News
Conroe Courier, 8/4/2009
National Runners Up
 The Houston Hurricanes,
representing Major League Beginnings and playing out of All-Star Baseball
Academy in Conroe, placed second at the IBC 18U World Series held at
Clearwater, Florida last week. The Hurricanes were seeded 8th after pool
play and were the only unbeaten team to advance to the finals of this double
elimination event, before losing 3-0 to the Bradenton, Florida, Bullets for
the national title. The team is made up of 20 players from 14 different high
schools in the greater Houston area, including pitchers Logan Burch
(pictured) and Brandon Holub from Montgomery High School and Cameron Johnson
from Willis High School.
Conroe Courier, 7/7/2009
Company Helps Prep Players Get Noticed By Jay Langley
There is an abundance of high school baseball talent in the Houston area.
Unfortunately, sometimes that talent falls through the cracks when it comes
to opportunities to play at the next level. That’s where Aaron Puffer comes
in. Puffer owns Major League Beginnings, a company who thrives on
introducing college coaches to talented high school players.
“College coaches are limited by the NCAA in how much recruiting they can do
off campus,” Puffer said. “And a lot of coaches are also limited by the
amount of money in their own recruiting budgets. The days of driving across
the state to see different kids are over. So we provide them an opportunity
to see 50 to 60 kids at one showcase.”
What Puffer calls a showcase is very similar to a combine in football. One
of these showcases takes place Aug. 1 at College Park High School and is
being hosted by All Star Baseball Academy in Conroe . Puffer played in
the College World Series with Creighton University in 1991. He played minor
league baseball and pitched the California Angels’ minor league team to a
Northwest League Championship. After college Puffer started the
company in Chicago and decided to relocate to Texas in 2008.
“The first kid I met in Texas was a 6-foot-4 lefthander from the Dallas area
who could throw 93 miles per hour with a good curve ball,” Puffer said. “He
had almost a perfect score on his SAT and all he had was a junior college
offer.” Upon talking to a professional scout Puffer realized the
lefthander was ranked as the 33rd best prospect in the state of Texas . But
because schools in Texas like Baylor and Rice were full of scholarship
players, the player had nowhere to turn. “He had pro stuff and was
going to a junior college because he didn’t know where to turn,” Puffer
said. “I got a hold of him and now he’s going to Notre Dame.
“That’s what it’s about is networking with the right people to get these
kids in the right situation. I preach to the kids, ‘Don’t wait for a school
to find you, go find a school and let them know you’re interested in them.’”
While going to different college camps might cost a player about $500 per
camp, Puffer’s camps allow players to showcase their talents in front of
about 20 college coaches for about $250.
Puffer is not just interested in a players’ batting average or earned run
average. “The thing I ask about first are their grades,” he said.
“College coaches don’t want to go after a kid if he doesn’t match up with
the school academically.” Major League Beginnings and the All Star
Baseball Academy also sponsor travel teams. There are currently three travel
teams from the Greater Houston area including the 16-and-under Conroe Elite,
the 16-and-under Houston Hurricanes and the 18-and-under Houston Hurricanes.
Both Hurricane teams recently played in Omaha during the College World
Series and got to take in a world series game. A collection of the best 16-
and 18-year-olds from the two Hurricane teams are traveling to Florida next
week for a tournament.
“These kids are learning what it’s going to take to play at the next level,”
said Mike Burch, one of the coaches of the 18-and-under Hurricanes. “They
are learning what’s expected of them both athletically and academically.”
Burch’s team includes five players from Montgomery High School.
“There is such an abundance of talent in the state of Texas , that a good
player can get overlooked,” Burch said. “But Aaron’s main connections are
outside of Texas . In this state you can be considered average but be a very
big prospect somewhere else.”
Puffer met All Star Baseball Academy general manager Cathy Johnson through
Chris Smith, a scout for the Los Angeles Dodges. While College Park
and Montgomery are already on board with the showcases, Johnson hopes to get
more Montgomery County high school baseball coaches involved in the coming
weeks. “It can be very frustrating because some of the talent in this
area does not get noticed,” Johnson said. “But this program helps the kids
get seen by the college coaches.”
“The top, top talent in any area will get noticed,” Puffer said. “But it’s
the average kids that can fall through the cracks. I was one of those kids
and almost didn’t get a chance. I don’t want that to happen to any more
kids.”
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