Mission Statement:

Midwest Bruin Baseball develops our players from the inside out.  One of our goals is to provide our student-athletes with the physical, mental, and emotional tools necessary to someday earn an opportunity to play baseball at the collegiate level.  We strive to teach our players the fundamentals and skills needed to help with the transition from high school to college.  Along with providing players exposure to college coaches via tournaments, showcases, and our coaches’ recruiting networks, our players will learn other values including but not limited to: respectful and ethical behavior, time management, accountability, and the importance of high academic standards.  The Midwest Bruins primary objective is to physically, mentally, and emotionally prepare players for college baseball and/or college life and beyond. We not only want to prepare them to play on a college team, but we strive to prepare them to become major contributors to the success of their college team and community.  Our program focuses on developing player character and to maximize the player’s overall potential — in baseball and in life.

The Midwest Bruins are comprised of student-athletes with the work ethic, skills, and desire to pursue the earning of baseball scholarships at the collegiate level.  We typically carry high school teams:  17/18U and 15/16U combo teams.  But, we will consider the option to open up more teams, which could be single grad-year or multi-grad-year combo teams, if the coaches see fit. 

We strive to present the best baseball experiences for our players by providing:

1.)  Quality Coaching/Mentoring – the Bruins are coached and operated by experienced coaches from Smith Baseball Academy and other SBA certified coaches.
2.)  Quality Competition- the Bruins compete in the highest-level college-level tournaments/showcases in the Midwest as much as possible. We are the only local organization that is part of the KCCBA league which is comprised of some of the top organizations in the Midwest.
3.)  Exposure – the Bruins strive to get players as much exposure to as many college coaches/scouts as possible. Through SBA, high school coaching, and our fall/summer programs, Coach Smith corresponds on a daily, weekly, monthly basis with a large network of college coaches.  100% College Offer rate for every senior class we’ve had since starting the program!  93 college commits and counting!
4.)  Character/Player Development – the Bruin organization is not solely focused on player exposure/development for our underclass athletes. The program will also focus on character/player development for our older/college committed players as well. Coaches will coach and mentor with class and players will play with class. We will strive to keep building on development and provide mentorship for our student-athletes all the way through high school and into college years and beyond — in both Baseball and in Life.

Our program is for the serious baseball player who loves to play and practice. We do have a lot of fun, but we are not running a recreational-style program!

Tryouts/Recruiting:

The team will not necessarily be comprised of only players that attend the publicized tryouts. We do consider players from other cities, states, throughout the year, etc.

MIDWEST BRUIN BASEBALL

Year-Round Program

Midwest Bruin Baseball players are put into a Year-round program with the focus on skill/mental development to not only prepare them to play baseball beyond high school and help them transition into life after high school, but we also help prepare them for their spring high school baseball season.

FALL:

• 5-6 weeks, late August to mid-October
• Only 1 practice during the week
• Flexible scheduling for school activities. School activities come first but come to Fall Baseball when you can!

Our Fall program runs during the months of Late-August, September/October consisting of 5 – 6 weeks of showcase-style games, or scrimmages, with a weekly practice scheduled during the week.  Our Fall program is an essential part of our players’ development, allowing coaches to gain assessments for maximum player development.  Fall is also a huge advantage for our athletes on the exposure & recruiting front!  We do encourage our athletes to participate in high school sports/activities in the Fall & Winter!  Participating in multiple sports and activities helps build a full range of mature fundamental motor skills in order to achieve full physical literacy.  College coaches prefer athletes that are well-rounded with multi-sport skill sets!  But, we do encourage ALL of our MW Bruin student-athletes to participate as much as possible in our Fall program also!  

WINTER:

In the winter months, we will run our Team, Group, and Individual Winter Off-Season Training & Development programs:

• Organized Midwest Bruin Team baseball workouts will be held during the winter months at our indoor facility, Smith Baseball Academy in Topeka.
• Each MWB Baseball athlete will be offered Hitting & Defensive training sessions with our coaches during the off-season months.
• Pitching Velo & Development training sessions are also offered from our Pitching coaches.
• In addition, starting in October, the use of these facilities will be available, at no charge, to any current/active Midwest Bruin program player.
• SBA does offer Private one-on-one workouts and lessons to MW Bruin players at a discounted rate. We highly encourage our players to get extra work in over the development months! Hitting, fielding, Pitching and Velocity Training!

SUMMER:

• 8 weeks
• Mid-week games & Weekend events
• 2-3 practices during the week

The Midwest Bruin Baseball summer program will begin practice within a day or two after the spring high school season is over. We will practice or play 2 – 3 times during the week, and then travel to tournaments and showcases on the weekends. Keep in mind, many tournaments begin on Wednesdays or Thursdays. If the player plans on having a summer job, your work schedule will need to be flexible. The season will span approximately 8 weeks during the months of June and July. Practices, games, and tournaments are mandatory – excused only for situations approved by the coaches. Our program is for the serious baseball player who loves to play and practice. We do strive to have a lot of fun, but we are not running a recreational-style program.

Typical summer baseball week:

• • Monday: OFF
  • Tuesday: Practice or mid-week game
  • Wednesday: Practice, mid-week game, or tournament start
  • Thursday: OFF or Practice or tournament start
  • Thursday thru Sunday: Tournament play

Player Fees:

The Midwest Bruins have a budget to pay for team expenses. The team budget includes:

• Game Uniform – game jerseys, hat, socks and belt
• Practice gear – T-shirt(s) and shorts
• Equipment – Batting helmets, balls, scorebooks, lineup cards, training equipment, etc.
• Tournament & Showcase Entry Fees
• GameChanger & Velocity Radar Technologies
• Winter Indoor Practice/Facilities
• Umpire Fees
• Mid-week Game fees
• Practice Field Expenses
• and other team expenses

The teams’ budget does not include, and these items are to be paid for separately by the player:

• Optional Uniforms/Fan Gear – Extra hats, shirts, Parent/Family shirts and Fan Gear, etc.
• Game pants are the players’ responsibility
• Transportation to surrounding area games and Overnight/Travel tournaments will be the responsibility of the Player.
• Lodging at any Overnight/Travel tournaments will be the responsibility of the Player.
• Travel Meals & Entertainment – If we travel, each player is responsible for their own meal expenses and entertainment costs at travel locations. *However, at most hotels, there is a daily complimentary breakfast.

The Midwest Bruin Baseball year-round program player fee is estimated at:  $2,200.00

*Please fill out our ONLINE Tryout Registration Form by clicking the “TRYOUT REGISTRATION” button below: