The 2014 Grand Slam Baseball Combine, sponsored by St. Luke's Sports Performance, Chandler Bats and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, was held at Coca-Cola Park July 9.

There were 98 boys from approximately 60 schools in attendance. To accurately judge the athletes against their peers, three age groups were formed this year: ages 13-14, 15-16 and 17-18.

"The number-one focus of the program is we really hope to educate our youth baseball players in the community about the values of fundamentals when it comes to baseball skills development," John Graham, director of Sports and Human Performance at St. Luke's, said.

The event was comprised of eight different stations: vertical jump, 30-yard dash, ProAgility, medicine ball toss, bat velocity, throwing velocity, base running and a physical therapy evaluation.

"A lot of the performance tests that we're doing today really help the baseball players understand the essential component behind offseason training, preseason training and in-season training to become better baseball players as well as prevent injuries from occurring," Graham said.

The physical therapy station provided shoulder evaluations, which allowed the therapists to identify athletes who may potentially have an injury and suggest treatment options, explained Tim Miller, regional director of St. Luke's Physical Therapy:

"We're looking to see if any of the athletes have injuries right now or if they have anything, like tightness in the shoulder or weakness in the shoulder, that may cause injuries down the line. Those that have those potential risk factors, we're going to go through and try to show them a few exercises they can work on and make a recommendation to either see a physical therapist, athletic trainer or to see a physician."

While the participants rotated through the eight station cycle, Temple head coach Ryan Wheeler spoke to the parents about the college recruiting process.

"It is a process. It's not something you can really rush through. There's no magic formula to how this works," Wheeler said.

Although he told the parents that events like the combine and tournaments were good ways to get noticed by coaches, much of his speech was advice on how to choose a college.

He talked about his "five fits" method to choosing a college, stating that the child has to appreciate the college he attends whether he plays baseball there or not. His "five fits" included academics, geography, the social aspect, baseball and emotional feel. He said that to choose the right school, baseball must be taken out of the equation because if the athlete undergoes an injury and can no longer play, he should still feel he made the right decision.

Parents and students both enjoyed the event, having similar reasons for taking part.

"He enjoys playing baseball and he's looking at playing when he goes to college and I feel it's a necessary experience," Ginny Gugliemimi of Allentown said of why she encouraged her son to attend.

"Just to see how good the other players were and to meet some new coaches," Liberty High School student Dylan LeVan said.

"We hope first and foremost that they have fun. That's the number one thing," Graham said of the purpose of the event. "We also hope that they'll take some benefit out of having the opportunity to compete with other baseball players as well as learn what their strengths and weaknesses are so that they can go back and now work on their strengths and weaknesses to become better baseball players."