When I was in college, I took a writing course as a part of my communications degree. Our professor told us that, very rarely, should we ever write something in first person. She referenced that it wasn’t professional in any real sense and that basically anything we wanted to write in first person, we could articulate into a different point of view and make it sound better. 

Well, school was never a big strong suit of mine and I am definitely going to break that rule today. 

This past calendar year was ScoutConnect’s first and going into it, truthfully, I had no idea how this would go. There were a ton of unknowns, an endless amount of question marks, countless moments of learning on the fly, and so much more. 

In 2025, ScoutConnect hosted 29 showcases for high school and junior college players across Illinois and Missouri with more than 700 total players in attendance. We also ran 12 tournaments in the Metro East area, using venues like Triad High School, McKendree University, Greenville University, O’Fallon Family Sports Park, and Blazier Field for gameplay. 

Social media is an anchor for us and it’s something that we pride ourselves on. Twitter and Instagram, respectively, are our two most popular platforms, but from a baseball recruiting standpoint, Twitter is far and away the more important of the duo. 

Our coverage on Twitter, in particular, from showcases, high school games, tournaments, and all of our in-person looks allow us to make sure the athletes that we see are seen by the right eyes for their recruitment. This past year, our Twitter accounts totaled 16.1 million impressions, 432,110 engagements, and 121,500 profile views. 

Honestly, my favorite set of data of ours from this past year is our total number of high school commitments from our events. As things stand right now, 96 players that attended a ScoutConnect event in 2025 have announced their commitment to play at the next level. A large majority of those are members of the 2026 graduating class, as in the current senior group, and I’m really pumped personally to see the next wave of commitments coming off the board for the 2027 and 2028 classes, respectively. 

One component of our brand that we recently launched is Boost, which is a player data hosting platform powered by Premier Pitching Performance that is going to draw even more eyes to the athletes that attend our events. Each player that comes to a ScoutConnect event will receive a free Boost Player Profile, where they can see all of their data from every event they’ve attended and the video that corresponds. From a recruiting standpoint, our profiles offer everything a college coach needs on an athlete – contact information, verifiable data sets, and a video to pair. 

Here is an example of what a player profile looks like in Boost: 

As we look ahead to what 2026 will bring for us, I’d like to take some time to share some potential highlights with you. It’s likely I’m missing something, but here are a few things that pop into my head as I’m writing this: 

+ We’re committed to continuing to expand our coverage area this upcoming year, particularly throughout the high school seasons in Illinois and Missouri. We’re looking forward to having a deeper focus on Missouri as a whole, as well as all of central Illinois, in particular. 

+ Our main host site for tournaments in 2026 will be Maryville University, a Division II program that plays in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and is located in Chesterfield, Missouri. Maryville is an all turf field that has lights and access to TrackMan data, allowing us to provide even more deliverables to the players that participate in our tournaments. Additionally, we’re excited to continue using Triad High School and McKendree University as our tournament venues. 

+ The expansion of our Summer Games event, held in early June. Last year, this was a two team event, where players participated in a pro-style workout and followed that up by playing a simulated game against each other in front of 25 college coaches. In 2026, this will be an invite-only event for uncommitted 2027 and 2028 grads with the hope that we can expand it to four teams in total, while still providing a showcase + gameplay experience to those who attend. We’re hopeful that a larger draw of talented players from Illinois and Missouri will attract more college coaches, which is the ultimate goal. 

+ The continued growth of Boost is at the forefront of our priorities in 2026. We’ll do so by continuing to enhance the platform, add deliverables, grow the coaches’ seats, and bring as many collegiate eyes to Boost as possible to ensure that players that we see are being seen as well. 

I’d like to conclude this reflection with a massive expression of gratitude to all of those that were involved with ScoutConnect this past year in one way or another. Without the support of a multitude of different sources, the development of our brand would have been impossible. I look forward to what is up ahead in 2026 and, honestly, beyond. 

Baseball season is rapidly approaching and we’re looking forward to having the opportunity to check out the gains each athlete has made this winter, and seeing how those translate to the field, whether it be during the high school season or the summer. Thank you for taking the time to read this today – unless you’re my college professor who’s really against first person point of view.