Attention campers: FL tryout in Sauget, Ill.

If you're from Western Pennsylvania and you'd like to attend the Frontier League's tryout camp this spring, then you'll have some extra traveling to do.

The 21^st annual Frontier League Tryout Camp and Draft will be held April 29-30 at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill., home of the Gateway Grizzlies.

All 14 Frontier League teams will be represented at the tryout, and Major League Baseball scouts have been in attendance each of the past eight years. Advance registration is available at www.frontierleague.com and walk-up registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. April 29.

At the end of the first day of the tryout, managers will post a list of players invited back for inter-squad games April 30. At the conclusion of the games, action will break for 30 minutes as clubs evaluate the talent and prepare for the draft. 

An average of 35 players each season have been drafted by Frontier League teams and signed to spring training contracts over the past eight years. More than 340 players participated in last year's tryout at at Consol Energy Park, with 133 invited back for the second day. Forty-five players were signed to spring training contracts last year, with 30 appearing in regular-season games. Each year, at least one tryout camp participant has appeared in the Frontier League All-Star game. Several draftees have gone on to be signed by Major League Baseball organizations, including RHP Chris Jakubauskas who appeared in 69 MLB games (including 15 starts) over the past four seasons.

 

Last year, Rockford selected pitcher Mike Lee with the first overall pick in the draft. Lee was signed at midseason by the Atlanta Braves and finished the year starting nine games for the Braves' affiliate in high-Class A.

 

“The Frontier League Tryout Camp and Draft is the best way for a player to showcase himself so he can begin or continue his career in professional baseball,” commented Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee. “Our clubs take the workouts very seriously, and each year multiple attendees wind up making key contributions to playoff teams.”