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Believe it or not, recruiting for 2017 Summer ball is already underway. Like political campaigns, it seems to get earlier every year. We had 4 players on our 2016 team receive offers to play in the Cape Cod League in 2017 even before  they finished their 2016 summer season.  Most of the "upper echelon" leagues, for lack of a better description, and there are 10-12 of those, will fill their rosters by October, with the exception of pitchers. There's a definite trend in the top conferences (SEC, ACC, PAC 10/12/whatever, etc.) to wait on placing pitchers until the spring as if a pitcher blossoms and pitches a lot for his college, he may be shut down or placed on a strict innings limit.  D-2's and D-3's place almost all of their pitchers  earlier as they often need summer ball to get exposure, where the major D-1 conferences already have plenty of scout views.  The hardest players to place are young D-3 Position players, not because they aren't solid players, but on average they generally face lesser pitching than D-1 leagues, so they are harder to evaluate until they have played a college season. Once they've played a summer season successfully, combined with a good college season, placement is easier. As for solid D-3 pitchers, 92 is 92 wherever its thrown, so they can garner early interest, freshman or not.

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So if you have not reached out to your coach or made it clear in your exit interviews last spring, and let him know you are interested in playing Summer ball at that level next year. Do not wait! Make sure your coach knows of your interest. Some coaches place players as part of their regular process. Some coaches only place players that voice an interest. A coach does not want to place a player only to find out they are interning that summer or have a job to pay for college. Some coaches make no or little effort. 

Coaches want you to be successful and get innings, so they should put you at a level where you will get reps. The elite leagues are not for everybody and the local or lower leagues can be a stepping stone to higher leagues in future summers. 

Good luck. My son pitches in both the great lakes and the Valley League. It was a great experience at both places. 

Hokieone, I'm glad you mentioned the young D3 position player, because that describes my son. Almost no PT in the spring, then a very good summer in a local mostly D3 summer league. So how does he plan for next summer? Going back to the same league will give him plenty of reps, but he'd prefer to see better pitching. Of course there are no guarantees for this spring. I haven't found any leagues that look like the next level up for him anyway (no non-D3 leagues where D3 position players are getting significant ABs.) So his choices seems to be: go back to the same league and make the best of it, or lobby his coach for a recommendation to a lower D1 league (based on one good summer) and risk not getting the reps he needs.

Mid Atlantic Dad, Have you looked at a league like the New York Collegiate league. It is a step up from most local leagues, but plays plenty of D1, D2 and D3 players. 

Also sometimes it differs from team to team in a league. My son played for the Settlers in the Great Lakes league, He was a left handed D3 pitcher at the time, but there were other d3 players on the team getting playing time. They had an OF from Elmhurst, David Wolak, and a first baseman from Denison, Ryan Mulligan. Both players got plenty of playing time. The Settlers won the league that year. Other teams in the league had no D3 players what so ever. Some would not even consider using D3 players. 

My son also played in the Valley League. He played for Covington. Covington is a team that has players from all levels, and do make the playoffs with some regularity. But other teams in the league may not look at a D3 position player. 

Sometimes you need to go beyond the league and look at the teams in the league.

Some of it is also who your head coach has connections with. When my son was at OWU, the coach was still reasonably new.  He was still building those connections, so he was very careful who he sent to the upper leagues. It was very important that they do well and be a good citizen. He did not want to send a player that would not help the team. It was important for him to build those relationships. Now he is sending players to the great lakes and prospect league on a regular basis. He also sends players to the NYCBL mentioned above. 

In terms of voicing interest to the coach in playing Summer ball at a certain level, would that be appropriate for an incoming position playing D3 (SCIAC) freshman, and, if so, when?  Seems like saying something before Fall workouts/scrimmages could come off as presumptuous.  Maybe the answer is that an incoming position playing D3 freshman should expect a low-level first Summer league and MAYBE rise from there depending on play.

BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Mid Atlantic Dad, Have you looked at a league like the New York Collegiate league. It is a step up from most local leagues, but plays plenty of D1, D2 and D3 players.  

Thank you, BLD. I will make sure my son takes a close look at the NYCBL teams this weekend. Sounds like it might be just what he's looking for. His HC is relatively new to the college coaching ranks, and I don't think he has much of a summer network yet. Also, good to know about the teams as opposed to the leagues.

b i g m a c posted:

In terms of voicing interest to the coach in playing Summer ball at a certain level, would that be appropriate for an incoming position playing D3 (SCIAC) freshman, and, if so, when?  Seems like saying something before Fall workouts/scrimmages could come off as presumptuous.  Maybe the answer is that an incoming position playing D3 freshman should expect a low-level first Summer league and MAYBE rise from there depending on play.

My son's coach met with every player early in the fall to discuss the following summer. Coach asked where son wanted to play, so he shot for the moon (he was naive). But he also had enough sense to ask, "Where do you think I should play?" Coach said the local D3 league, and son agreed.

JCG posted:

So for incoming D3 players, what portion of the effort to find a team for his rising Freshman year is up to the kid, vs. the college coach vs. the parent?

Do you mean the summer between HS and college?  Very few college leagues allow rising freshmen to play, D3 or otherwise.  I know a couple do, but not many.  Most rising freshmen play 18U travel ball

Buckeye 2015 posted:
JCG posted:

So for incoming D3 players, what portion of the effort to find a team for his rising Freshman year is up to the kid, vs. the college coach vs. the parent?

Do you mean the summer between HS and college?  Very few college leagues allow rising freshmen to play, D3 or otherwise.  I know a couple do, but not many.  Most rising freshmen play 18U travel ball

Yes.

There's a summer league in our area (norcal) that allows two rising frosh per team. The guys on the team we followed this summer are both D1 studs; that roster would be difficult to crack.  A lot of the guys going into JC and D2 play for the local Connie Mack team, but my kid did that this summer, and I don't think either of us would opt for that again. There's a local men's team that's very competitive - they play college teams and do ok against them. That might be his best option.

When we talk with college coaches, they are brutally honest about the capabilities of their players; a few programs send a "scouting report", listing all of  the guys they hope to place with a very candid assessment of each player's strengths and weaknesses.  Talking to your coach about where he thinks you can/should play is a very good idea. Very rarely would we sign a player without first talking to his coach. It does a player no good whatsoever to sit most of the summer on the pines; one coach was grumbling a bit about the Cape, saying he had a couple pitchers that got about 10 innings total this past summer-his comment was he should have sent them someplace where they would have thrown more. For young D3 position players, which seems to be  a big problem spot, the best advice I can give is be the hardest working guy on your college field, find some place/any place for your first summer where you will actually  play,  whether a summer league, American Legion, or a local league, and be the hardest working guy there too. The problem with D3 position players isn't a lack of talent, it's a lack of playing against high level talent so it's hard to project how the player will do against consistently better pitching than he sees during his college season. But  I remember this guy well:

    "   Bruce Maxwell is the rare left-handed hitting catcher that major league teams covet so highly. He parlayed an amazing college career, spent mostly in obscurity, into his high draft position. A star at Sparkman High School in Alabama, Maxwell was a power-hitting first baseman with a lot of athleticism. He decided to attend college at Division III Birmingham-Southern College and ended up becoming the greatest player in the history of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC)." 

   He was drafted in the second round and is now in the Bigs.

 

 

Last edited by hokieone

HokieOne (and everyone else) -- quick question:  Have a LHP that is just starting his senior year in Northern California at a great high school program.  He'll play D3 more than likely (has a couple D1s still toying around the edges) at places like Grinnell, Whitworth, Chapman, Amherst, Wheaton (Ill), Puget Sound, Rhodes, etc...  Not a hard thrower really... 80-83 with good command and a solid breaking ball -- but has a ton to learn and develop still.  Frankly just starting to figure it out.

Two questions:  1) How best to line up something for next summer between HighSchool and his first year of college?  Like I said, lots to learn but he's a hard worker and wants to play baseball more than anything else for as long as he can.  2) Any experience with the coaches at these schools placing players in quality summer leagues?  

Thanks

MAM;

Our coach from the 2015 Australia Goodwill Series is the Head Coach for the Victoria Harbor Cats and he selected a LHP from Chico to play on his team this summer. Another GWS alumni played for the Medfort Oregon team. Both were HS graduate seniors.

We also work with the Novato Knicks. They placed another alumni.

Bobhttp://goodwillseries.org/

MidAtlanticDad posted:
BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Mid Atlantic Dad, Have you looked at a league like the New York Collegiate league. It is a step up from most local leagues, but plays plenty of D1, D2 and D3 players.  

Thank you, BLD. I will make sure my son takes a close look at the NYCBL teams this weekend. Sounds like it might be just what he's looking for. His HC is relatively new to the college coaching ranks, and I don't think he has much of a summer network yet. Also, good to know about the teams as opposed to the leagues.

BishopLeftiesDad, just wanted to close the loop on this topic. Thanks to your suggestion, my son contacted most of the teams in the NYCBL on his own, and wound up landing a spot with the Syracuse Spartans (their first year in the league). As far as the team and the league is concerned, I don't think he could not have had a better experience. Good baseball, great host family, and lots of ABs. Last night his team lost the deciding game of the championship, but they had a great run. I made it up there 3 times, and was pretty impressed with the level of play. Son told me that he thought most games were about the level of his D3 Regional games. I think every division of college baseball (D1/D2/D3/NAIA/JuCo) was represented in the league.

Even though my son is half way through his college playing days, this forum continues to be an invaluable resource for us. Thanks again.

MidAtlanticDad posted:
MidAtlanticDad posted:
BishopLeftiesDad posted:

Mid Atlantic Dad, Have you looked at a league like the New York Collegiate league. It is a step up from most local leagues, but plays plenty of D1, D2 and D3 players.  

Thank you, BLD. I will make sure my son takes a close look at the NYCBL teams this weekend. Sounds like it might be just what he's looking for. His HC is relatively new to the college coaching ranks, and I don't think he has much of a summer network yet. Also, good to know about the teams as opposed to the leagues.

BishopLeftiesDad, just wanted to close the loop on this topic. Thanks to your suggestion, my son contacted most of the teams in the NYCBL on his own, and wound up landing a spot with the Syracuse Spartans (their first year in the league). As far as the team and the league is concerned, I don't think he could not have had a better experience. Good baseball, great host family, and lots of ABs. Last night his team lost the deciding game of the championship, but they had a great run. I made it up there 3 times, and was pretty impressed with the level of play. Son told me that he thought most games were about the level of his D3 Regional games. I think every division of college baseball (D1/D2/D3/NAIA/JuCo) was represented in the league.

Even though my son is half way through his college playing days, this forum continues to be an invaluable resource for us. Thanks again.

I am so Happy that he had a good experience. Sometimes I am hesitant to suggest a league, as peoples experience can differ so much from team to team and even person to person on the same team. But I am always happy to hear success stories. 

Great news. 

BishopLeftiesDad posted:

I am so Happy that he had a good experience. Sometimes I am hesitant to suggest a league, as peoples experience can differ so much from team to team and even person to person on the same team. But I am always happy to hear success stories.  

We did our best to make sure it was a good fit, and that the team was solid, including checking references for the new team owner. But, there will always be some risk and also trust involved. It's funny, I assumed that the team would struggle since they were new and they got a late start recruiting, but they ended up in the championship game.

Thats good to hear. I know three or four players who have played on various teams in the NYCBL, and have yet to hear a complaint beyond cost.

I did a lot of research because I thought he was going to be placed there. Some of the young men in the classes above him were placed there, after their sophomore summer. But he was placed in the great lakes instead.  Good for me and his mom. We saw every game. Good for him, that team won the championship that year. He was a big part of it. He was the starting pitcher in some very meaningful games.

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