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Well if you happen to have college baseball ability, your chances are excellent. That is if you want to go to,college and play baseball. I would guess that for a large percentage of high school players the thought of playing college baseball doesn't even exist. So no sense in adding them to your chances.

Think I mention this every time a topic like this shows up.  The chances for some is 100%, for others it is almost zero %.  Your percentage is not the same as everyone else.

That said, I think the message by YOUNGGUNDAD makes a lot of sense.

Well I waited before jumping in to this...  Again. College baseball is not some exclusive club. As PG points out - again, many have no desire to play INCLUDING MANY WHO COULD. joes87 recently shared his sons decision to not play in college. He is not alone. The country is sprinkled with kids who just decide it is time to focus on something else - something more important to them. And again all those who take other athletic scholarships, those without the grades, those who actually sign in the draft out of high school, sadly those who get injured, those who just flat out don't want to go to college and thousands maybe hundreds of thousands (no idea how many hs baseball players there are) who just don't want to do it if it's not at the highest levels. Leaving the door wide open for kids who just love the game and want to play four years of college ball. So what are YOUR sons chances?  Well to quote Johnny Mathis "chances are your chances are awfully good"

Playing college baseball is not for everyone that plays in high school.  But you don't need to be an absolute stud to play college ball either.  To play top level D1 ball, you need to be great, no question.  The best in your county.  But there are over 4,700 institutions of higher education in the United States.  There are a lot of ball clubs out there. I know some kids who were good ball players, have some talent, but were not "great".   They didn't throw 80 mph. They didn't hit the ball in the gaps.  They didn't run a sub 7 60 yard dash.  But they play in college at D3 schools.  Some even walked into starting roles there as Freshman.  I think the majority of high school baseball players don't have the desire or the drive to play after high school.  And that is more of the reason 94 out of 100 of them don't play college ball rather then a lack of opportunity.  

Last edited by Hammer823

Almost anyone can play college ball. There are D3 and JuCo programs that are brutally bad. If a baseball player can chew gum and make contact at the same time he can be on these rosters. 

I know a kid who didn't start for his A classification (of AAAA) high school. He was rostered on a D3 that considered 10-25 a good season. Our local JuCo had players I'm not so sure about the chewing gum aspect. They win two or three games per season against similar competition. They average losing 15-1.

i question why anyone would play at this low of a level and get blasted most games. I would think academics and a job would be more important. But there's something for everybody. Imagine the kids at CalTech who show up year after year to go 1-34. Imagine being a senior who is the winniest pitcher in forty years because you won three games.

I remember when Coppin State (D1) would roster any body (not anybody) who showed up. But for the kind of baseball most people here perceive to be baseball it's a select company from competitive D3 through D1 ball.

Last edited by RJM
RJM posted:

Almost anyone can play college ball. There are D3 and JuCo programs that are brutally bad. If a baseball player can chew gum and make contact at the same time he can be on these rosters. 

 

Even D2, apparently.  I recently learned of a local player who committed to an out-of-state D2.  Pretty sure the kid would not crack the starting lineup of my son's HS team.  It'll be interesting to see if he gets on the field in college.

My guess would be that the players at Cal Tech play there because baseball gave them an edge to get into a school with one of the lowest admissions rate in the country.  Getting blasted most games is probably not fun but getting a job after graduation with a Cal Tech degree is probably worth it. For some it is the love of the game and winning is secondary!

I know one and know of another playing at CalTech. They get in on their academics. That they can play baseball is gravy. The one I know pitched about six mop up inning his senior year in high school. He didn't put any effort into getting recruited for baseball. The second kid could have played in a much better baseball program. But he went to CalTech for the academics.

Louise posted:

My guess would be that the players at Cal Tech play there because baseball gave them an edge to get into a school with one of the lowest admissions rate in the country.  Getting blasted most games is probably not fun but getting a job after graduation with a Cal Tech degree is probably worth it. For some it is the love of the game and winning is secondary!

Not sure about Cal Tech specifically but  I think that does work out for many players at some very highly selective, high academic schools.  And it happens to be one part of the strategy we're working with our 2017. However, there's plenty of evidence that it's a risky strategy.  Between folks I have met here, and other folks I know in the bricks-and-mortar world, there are a lot of cases where baseball players (and other athletes) are assured that the coach will get them in, but he/she simply does not.  If we end up going that route we will definitely have a solid backup plan in place.

Last edited by JCG

Cal Tech, like MIT, doesn't give special consideration to athletes; in other words, athletes have to compete with every other applicant to gain admission. (caveat: my info is seven years old.)

The NLI and the Likely Letter (Ivies) are the only assurances a kid will get in to the school. Anything else, and you are at the mercy of the admission system - particularly true with D3.

Last edited by Goosegg

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