Cape Cod hosts elite high school showcase

If it seems like it's too early for draft season, you're wrong.

Ask any scout, and they'll tell you it's really a year-round thing. But in many ways a nice summer trip to the Cape really gets things going. It used to be that meant a trip to the college wood-bat Cape Cod League. But for the third year in what is sure to be an annual event, the folks at Baseball Express are adding an elite high school showcase event to make the journey to New England even more worthwhile.

The 2007 Baseball Express Cape Cod High School Classic, presented by Under Armour, will once again take place in Wareham, Mass., at Spillane Field, home of the Wareham Gatemen of the aforementinoed Cape Cod Baseball League. Game time is 1 p.m. ET on Friday, so don't be late or you'll be left behind in draft research.

Can't make it up to Wareham in time? No worries. Just come to MLB.com, which is providing a free, live video stream of the high school All-Star Game, featuring some of the most talented players in the draft class of 2008.

In two short years, the game has become a must-stop among scouts and high school players wanting to get exposure playing against top competition. The first game, back in 2005, saw 17 of the 36 players get drafted, with six taken in the top 50 picks.

Twenty of the 32 draft-eligible players from the 2006 game were taken in this year's draft. Four of those were first-rounders, including No. 3 overall pick Josh Vitters, one of the game's MVPs, and No. 11 pick Phillippe Aumont, who really put himself on the map with his performance in this game last summer. Clearly, the track record is there.

"It helped me a lot," said Kasey Kiker, who played in the first game in 2005 and was taken by the Texas Rangers with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2006 Draft. "It was definitely one of the top three showcases. Right there with AFLAC and East Coast Showcase. It was real tough competition."

It's become a two-for-the-price-of-one deal for scouts, who can head to the Cape this weekend, watch the Classic workout on Thursday and the game on Friday, then stick around for the Cape Cod League All-Star Game on Saturday. This year, that game is in Wareham as well, so scouts won't have to go anywhere to see a huge mass of class of '08 talent.

"It's not even area scouts," said Kiker, who currently pitches for the Clinton LumberKings in the full-season Class A Midwest League. "They had the big guys there. There were a lot of radar guns there."

They'll be in full force this weekend as well. The Cape Cod Classic is a must-stop on the summer showcase tour, especially after the success of the first two years of the event. With 10 first-round picks, two second-rounders and a total of 11 top 50 picks taken from this game's rosters in the last two drafts, it's no wonder it's grown in stature in such a short time.

Just in case you don't make it there or can't catch it live, MLB.com is at your service once again. The game will be archived in the second season the official site of Major League Baseball is serving as the Internet-broadcast partner for the game.

"We are thrilled to have partnered with MLB.com for the Baseball Express Cape Cod High School Classic," said Steve Sclafani, CEO and founder of Baseball Factory, which provides baseball players nationwide with instruction, tournament competition, and college planning and placement.

"MLB.com is far and away the leader in the industry when it comes to providing quality online baseball programming. We are excited to have the game shown live on MLB.com and feel strongly that this opportunity will benefit the players and give them a great opportunity to be seen by millions of baseball enthusiasts."