His academics aren't really excellent, but good for a 3 sport athlete at a demanding prep school. He has a 3.9 and 1380/1800 SAT but just took the ACT for the first time and will redo SAT. Taking 3 AP's right now. 3 sport athlete, Captain. OF runs the sixty in 6.61 seconds so he's fast and very athletic.
We don't know much about these schools. Are any of them school-spirited schools and not so "cut throat". If he didn't play sports he'd love to go to a school like Clemson, UNC, Va Tech, Wake. I know at a small school you don't get something like that, but there must be schools where the school spirit is decent for a small school. Also, at the NESCAC schools, are there just the super smart intellectual type, or are there more well-rounded kids too. He's smart, but likes to have fun too. A great all around college experience. (I'm not judging anyone, just trying to find a good fit for him. He fears his only friends at some of these schools would only be other players) He gets along with everyone, but he's an athletic guy whose idea of fun is not sitting around debating philosophy. But, he does want to go to the best academic school possible.
His first choice would be a big school, but he really wants to play baseball. There are benefits to a small school, but it's hard to know where he would fit in. Want a great academic school, but a balance.