For those across the nation who haven’t heard, there’s a heat wave rolling over Southern California even as some parts of the nation are getting some initial snowfall.

As I arrived at the West Covina, Calif. fields for the event called Firecrackers and TCS present: Showcase at Big League Dreamsmy car thermometer measured 101 degrees.

When I left late in the afternoon the thermometer was at 116 degrees and the steering wheel was so hot I couldn’t hold it—I had to tap it regularly to drive until I got the air cranked up.

Fortunately, hot though it was, the games on the field were fantastic and the Showcase has become one of my favorite events to attend. If you’re not familiar with the Big League Dreams facility, the fields are set up with the backdrops resembling those of MLB parks—there are stadium backgrounds resembling those of the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, etc.

What’s nice about the facility, too, is that the fields are adjacent and it’s easy to go from game to game.

The Showcase also took place in Chino Hills, not far away by car and that’s where the bulk of the 14U and 16U take place; I watched mostly the 18U games at the Big League Dreams site where there were a lot of college coaches as well.

The Pac-12, for example, were represent by schools like Cal, Oregon State and Utah to name a few (I met and had a nice chat with Laura Berg of OSU).

I walked around checking out games and talking to coaches and parents which is always fun.

Having done that, here are some notes from what I saw and heard on Saturday…

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— Starting on a sad note, our thoughts go out to Larry Farnworth of American Pastime Gold, his family and all those in his organization.

Coach Farnworth, who has been with his organization 25 years, wasn’t with his team this weekend as he was attending a memorial for his son-in-law who died last week on a plane flight.

According to Coach Dewaine Smiley, who’s running the Pastime in Coach Farnworth’s absence, the 45-year-old passed away as his flight descended and a blood clot to his lungs was triggered.

— On the field, the Pastime have a pair of 2015’s who are getting recruited by schools like Bethune-Cookman. Alyssa Rasso is a outfielder/utility player and Alexis Sullivan a second baseman/utility player who are both getting serious looks and looked good today.

Sullivan,, says Smiley, can “sneak bat with the best of them.

Two other players on the Pastime to watch are 2016 first baseman/utility player Ronnie Watson and Brittany Galvez, a catcher and third baseman.

Watson just joined the team three weeks ago. She hit .545 last week at the Heartland Tournament which her team won for the second year in a row.

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If you’re a Cal fan, you should be following the Sorcerer Gold team, which is always one of the most competitive teams in the country.

The NorCal team has four Bears’ recruits and as I walked into the stadium where the Sorcerer team was playing I saw a mammoth home run by Lindsay Rood, the 2015 infielder committed to Cal.

Pitcher Brynne Fitzpatrick, another senior headed to Berkeley, looked good in the circle and in an interesting match-up faced Washington Ladyhawk Red pitcher Bradie Fillmore, a 2016 also going to Cal.

Bradie won that matchup and got on to first with a single, but the Sorcerers won 7-2.

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Speaking of the Washington Ladyhawks, Head Coach Wayne Miller had two teams playing at the same time, the Red and Blue teams, and the Red team has several 2017’s who are Hot 100 caliber players (stay tuned for an announcement in the next day or two on when this list will be revealed!).

Here are sophomores that are drawing national attention:

— Maddie Morgan is a very focused middle infielder who grew up a Washington Husky fan, but has committed to Alabama. I did a video interview with her which I’ll post this week.

— Ally Choate is an outfielder who Coach Miller says “is a complete ballplayer with a good arm and the ability to power slap.” Washington is reportedly watching her closely.

— Daisa Lester is an outfielder/pitcher who came over from Team Seattle and, according to her coach, “plays with confidence at a high level.”

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While we’re talking about 2017’s, there are two of note on the Corona Angels-Howard team that are ones to watch in pitcher Giana Lopez and catcher Tiana Patrick.

You know that being in the Angels organization they’ll get looks and they have the talent to play at the next level.

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I had a chance to watch the Arizona Hotshots Gold team including Mallory Belknap, who made the 2015 Hot 100 and was committed to Georgia before the Bulldogs dropped her and two other recruits—good news to report that it appears all three will be signing next month.

Mallory committed this week to Georgetown after doing a three school tour. I asked her what it was she liked about the East Coast school and she said, simply, “Everything. I felt comfortable with everything there.”

On the field I was impressed with her bat control and speed—the lefty lined a shot so hot the third baseman couldn’t handle it and it caromed far enough away that Mallory with her good speed was able to use her wheels to get to second base safely.

— A teammate on the Hotshots is 2015 outfielder/second baseman Shelby Kennedy who also committed this week and is also going to a strong East Coast academic program—Yale.

Shelby is a lefty slapper who is quick and when she puts the ball down you have to field it cleanly to get her out.

— Another player I like on that team (among others) is corner infielder Mackenzie Budinger, a 2016 player who can also catch and has good pop in her bat.

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Finally, the So Cal Choppers were typical of many teams missing players because of official and unofficial campus visits.

Dean Fausett’s team was missing 2015 infielder Zoe Shaw who was at UCLA for the day and also 2017 second baseman Abby Sweet who was visiting Notre Dame.

In case you hadn’t heard, Bill Shipman—father of Tennessee great Madison and 2018 phenom Ally Shipman—is one of the assistants on the Choppers and naturally Ally is on the team as well.

And a shout out to our 2016 Hot 100 honoree Cayla Kessinger who had a three-run blast in one of the Choppers’ afternoon games.