Monstor, over the last 4 months, 3 of the left handers who pitch on my summer team have committed to very large scholarships with Division 1 programs out here in California, so perhaps reading about each of them will give you an idea of what college coaches are looking for.
The first player to commit is a 2010 student, he'll be a senior this coming fall. He committed to a scholarship that can't get any larger with a private university that plays in the West Coast Conference (WCC). He is young, just turned 17, but he is 6'4" and 160 pounds. His fastball sits at 83-84, but has excellent sink and run. His #2 pitch is his changeup, which is very advanced for a high school player, in fact it is as good as many D1 players already, velo on it is about 72-73. His curveball sits around 68-70. What he does have is solid command of all his pitches, good movement on his FB and change, and a very projectible upside.
The 2nd lefthander to commit actually graduated prior to getting this offer. He was planning on attending a jr. college when he was seen by several D1 coaches in a couple of our games, and offers came in right away at that point. His fastball sits 86-87, and he'll touch 88 now and then. Good curveball and changeup. What he posses the most is command (you'll keep hearing that word here) His fastball has late movement. He's a very tough competitor with a bit of "red-***" in him, in a good sense. He's 6'2" and 175, another projectible body guy. He ended up with a very large scholarship to a WCC university, depsite being a very late sign.
The 3rd pitcher is a 2010 who just commmitted about 10 days ago to a Pac-10 school. His fastball sits at 84-85, and he occasionally will pop one as high as 88. His curveball sits around 66-68, his slider is 78-80 and his change is around 75 or so. What he does have, instead of velocity, is command of all his pitches. He's a strike thrower, a very aggresive pitcher who loves to come inside and get ahead in the count. His strikeouts to walks ratio is pretty consistent at around 5 or 6 Ks to each walk, and he averages about 1.5 Ks per inning. In other words, he misses a lot of bats. He's another guy with a very substantial scholarship. He recently turned 17, and goes 6'2" and 180.
None of these players have blazing fastballs, though the 2009 player has more velo than the other two. What all three have in common is an ability to pitch to both sides of the plate, as well as throw all of their pitches for strikes. In other words, they all know how to PITCH. All three also have learned how to compete, and don't take that lightly as it is very important. A lot of guys who can pitch a little don't know how to compete and don't go very far as a result.
They also have something else in common, and it is as important as anything to an aspiring college player --- they all have good grades in high school. If you don't take care of your academics, you can pretty much forget going straight to a D-anything school and will be looking at juco....or getting a real job.
Each of these boys, though they got different deals, received more than 70% of the total cost of attendance to very expensive schools where the degree is among the most respected of any university in the country. In the end, being a quality left handed PITCHER (as opposed to thrower) and a good student is what made the difference, to them, and to their parents finances.