SWFL ANNOUNCES FALL ROSTERS

The rosters for the Southwest Florida Baseball program were announced yesterday. “The fall is an important season, especially for the unsigned seniors but it also gives the younger age groups a chance to compete and be seen by college coaches and pro scouts” said John Cedarburg, an area supervisor for the Colorado Rockies and a founding member of Southwest Florida Baseball – SWFL. “Many players get good looks in the fall that translates into college scholarships on down the road.” SWFL Baseball will run 4 teams this fall in the 15U – 18U age groups. “We’ll go hard for about 7 weeks and then the players need to shut it down and work on getting bigger, faster and stronger during the months of November, December and early January” said Bob VandeVenter, Board member and 17U fall coach. “They need to devote time to strength and speed training and get away from the game some” Coach Bob continued “let their bodies rest from the field but improve elsewhere.”

SWFL teams will start on September 12-13 with the SWFL Invitational that they host. The round robin event kicks off the fall for many travel organizations as 22 teams have already committed to playing in the event. “It’s a good opportunity to play against good competition and there will be some college coaches looking for players” said Vice President Clint Montgomery. “It’s also a fund raiser for the SWFL program and helps in a lot of ways.” Schedules will be posted for the teams once they are complete and each team will have 5-6 events that they play games from teams around the state of Florida. The 18U schedule is highlighted by 2 games versus Santa Fe State College and Pasco Hernando CC. “It’s a great opportunity to be seen and make an impression on a coach when you’re playing against them” said Cedarburg. “We’ve had success sending players to those schools so it’s kind of a natural fit playing them and it’s always fun playing against your former players.” 2 players that are currently at Santa Fe State College, Brandon Hernandez and Alex Goebel both earned scholarships to Santa Fe last year and could potentially play against the SWFL nine. No SWFL players will be at the nationally ranked D-2 Pasco Hernando CC this fall but Alex Kranick – SWFL 12’ graduated and moved on to Georgia Southwestern State this fall. The fall has many highlights events including 3 Perfect Game events and the WABA/JUCO super showcase in Lakeland. “WABA is my favorite event,” said Board Member and 15U Coach Pete Saez. “It’s one of those events that you gear up for, great fields, it is run really well, Lakeland is a good town and there a hundreds of college coaches there.” SWFL has made good runs in many of the past Perfect Game fall events including a PG qualifier Championship in 2013 and a perfect run through their bracket in the 2014 WWBA World Championships before falling in the first round of the playoffs. Team rosters are listed below.