BUTLER TWP — Ever want to be a baseball scout?

Walter Fitzpatrick, Steve Boyd, Dave Geibel, Dan Cunningham and five others like them experienced that feeling — if only for a day recently at Highfield Park.

But it was a most important day for 39 Butler County American Legion baseball players on hand to audition their skills at the BCALall-star tryout session.

Those players were evaluated on their running speed, arm strength, batting and fielding. By secret ballot, the evaluators selected 19 of them to move on to the next round of Pennsylvania American Legion all-star tryouts, set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Clearfield.

"There will be a number of college and pro scouts at that next tryout,"BCALpresident Dess Schnur said. "This whole process benefits these kids in terms of exposure for opportunities to play college ball.

"The misnomer is that a kid has to be a super talent to play college baseball. There are all kinds of levels — Division II. III, NAIA — just looking for quality kids who can play the game."

Geibel, a Butler County Colt League coach and local umpire, agreed.

"One of the biggest things these days is a kid's attitude,"he said. "Does he enjoy the game?Is he committed to the game?There are so many other things for kids to do today."

The 39 players at the BCALtryout were selected from 180 players in the league.

Any players selected to advance must attend the next tryout session or face a three-game suspension from league play.

"It's an accomplishment just to be one of the 39 guys here,"Schnur said. "But the kids have to treat this seriously. Otherwise, the whole system is a farce."

Thirty-eight players will advance from Tuesday's all-star tryouts in Clearfield to a second session there Thursday. From there, players will be selected to play in the American Legion All-West Game July 10 in Harrisburg.

Players from that game will be chosen to compete in the annual East-West All-Star Game July 23 in Harrisburg.

And local evaluators got the whole process rolling at Highfield.

"This is the closest to becoming a scout that I'll ever be,"said Fitzpatrick, a longtime Butler County Community College teacher and basketball scorekeeper.

"I've been a baseball fan for years. I see a lot of games in this area and I know the kids."

Boyd, BC3's baseball coach, has been a BCALtalent evaluator for seven years now.

"I want to contribute because this system gives kids a chance to play baseball,"Boyd said. "And it gives me a chance to see everybody.

"You can tell a lot about a kid's fundamentals by doing this. And fundamentals ... That's where the game starts."

Cunningham, president of the Eagle County League, has been a Legion talent evaluator for 10 years. He has been involved in Butler County American Legion Baseball in some capacity since 1992.

"I believe very strongly in American Legion Baseball," he said. "The talent level goes up and down from year to year. It's a really young league this year.

"It's hard for a kid to get noticed sometimes. Do well here and the entire region will know who you are."

Geibel said the final selections are the toughest to make.

"Certain players here will separate themselves from the pack. Their skills are pretty much cut and dried,"he said. "After that, the final seven to 10 choices can be hard. You have to look at a lot of things."

Schnur pointed out that evaluators are chosen who have no personal connection to any of the players involved.

"We don't want any bias or preferences,"Schnur said. "We haven't had any issues that way for years.

"We've got 180 kids in this league. There are still a lot of kids out there who want to play baseball."

The 19 players advancing to Clearfield include:

•

Pitchers — Coty McGregor (Karns City), Brian Warheit (Butler City), Jarrod Rectenwald (Zelienople)•

Catchers — Ben Cress (Butler City), Ryan Geibel (East Butler)•

First Base — Brad Cottage (East Butler), Billy Stoughton (Butler Township)•

Second Base — John Marra (East Butler), Darren Blakely (Butler Township)•

Shortstop — Mark Haney (Zelienople), Dan Pickard (Saxonburg)•

Third Base — Austin Leffler (Saxonburg), Adam Flemming (Mars)•

Left Field — Mitch Conner (Mars)•

Center Field — Phil Waller (Butler City), Jordan Roycroft (Butler Township)•

Right Field — Justin Heller (East Butler), Jim McCaslin (Meridian), Nate Seezox (Meridian)