The New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series is thrilled to announce a new event that will continue to spotlight some of the top amateur talent at the junior college level.
On the heels of a very successful inaugural Future Stars Series Showdown, held in January at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, FSS president and CEO Jeremy Booth has unveiled plans for a JUCO All-Star Weekend, set for August 16-18 at a Triple-A or major-league facility, with further details on location and facility to be revealed in the near future.
The selection committee is a who’s who of the JUCO space, and currently features Kory Koehler (San Jac) – East Texas/ Louisiana, Kurtis Lay (Odessa) – West TX/NM, Dalton Rodriguez (Ranger) – Central TX, Mack Chambers (Seminole State, OK) – Oklahoma/Arkansas, Brock Buckingham (Cowley County) – Kansas, Blake Jones (Mineral Area) – Mo. Valley, Nick Garritano (College of S. NV) – AZ/NV/CO, Elliott Ayala (Monroe) – East Coast, Aaron Biddle (Wabash Valley) – Mid-West, Tyler Younger (Gulf Coast) – Panhandle/N. Florida, Zach Cole (Florida SW) – S. Florida/Central FL, Dave Shelton (Walters State) – Tennessee/GA, Ryan Ihle (Wallace Dothan) – Alabama, Chad Baum (Fullerton) – Southern California, Paul Wiebens (Chabot) – Northern California, Ken Jacome (Pima College), Preston McDonald (Florence Darlington Tech) and Brian Valentine (Lower Columbia)- Northwest.
“I think, from a Junior College perspective, the JUCO All-Star event is a game changer, Koehler said. “With Jeremy Booth’s leadership and our JC Council adding input on nominations, the Future Stars All-Star Weekend will be quite possibly the most heavily scouted JUCO event in the country each year. I look forward to This partnership and working together with our council to make this a memorable weekend for many deserving young men.
In addition to that best-of-the-best external selection committee that has been formed to nominate players for selection to this event, Booth and FSS scouting director Pat Murphy will also have a hand in the process. Upon nomination, the Future Stars Series will contact the school to inform them, and the player will have the option to accept or decline.
If the player opts in, the Future Stars Series staff will begin analysis which includes scouting, data and statistical analysis, and continue this process into the first month of the summer season. Reports will be written on nominated players, and the full FSS testing model will be done regionally before any selection is made, with the nomination process expected to be completed by the end of May.
A total of 50 players will be selected to participate, and must be draft eligible for the following season to be eligible. Additionally, pitchers who have reached a maximum innings workload will not be permitted to attend so as to ensure their long-term health.
“This is exciting, and it’s exciting to be able to do it the right way,” Booth said. “Kory and I were able to collaborate on this idea, and when you look at the names and look at the schools that are involved here, it speaks for itself. But when you add in the scouting element and vetting of the players, it’s a team effort to make it work. You can expect this to be on everyone’s scouting calendar; both for big league clubs looking for draft-eligible players and for colleges taking on transfers that can make an immediate impact in their programs. We’ve got some big things in the works as far as a venue for this that will be fitting of such a big event as well, and are excited to announce that partnership in the near future.”
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