Will I be too far behind to recover?

College coaches won't care that you didn't play on varsity. Are you on a travel team?  What are they doing to get you exposure?  Next summer is going to be your big summer for recruiting. Right now most of the 2017s being offered are the top guys in the area. Most of the ones I know who have been offered are lefty pitchers throwing 85+. These usually are the first guys offered. Most others won't get offered until next year. 

 

If if you go to a showcase and don't perform well it usually doesn't hurt you. Most coaches don't write down names of kids who do bad, just the names of the kids they might be interested in. That said there is also no harm in waiting until next year to showcase. 

You have plenty of time. With high academics I would start a list of D3 programs that match your educational desires together with baseball wants. A LHP with your velo will likely gain velocity and you potentially could be sitting at the front end of a D3 rotation in a few years if you work really hard at it. In parallel I would make a list of mid-major D1's that fit your profile.  Consider location, education match, baseball, costs, etc. You can likely go to a Headfirst event late this summer and or fall and garner more than enough interest to find a match. Remember it is incumbent on you to reach out, don't expect programs to come to you. 

 

Good Luck! 

With good stuff and command you can pitch D3 ball. You need to get in front of the right coaches. You're not late in your search. D3s typically decide who they want post junior year summer and into fall of senior year.

 

Make a list of prospective schools. Email he coaches expressing interest in the education and the baseball team. Ask what showcases they will likely attend in the summer of 2016. Find the right team to attend any team events they attend. And hit individual showcases they attend.

 

you can start with a list of about fifty colleges. Some won't be interested in you. You will lose interest in some of them. The list will narrow as a natural process.

No, it's not too late. My high school and college teammate played JV as a junior and still ended up getting an offer from a premier JC. From there anything can happen: he was drafted and followed after his freshman year of college, ended up finishing his degree, and signed as a free agent after w the Rockies.

Start reaching out to as many schools as u can now. Be realistic and you will get responses. You are a lefty, that will make coaches ears perk up. 79-82 will likely get nothing returned from a D1, but im sure many junior colleges and D3s will respond. Be honest, whether it is your coach drafting up a letter for you or you are filling out an online questionaire. Teams in your home state and the surrounding states will probably be more likely to respond (and see you), but dont feel restricted to just that, I sent at least 10 tapes (nowadays you can use the internet) of me throwing to inquiring coaches who werent close enough to see me pitch, and i got two offers from schools who were a day or twos drive away after seeing my tape.

We had a lefty or two who were low to mid 80s. You arent that far off that and have plenty of time this summer,fall and spring season to get there. My Juco coach was still pulling guys in may and june after watching them in summer league after their senior seasons.

If you start being proactive now, you will still get some eyes on you.

Im not on a travel team as there is only one here in Minnesota who really gets you college exposure and its nearly 3/4 of the state away from me. My trainer has some connection with coaches around the big ten and the dakotas but none of these schools know I exist, however on my Legion team were playing in a pretty big tournament in two weeks which is always crawling with scouts but otherwise thats it

Why don't the schools know you exist?  Have you contacted the HC's to let them know of your interest, have you let them know you will be at that tourney?  Have you looked into uncommitted showcases?  I know I have heard of more than one that is specifically for the uncommitted with high academics.  What kind of showcases or exposure do you have planned for yourself?

LHP,

 

It's not that complicated, but it is a lot of work. Sign up for US News and World Report electronic editions and start searching through schools that fit what you are looking to achieve in school without baseball. Then start to match up programs where you fit in both. Based on what you have posted I would say focus on DIII's, but throw in a few lower level D1's. 

 

As others have said get some video taken of you pitching live and also a bull pen. Keep it short and to the point. Put the video on you tube. Make a short profile of yourself and also put this in the email. Start a spread sheet that has all of the programs you are interested with the HC and RC contact information and start emailing them. Keep track of who you have emailed in your spreadsheet so you can track your progress. 

 

Again it is not that complicated, HOWEVER it takes many many hours to search through the schools, the baseball program, locations, costs, etc. If you leave it up to chance playing for a Legion team in MN I can pretty much guarantee you will not be playing college ball, however if you take control of the process and put the work in I can pretty much guarantee YOU WILL be playing college ball somewhere. Start today!

LHP, like BOF said, you CANNOT leave it up to chance, especially where you live. There are guys in states that pump out tons of talent who get overlooked and have to find places to walk on, or just assume they aren't good enough and hang them up.

 

What if there is a college coach/scout in the stands but it is on a day you aren't throwing? Or on a day when you don't have your good stuff? Or that particular guy already has three or four lefties on his roster and doesn't need anymore. The guy you didn't contact may have lost all of his lefties and desperately needs some.

 

I can tell you, playing in a state with a hotbed of high school talent, the only summer league game I can recall playing in front of more than just one or two scouts and/or coaches was a championship game against a select team that featured two future major leaguers and a large handful of guys who had major conference D1 talent. Any other time I recall seeing someone was a particular school looking at a particular guy and I am willing to bank those guys contacted those coaches. It isn't always this fairytale of a school coming to check out one guy and they end up leaving impressed with you.

 

On your videos, you want several different angles. Like BOF, game and bullpen. Velocity isn't easy to gauge on video, but they are going to want to be able to see what movement you have on your pitches, your overall mechanics and if things change with each of your secondary pitches, etc.

 

You guys are at a huge advantage over some of us who played before the internet or when it was in its infancy. Take advantage of it.

Ive been hearing alot about these Headfirst events, is there a certain GPA or ACT/SAT score you need to have in order to qualify? I know you need a certain GPA for the PG National Academic which I did get an invite for but didnt go

Im reluctant on letting colleges know that Im going to be at the tournament because I havent had my best stuff in my last three appearances along with a pretty dramatic velocity drop off due to some arm soreness, I dont want the first impression that I make on them to be that I have a weak arm. There arent any specific uncommitted showcases until senior year I believe but I have looked into going the the Stanford baseball camp as well as the Vandy camp because I have the grades to get into those schools and its worth a shot to see if they like my stuff but as of now thats all i have planned

Go to the Headfirst website for specifics but if you have grades and scores for Stanford and Vandy you are in good shape. The Stanford camp is a perfect alternative to the Headfirst camp.