past couple of months with velocity and breaking pitches and that kind of stuff.”
It’s watching that progress that Tom Collins and Nolan’s mother, Susie, have enjoyed the most over the past year or so. Their son is developing into a prospect, one that could realistically get at least a portion of his college education paid for if he continues to progress and develop.
The “process” is in full swing for Nolan Collins. The PG National Underclass West Showcase is just one small part of it, and just one stop on a ride that is sure to be filled with equal parts of smooth sailing and choppy waters.
“It’s part gratifying and part terrifying,” Tom said with a laugh. “What we found interesting is when he transitioned from just playing on his high school team to playing more at this level, there were games when he would get hit and there were more setbacks. That was good for him to deal with – to learn how to deal with adversity, to learn that not every game is going to be easy.
“It’s been great to watch the development, it’s been great to kind of be there with him as it happened.”