ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- New Mexico is not exactly known as a baseball Mecca.
Scouts and recruiters don’t often flock to the state in search of the next Albert Pujols or Tim Lincecum.
But when enough quality players are gathered together in one spot for a weekend tournament, the scouts will come.
Such was the case last weekend with the Albuquerque Baseball Academy’s fall tournament, held at Lobos Field and Isotopes Park.
Dozens of baseball scouts and recruiters fills the stands at Lobos Field Scouts from Major League Baseball, agents and advisors and recruiters from D-I programs like Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and New Mexico were on hand to watch some 200 players hit the fields.
“If we can get a large group of good ballplayers in one spot, the scouts will come,” said Ryan Brewer, ABA co-owner and a former Minor League player who also coached at Texas Tech and UNM. “In the spring and fall, they’re not going to come and see one or two players. They’ll come if they have a chance to 150 different kids.”
The tournament drew players from high school across Albuquerque and even the state, with some coming from as far away as Alamogordo and Piedra Vista in Farmington.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Eldorado star Sam Wilson. “It was a good experience.”
It was a good measuring stick for the high schoolers because they got to test themselves against a number of junior-college teams.
“That was a great because we know a lot of those guys from playing against them or with them before they went off to college,” Wilson said.
In particular, the players from New Mexico J.C. were impressive, he added.
“They hit the crap out of the ball,” Wilson said with a chuckle.
The tournament has been something that the Lobos’ coaches have relied on since its inception, with current coach Ray Birmingham and before him, Rich Alday, mining the talent to boost the program.
“It’s been outstanding for us,” Birmingham said. “We can see the kids in a competitive situation all one time in a three-day span. That’s huge for us.”
He estimated that since taking over the program, “half my pitching staff,” came out of the tournament.
Other Lobos stars like Brian Cavazos-Galvez and Jordan Pacheco made their mark at the tournament.
“I could go on an on,” Birmingham said. “There have been some big-time players.”
With so many scouts and recruiters in the stands it can be hard to focus on the task at hand, especially when the season is all but over, Wilson said. But that can also bring out the best in a player.
“For the most part, everybody has the right attitude,” he said. “But in the back of your mind, you know that there’s a bunch of scouts in the stands watching you, so you want to do your best.”
And that can be unsettling.
“It was a little nerve wracking,” admitted Wilson, who has played in these tournaments before. “But you just have to forget about it and go and play.”
While most of the top-level players are already on somebody’s radar, somebody can pop up out of nowhere in a tournament like this, which is the whole reason they are so important.
“We saw seven guys we didn’t know about who jumped on to our list,” Birmingham said. “This is a great tournament for us."
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