SLABA Baseball: A Path to College then the Major Leagues

St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association (SLABA) was established in 1987 to provide St. Louis-area high school players and younger teams with maximum exposure to the toughest competition. This was accomplished by affiliating with nationally recognized and sanctioned youth baseball programs.

SLABA currently has national affiliations with PONY Baseball, Inc., the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC), and the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF).

The league sends teams from each of its age groups to various postseason tournaments hosted by these affiliations throughout the country. The PONY and NABF affiliations give teams an opportunity to play in national playoff tournaments.

The league has 10 teams: Jefferson County Barnstormers and Blazers, South-West Stars, American National Eagles, Eagles West, Lincoln County Raiders, Stallions, Johnny Mac Thunder, St. Louis Tigers and Meramec Valley Travelers.

Membership is limited to organizations that are assigned specific boundaries based on two public high schools in their area. SLABA organizations draw players from two base school districts, private school players and players ages 13-to-18 from “open” school districts.

SLABA Players who Joined MLB

Former SLABA players include St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle McClellan, a native of Florissant who attended Hazelwood West and currently resides in Maryland Heights, and Cardinals third baseman David Freese, who is a graduate of Lafayette High School.

Perhaps the most prominent local player who played SLABA baseball is another Lafayette graduate, Philadelphia Phillies All-Star first baseman Ryan Howard.

The 18-and-under postseason awards are named after several SLABA alumni, including the Kyle McClellan Pitcher of the Year; the Ryan Howard SLABA MVP; and the coach of the year award named for Jim Medlock, a former insurance agent who founded the American National Eagles in 1975.

Howard played three seasons for the Ellisville Redbirds from 1996-1998 before moving onto Southwest Missouri State. On the SLABA website, Howard said the organization gave him “the chance to improve my skills and get noticed by college coaches.”

The Phillies drafted Howard in the fifth round of the 2001 draft.

Freese, McClellan and Howard have always praised their SLABA experience and, while lauding those three players, Garner and Jefferson County Blazers coach Dustin Bain did not leave out Northwest High School graduate Andrew Johnston, who pitched at Jefferson College before moving onto the University of Missouri. He currently plays for the Colorado Spring Sky Sox, the AAA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. 

All-Star SLABA Game

SLABA will hold its all-star games for each age-group level on July 31 and Aug. 1 at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, MO. Other games can be heard regularly on Prepcasts.com and 101 ESPN broadcasts a game of the week every Friday. The league also puts on a showcase each October for select juniors and seniors to play in front of college scouts.

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