SWFL Baseball

September 15th - 16th

2007 Fall SWFL travel schedule

September:

15-16   SWFl Invitational – Ft. Myers

22-23   Perfect Game – Ft. Myers

29-30   Winning Inning – Clearwater

October:

13-14   Scorpions Classic – @ Rollins College

20-21    World Amateur Baseball Invitational – Winter Haven

26-28     Perfect Game – Jupiter

Hotels:

September 29^th – Clearwater

La Quinta – 727-799-1729

October 13^th – Orlando –

Courtyard – 407-277-7676

October 20^th – Winter Haven –

Hampton Inn – 863-299-9251

October 26-27 – Jupiter

Holiday Inn – Juno Beach – 800-272-6380

Welcome to Southwest

Florida Baseball Inc.

The mission of Southwest Florida Baseball is to provide high school players with a first class baseball experience and an opportunity to obtain a college scholarship. We want to develop the players on the field and assist them in becoming quality young men while maintaining the integrity of the game. John Cedarburg, Dave Fore, and Bill Skarbek are the original founders and have set up SWFL as a not for profit organization. Our board member advisory staff includes two exceptional people with solid baseball backgrounds; Russ Schropp and Tom LoSauro. SWFL Baseball assists with the operation of many baseball events and teams in the area. The Southwest Florida Fall Showcase, the SWFL Fall and Summer Invitational tournaments, the Summer League and travel teams are all a part of the Southwest Florida Baseball program.

The SWFL travel team has been on the move since 1993 showcasing players for college recruiters and professional scouts alike. The Southwest Florida Baseball Wood Bat League got its start in 1998 and at the time it was one of a few High School Wood Bat Leagues in the United States. The inaugural season started with a Colorado Rockies work out, a draft of the players by coaches in the league and a desire to put wood bats in high school player’s hands again. There have been changes but to no surprise, the league has been a tremendous success. High School players enjoy hitting with the wood bat and pitchers have enjoyed the rewards of being able to pitch inside and use their defense.

Since the founding of Southwest Florida baseball Inc. in 1998, SWFL has expanded its programs and prestige around the state and country. The fall travel team is part of the newly formed Florida Prospects Showcase League and will attend 5 weekend events playing against the very best from around the state while hosting the SWFL invitational in September. The 18U summer traveling team has garnered national recognition by winning nine State, National or World Championships. The 2007 summer team posted a sterling 35-15 record and captured the BCS Perfect Game Southern Regional. The most recent addition to the SWFL programs is our 16U team. They finished a strong summer campaign with a 21-10 record and will add many new faces to the SWFL programs for years to come.

SWFL traveling teams have assisted 126 players in obtaining a college baseball experience since 1998 and 23 alumni have played or are playing professionally. Congratulations to former SWFL player and Coach Tommy Watkins who made his Major League debut on August 9, 2007. He joined Prince Fielder, John Huber and Chris Resop as former SWFL players who had made “the Show.” Other local alumni signing professional contracts this summer included John Tolisano – 2^nd round Toronto, Bo Greenwell – 6^th Cleveland Indians and Josh Lopez – 31^st San Francisco.

The Southwest Florida Wood Bat League will feature 15 High Schools from around the area in 2007. 17 players who participated in the Fall Wood Bat League last year continued their baseball careers at colleges this fall. Congratulations and good luck to those young men who will now embark upon the next portion of their baseball careers. We thank you for your interest in Southwest Florida Baseball.