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Scout Day Spotlight: Brownlee Lookouts

KENT - “We’ve kind of developed into a college prep program.”

That is how Paul Brownlee best describes the organization he started back in 2001.

“We started out with just one 15-year-old team and have grown from there,” he said about the Brownlee Lookouts, which now consists of 15 teams from 11U up to 18U.

The longevity and growth of the Lookouts is impressive.

“Over the years, and particularly in recent years, we’ve gotten dedicated loyal baseball guys in our area that believe in what we’re doing,” Brownlee explained. “The retention of the guys is strong, we rarely lose guys and we’re able to add guys along the way. We’re proud of that.”

One valuable addition has been Ben Simon, who joined the Lookouts on 2010.

“I’m more involved in a lot more of the off-the-field things,” Simon said. “I played for the Lookouts for two years in high school and went on to play Division III baseball. I joined to be a coach, or that’s what I thought, but my role expanded to running player development and college recruiting.

“The biggest difference from five or six years ago to today is the amount of resources the players have now. We enable players to be as good as they choose to be.”

That is quite an evolution from the early days.

“At the time I started it I had a real strong training program. I had 1,700 kids in a hitting program,” Brownlee explained. “A buddy talked me into starting a new program.”

Soon after, the Lookouts came into existence.

“I was going to a baseball game and walking to the field and I passed a youth team of eight- or nine-year-olds,” Brownlee reflected. “On their shirts was the name Lookouts. I took that name on and the guy running the team was mad at me. We’ve had the same logo from the beginning.”

The organization has grown since then. In fact, in November the first Brownlee Lookouts Hall of Fame Banquet was held with nine inductees. Among those honored were Brad Goldberg, who was with the White Sox for a short stint last year before being traded to the Diamondbacks, and Mitch Longo, currently a member of the Indians minor league system.

“While we love to see guys make it in the big leagues, the main focus of our program is that we love to see our guys get college placement.,” Brownlee pointed out.

In just the past two years, 47 Brownlee players have gone on to play at the next level.

“We get kids ready with diets, weight lifting and baseball skills,” Brownlee said. “We play in very very high-level tournaments traveling all over God’s creation.”

Getting to that point took some time.

“When we started the program we’d travel to some of the bigger tournaments and we were taking some black eyes against some really good team,” Brownlee reflected. “They had 20-22 on their roster and we had 13-14. I always aspired to be like one of those programs.

“As time developed, we started getting success against those teams. Word spread and today we can play with anybody age 15 and up. Our older teams now have big rosters and pitchers only. I didn’t even know what PO was back then.”

Strong coaching has helped pave the way for the organization.

“I coach the elite 15 team,” Brownlee said. “We have 100 kids above that age and 100 below. I oversee the younger middle school program and oversee the older-aged kids.

“Craig Opalich has coached 18U the last 10 years and Cody Jones typically coaches 16 and 17. He goes two years with each of them, next year he’s with 16. Nanak Saran is the same as Cody and he’ll have 17 next year.”

Kolton Staskey is another that helps at the older ages, a seven-year veteran in the organization as a player, coach and instructor.

“We’ve just got a really strong coaching staff at those ages,” Brownlee said.

The addition of Simon to the Lookouts has been huge according to Brownlee.

“The most prominent part of the program now is Ben Simon,” Brownlee said, lising recruiting coordinator, marketing coordinator and social media coordinator as Simon’s roles. “Ben coordinates a very integral part, interfacing with PBR, showcases with colleges and roving from each team. His expertise is pitching and throwing. He also coordinates the weightlifting and diets for all my guys.”

The Lookouts will participate in the Prep Baseball Report Scout Day on Jan. 22, marking the fourth year that has happened.

“It’s been a good experience,” Brownlee said. “Three years ago when they started it we were one of the only ones doing it. Now all the travel programs seem to be doing it. We get 40 to 50 players there. We do one in the winter and one in the summer.”

Both Brownlee and Simon see major benefits in joining forces with PBR.

“We talk the heck out of it,” Brownlee said about PBR. “From ninth grade up we’re big customers. Ben coordinates all of them. We don’t want to put a kid in that’s not ready, so we make sure of that. The parents respect our opinions and recommendations.”

It is a role Simon enjoys.

“The thing PBR does really well is when you have a kid no one knows about, they can make up a lot of ground in a hurry if they perform well at an event,” Simon noted. “We have guys that will raise eyebrows after the event.”

It is part of what the Lookouts are all about.

“The goals our guys have are different than some of the other organizations,” Simon said. “One of our guys sets a goal and it starts to snowball. There’s no offseason for us. We’re not just a summer organization. The most important thing we do is help players get better.

“And the best part about player development is that you get what you put into it. We instill in all the players that it starts with what you can control. It doesn’t matter about the others, if you take care of the weightlifting and the skills you can go a long way.”