Perfect Game USA

Upon graduating from Miami University, I was blessed with the opportunity to pursue a full-time job with Perfect Game. I interned with the company's scouting staff in 2021 and was blessed with the opportunity to relocate to Fort Myers, Fla., and take over a National Scouting Coordinator position.

Since moving down there, I have scouted amateur talent that will power the game's future. While I primarily cover the Florida tournaments and showcases, I had the opportunity to travel to Houston, Kansas City, and Seattle to scout some of the best amateur talents in the country.

I also had the opportunity to attend collegiate Scout Days, JuCo games, and fall games. Heading into my first spring with Perfect Game rather than Miami, I will have the chance to see some of the collegiate talents around Florida, including northern teams coming down to escape the cold.

Most days are spent watching games and taking diligent and organized notes to help write daily reports. There are also more-detailed all-encompassing reports that are derived from showcases.

I spend a lot of time networking, connecting with big league scouts and coaches, and doing the most to try and get the best picture of a player's athletic ability and intangibles. This helps me write a complete report on a player.

Collaboration and teamwork are vital. The Perfect Game Scouting staff has introduced me to many great co-workers around the country to bounce ideas off of and share notes with. I also managed several interns in the same position that I started in, ensuring that we could see the most players and cover the most games possible during a busy summer circuit.

I learn new things each day. It could be a way to evaluate a player I did not think of, a different way to view a hitter's swing or a different way to tunnel pitches effectively. Being out there watching games day-in and day-out truly is rewarding and has helped me develop knowledge. It's something I plan to continue on my journey through the game.

It's my first year in the full-time role, and it continues to help me keep growing my passion for scouting and player development while growing my knowledge.

DURING MY TIME AS AN INTERN...

In May of 2021, I was blessed with the opportunity to continue learning about the game of baseball and talent evaluation in a position with Perfect Game USA. A big thank you goes out to Tyler Russo for showing me the ropes down in Fort Myers, Florida, this summer and getting me started with Perfect Game.

I worked with a team of scouting assistants in the summer of 2021, Ben Komonosky, who's now coaching with Frontier JuCo; Cam Lanzilli, who's now coaching with Florida Southern; and Luke Marbach, who is with Abilene Christian University as the Director of Player Development. I learned a lot from all of these guys as they shared stories about college baseball, their scouting experiences, and the baseball industry.

When it comes to scouting, I got experience evaluating amateur talent from age groups as old as 18u and as young as 13u. It was an excellent opportunity to capture video, edit it, analyze it, and then post it on social media to get talent out there. Often, I would go on from my personal account and add a tidbit of scouting advice about whatever video was posted.

On top of that, I would take notes throughout the day and then go back at the end and write up those players who really stood out and caught my attention. I did this almost every single day during the summer, starting after I got down there in May and running through the first week of August. It indeed was an incredible experience, talking with NCAA coaches, travel ball program coaches, other scouts, and Perfect Game Staff to continue enriching my knowledge of the game. It's an opportunity that has helped me continue building on my scouting expertise and looking at the game from many perspectives.

At the end of the summer, I was able to work a 14u National Showcase, where I was able to go through the entire process of talent evaluation while working alongside Perfect Game National Scouting Supervisors Vincent Cervino and Travis Ice. It was a great experience to work through my first showcase and really get a chance to talk through the evaluation process while getting to work with it in a hands-on environment. I enjoyed the fast-paced atmosphere and the ability to bounce ideas and thoughts off of those around me. Everyone was willing to help me learn, which I am incredibly grateful for!

Before moving on to my time with Perfect Game in the Ohio Valley region, it was really cool to look at scouting in a different light. While with Miami Baseball, all of my scouting experience has been focused on trying to win and competitive advantage, whereas the scouting of amateurs is talent evaluation and promotion in a way. It was a fantastic experience to bridge the gap between these two segments.

After my time in Florida, Jordan Gates reached out and blessed me with another opportunity to scout for Perfect Game. In the fall of 2021, I worked with Jordan and National Scouting Supervisor Brian Sakowski to help scout and evaluate amateur talent in the Ohio Valley region. On weekends this fall, before Miami got into scrimmages/intrasquads, I would travel to tournaments around the Greater Cincinnati area to scout players.

It was similar to Florida in that I took the video, posted it, and added scouting content while completing write-ups for the Perfect Game website. Working alongside Sakowski was a great experience; we shared stories, both being Michiganders. It was enlightening to meet another scout who is a former Student Manager. I feel blessed to have been able to be involved with Perfect Game as much as I have been this past summer/fall.

If you have any questions about my time with Perfect Game, feel free to reach out, I'd love to talk more about it and amateur scouting in general!