Hitters baseball is a youth baseball organization based in Racine, Wisconsin. It has been run by R.J. Fergus for the last 18 years. Hitters Baseball operate out of the Hitters Center and Hitters Baseball Academy in Racine, but they also hold tournaments in other locations in Wisconsin and Northern Illinois.

Hitters Baseball has youth teams from the 12 and under to 18 and under division. They operate on three competitive levels. First is their BLUE level, which is their most senior level. These are traveling teams which play on elite summer and fall schedules. The next level is GREY, their junior level, and WHITE, their sophomore level. GREY and WHITE only play fall schedules. Players tryout for these teams in August, for the upcoming fall season and then the following summer season. Tryouts take place at their Racine facility and also Carthage College in Kenosha. The Hitters Baseball Academy is a member of both Premier Baseball and Mid-America Baseball.

The Hitters Baseball Academy, a 20,000 indoor facility with 11 batting cages and four pitchers mounds, offers camp sessions all year round. Camps include velocity program, hitting camp, fall speed and conditioning, infield/throwing camp, high school throwing and fielding camp and high school hitting camp. Campers can also purchase an hour of individual lessons from R.J. Fergus and the other instructors for $70. (Or $35 for the half hour.) Their camps tend to be reasonably priced. Some are as inexpensive as $60 for an entire camp and the longer camps typically come to less than $20 an hour. You can also rent out the cages at Hitters baseball Academy for $35 an hour between 3 PM and 9 PM on summer weekdays and for most of the day on summer weekends.

One of the features of The Hitter’s academy website is that it keeps statistics on all of its current players. Each name on the statistical table is hyperlinked to player page which includes information such as age, height, weight, position and team. There is also a game-by-game log of all of the player’s statistics that season. Yes, these youth players get the Big League treatment when it comes to their statistics.

Since 2000, 29 Hitters Baseball alumni have signed professional baseball contracts. Well over a hundred have gone on to play college baseball.

The Hitters baseball organization prides itself on the ability to get campers and players exposure to college coaches and pro scouts, who attend their games and camps.

There are many positive testimonials for both Hitters Baseball and the Hitters Baseball Academy posted on their respective webpages. If you are interested in learning more about high level youth baseball in Wisconsin and Northern Illinois you should definitely check Hitters Baseball out.

Did you know that over 100 college baseball programs offer baseball camps for high school and youth players? The close to 50,000 baseball players each year who attend college baseball camps do. Just about wherever you are in the country you should be able to find a college baseball camp where campers will receive instructions from college coaches and players.

At these camps younger players will be drilled in the fundamentals of the game by trained experts who already have them down pat. Older players will have their game tweaked and refined and prepared for the challenges of high school and then college ball.

College Baseball camps go on during the college baseball off season. Besides the late summer, when many camps are offered, most potential campers will be in school during this time period. So college baseball camps are often held over the weekend or during the week at night. Thanksgiving and the time between Christmas and New Years are also popular times to have college baseball camps.

The college camps coaching staff will be made up of the coaches from the host college as well as coaches from smaller college programs and junior college programs in the area. College players from the host school as well as other area college players will also assist as coaches and counselors.

Now the purpose of a college baseball camp isn’t just to learn new baseball skills, although that’s what they all advertise. For older players it is an opportunity to showcase their talents to the coaches in hopes of receiving a college baseball scholarship. (This is why going to a camp which has coaches from multiple schools is a good idea.) Some of the more prestigious college baseball camps will also have pro baseball scouts in attendance looking to check in on high school baseball players they might want to recommend to their team for Major League Baseball’s 40 round entry draft.

College camps can big pretty big, with some hoarding in 400 to 500 campers a session. Before picking a college camp you should inquire upon the coach to player ratio. Big camps are fine if they are well staffed.  But since the name of the game is getting instruction and exposure there will be plenty of campers who get lost in shuffle if there are not enough coaches.

There are all different types of college baseball camps, including some that are just for hitters or pitchers. They also have quite a price range. Some camps from top college’s like Arizona State can run $1000 for a two day seasons. However you might get a three or four day camp at your local community college for less than half of that.

Choosing a college baseball camp, particularly for older players who want to showcase their talents, should have a lot to do with the player’s skill level. If the teenager has no chance of playing college ball at a top Division 1 school they would probably be better off attending a camp at a Division 3 or NAIA school. Not only will the camp likely be cheaper but by meeting the coaches at a college the camper has the skill set to attend it builds the kind of relationships that may actually led to them playing college ball and even getting a scholarship to do so.

If you are interested in a college baseball camp the first step should be to check to see if the colleges in the area offer them. If they have baseball programs, the chances are they do.

Have you ever noticed that a disproportionate number of Major League Baseball players come from the Atlanta area? Reasons for this over-representation include the Southeast’s warm climate, the Atlanta Braves success during the ‘90s — which encouraged the region’s youngsters to emulate their heroes — and the East Cobb Baseball youth facility in Marietta, Georgia.

Located on 4617 Lee Waters Rd in the Atlanta suburb, East Cobb Baseball is a sprawling multi-million dollar 30 acre campus with eight baseball diamonds and many outdoor and indoor hitting cages. The complex also features meeting rooms, offices and even living quarters for out of town players and their families.

The project was the brainchild of entrepreneur Russ Umphenhour. He had been impressed with the way the East Marietta squad had won the Little League World Series in 1983, and also impressed with Guerry Baldwin, who was one of their coaches. So he poured in an estimated ten million dollars into developing East Cobb Baseball, and then had Baldwin recruit area youth and high school coaches to staff the facility.

East Cobb baseball hosts events throughout the year, including wood bat tournaments, and competitions involving various youth age groups.

But things really heat up at East Cobb during the summer months. It is then players between 7 and 18 try out for teams. Most players end up being placed, and each age group usually has at least ten teams. The best players in each age group are on the East Cobb Astros.

Also during the summer the facility hosts players between the ages of nine and 14 from all over the country in the Travel Ball National Championship, which takes place over three four day events in July.

Another big summer event is the Perfect Game USA sponsored tournament for high school aged 17-and-under and 18-and-under teams, which generally draws more than 100 squads. This event typically has a very heave presence of Major League scouts.

Because of everything going on at East Cobb Baseball, an area kid has the chance to play up to 60 highly competitive games a summer at the facility, which gives them a leg up on players from almost anywhere else in the nation.

Atlanta Braves coach Al Goez explains: “When you look at an East Cobb kid, you’re looking at a kid that has played so much baseball that his skills and mechanics are better than a kid, say, from south Georgia or from Florida that has not played that much.” Teams from the East Cobb have won 199 national championships in various age groups.

Over 30 East Cobb players have made the Major Leagues, including 2013 All-Stars Buster Posey, Domonic Brown, Brian McCann and Brandon Phillips. Here is a list of current and prominent East Cobb Major Leaguers:

Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves
Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves
Stephen Drew, Boston Red Sox
Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Domonic Brown, Philadelphia Phillies
Ethan Martin, Philadelphia Phillies
Zeke Spruill, Arizona Diamondbacks
Mitchell Boggs, Colorado Rockies
Charlie Culberson, Colorado Rockies
Xavier Avery, Baltimore Orioles
Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles
Chad Jenkins, Toronto Blue Jays
Luke Putkonen, Detroit Tigers
Blake Wood, Cleveland Indians
Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox
Jeff Keppinger, Chicago White Sox
Brandon Moss, Oakland A’s
Zack Wheeler, NY Mets
Will Smith, Kansas City Royals
David Hale, Atlanta Braves
Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
Kyle Farnsworth, Tampa Bay Rays
Dexter Fowler, Colorado Rockies
Jeremy Hermida, San Diego Padres
Kris Benson, retired
Adam Everett retired