Whether it’s baseball or any other aspect of college life parents who snowplowed their kid’s way through K-12 didn’t do them any favors. Now the kids are on their own even if the parents are still paying.
I always told my kids, don’t like your grade, go stand up for yourself. I will only coach you through preparation on how to handle yourself. Through K-12 I only intervened one time when I felt my daughter belonged in the highest math class in 7th grade.
if kids are 100% pampered before college they don’t go away understanding how to deal with adversity. I told my kids (daughter played softball) after the 6-8 studs it’s all about who is mentally tougher and wants it more.
My daughter was a fourth outfielder for four years. But she played a lot. My son’s first six appearances were as a pinch runner outside a couple of insignificant 9th inning defensive appearances.
I told my kids to stay physically and mentally ready. One successful at bat leads to a second opportunity. The right mental outlook and hustle in practice leads to the next opportunity. My son was starting against RHP by midseason.
After freshman year my son told me I was right (I believe pigs flew that day). He said some of his freshman teammates had one foot mentally out the door by midseason freshman year.