John Schroeder — son (Ryan) signed with Pensacola State. Ryan’s father says they went from 0 offers to 25 within 6 months of working with us.
Joe Clark — son (Jason) signed with Palm Beach State. Joe said over 50 schools contacted him (with “multiple offers” in Florida) within two months of working with us.
OF Josh Johnson — signed an 85% scholarship to Bethune Cookman University (Div 1) and started three years there
Guy Gelinas — son (Colton) signed with West Virginia University Institute of Technology over 11 other scholarship offers. Colton needed help finding specific engineering schools outside the state.
LHP Al Yevoli — signed a 100% scholarship to High Point University (Div 1) and later played professionally
RHP Jack Gallo — signed with UNF; later played at Daytona State College
1B Carlos Nieves — signed a 98% scholarship at Ave Maria in South Florida
MIF Trevor Meaney — signed a 100% scholarship to Savannah State University (Div 1)
MIF Dennis Filipovski — signed a full scholarship to St. Petersburg College and then signed a Division 1 scholarship to Monmouth University
“First off, I want to say thank you Mike and Prospect Connect for helping me achieve my lifelong dream of playing college baseball! If there is one thing I’ve learned from the recruiting process over the years, it’s that being a good high school baseball player means nothing unless you get put in front of the right people. I truly thank you guys for seeing talent in me and for making college scholarship opportunities a realistic goal for me. Playing college baseball was by far the best time of my life! Not only were we able to find a Division 1 school for me to play at, but one that was the perfect fit for my personality. I’m a true believer in Prospect Connect because I’ve seen how it has worked first hand, and I would encourage players and their families to team up with them to make some opportunities happen.” – Josh Powers, Stetson University (Division 1)
“Mike, thank you for helping me with my recruiting. I remember when we first met and I was wondering if I’d even be able to play college baseball. You helped guide me through it and I can’t thank you enough for getting my name and information out to the college coaches.” – Bryan Lavastida, University of Alabama (Division 1) and Cleveland Indians (15th round pick)
“I was the Palm Beach County Player of the Year in 2012 and I hadn’t received a single phone call. I remember you calling me after seeing me at a spring break tournament. You told me you’d get me signed, and you followed through with it. Because of that, thank you.” – James Jean (Seminole State – Flagler College)
“I appreciate everything you did for me. You believed in me when a lot of people didn’t. Because of you, I started getting calls from college coaches and I was able to play four years before getting drafted.” – Jhalan Jackson (Hillsborough CC – NY Yankees 7th round pick)
“I want to take a moment to thank Mike Bakas for what he did for me. I played on a team that went to the Final 4 my senior season and I had nowhere to go. I started working with Mike and he connected me with Stillman right away. He doesn’t just care about how good you are but looks more at who you are as a person and a player, and that was very important to my family and I. Most coaches don’t do that.” – Dakota Todd, Stillman College (Division 2)
“Mike started working with me in the fall of my senior season in high school. I played on his fall team and was very impressed with how many college connections he had. At that time, I had nothing going on with recruiting. Mike kept telling me to stay patient and that it’s a process. I was a first team All-State selection my senior season and graduated high school with nowhere to go. Mike totally changed that for me. I had a handful of college coaches calling me that summer and I ended up signing with St Johns Community College. From there I signed with Georgia Southern, a Division 1 school. I’m still thankful to this day for what he did for me. It’s a big reason why I coach one of his summer teams now. It’s amazing how quickly he can get a kid recruited. I’m glad he did that for me. It changed everything.” – Jesse Piccolo, St Johns Community College to Georgia Southern (Division 1)
“My family and I were always told just to go to as many camps and showcases as possible. We did, and nothing happened. Then I met Mike and he quickly made me realize why. Thanks to him, I signed a college scholarship.” – Spencer Heath (Washington and Lee)
“Thank you for telling the college coaches about Cody. He is going to play for the Patriots and is super excited about getting the chance to play college ball.” – Leslie Rak (mother of Cody Rak)
“Thank you! Tyler went from not hearing from anyone to many calls and texts as soon as he was part of your list. We got what we paid for!” – Lou Fleming (father)
“I wanted to share our family’s experience with Mike Bakas. Mike saw Andrew at a travel ball tournament during his freshman year and introduced himself to us after the game. We had no idea how he even knew who Andrew was. After we sat down and spoke to Mike about how the whole college baseball recruiting process works, it was clear to us that we needed to get started with it right away! I ran track and my husband played football — both at Division 1 schools — and we still had no idea how to approach the baseball process. Mike was so very helpful. Not only did he get Andrew’s information in front of a lot of college coaches, we felt like the biggest value was just having someone with his experience there to answer any questions we had along the way. Andrew now plays at USF and couldn’t be happier. I encourage families of any young player to sit down with Mike so you can see all the ways he can help you through what can be a crazy process. We can’t thank him enough for everything he did for Andrew.” — Sharon O’Donnell (mother of a Division 1 baseball player)
CLICK HERE to see a large list of players we’ve helped play at the next level.