2024 Newcastle Baseball - Player Skills Assessment

Operated by the Bellevue College Baseball Team

Player skills assessments are mandatory for players in the Pinto, Mustang, Bronco and Pony divisions and are essentially "skill evaluations". The purpose is to try, as much as possible, to get evenly matched teams by evenly distributing talent within each division. Shetland division (T-ball) does not have player skills assessments.

The 2024 Newcastle Baseball player skills assessment event is operated by the Bellevue College Baseball Team and must follow all rules as defined by Bellevue College.  Skills assessments areas include fielding, throwing, running, pitching, and hitting.

Where: Bellevue College turf softball field just west of the baseball field, near Bellevue College Gym (2906-2954 Snoqualmie River Rd, Bellevue, WA 98005)

When: Sunday, February 4th

Assessment Check-in Times: 
Pony Division (13-14 years old): 8:45 – 9am 
Bronco Division (11-12 years old): 9 – 9:15am 
Mustang Division (9-10 years old): 9:25 – 10:20am  
Pinto Division (6-8 years old): 10:30 – 11:30am  
Shetland (T-Ball) Division does not need to attend assessments 
 
Please plan on arriving during the check-in window for your division. Once the players are checked in, they may take this time to warm up and be placed in groups of 8-10 to run through the drills. Expect the assessment to last 30 minutes and account for additional time, once checked in, for other groups to make their way through the drills.  

The assessments are outdoors. Dress in comfortable athletic wear,  cleats (if available) and layers to keep warm. You will want to bring a glove, bat and batting helmet. Bring sneakers in case the assessments are shifted to the gym due to weather conditions.

Bellevue College Baseball Staff's role:

• About 30 Bellevue College players and staff will be running the Assessments
  
• Run all skills assessment stations
• Provide baseball field, batting cages, and bullpens
• Score all players at each station

Newcastle Baseball’s role:

• Run check-in and provide pennies for players to wear during assessments
• Provide clipboards for scoring by coaches, Bellevue College scorers
• Provide score sheets for each division

Newcastle Coaches role:

• Attend and score players skills for your division

Parent’s role:

• Ensure players have their own baseball glove, bat, and batting helmet; cleats are recommended as well since we will be on a turf field. Bring sneakers in case the assessments are shifted to the gym due to weather conditions.

Assessment Process:

• Skills Assessment:
• All skills assessment stations are operated by Bellevue College Baseball Staff
• Players start at station #1 and then move to station #2, #3, etc., until they are done with all stations
• After Skills Assessment:
• Players return their pennies to the check-in table
• Players leave with parents

Newcastle Baseball Coaches:

• All coaching staffs of 3 (head coach, 2 assistants) should be provided to the Coach Coordinator by February 2 to enable assessment attendance
• All coaches must check-in at the check-in table and will be issued a wristband to designate their ability to be in the assessment area and on the turf softball fields
• Coaches should attend skills assessment for their divisions and score players
• All score sheets shall be turned at the end of the assessments at the check-in table; take a picture of the assessment sheet for your personal use

Assessment Scoring:

• Scores from Newcastle Baseball coaches and Bellevue College Baseball Staff will be turned in at the check-in table at the end of assessments by that coach/college player. The scores will be recorded by the Newcastle Baseball Registrar who will use the information to start building the draft boards by division for the February draft nights by division.
• Note: analysis of submitted scores will be performed to reduce/eliminate manipulation of the draft order that we've seen in the past (e.g., underscoring of one's players, overscoring of other's players)