@midwesttbd, what strikes a chord with me (about your story) is, “HS coach and baseball types told son he was D1 material”
My 2 cent commentary on that is this. Most HS coaches are out of touch with college baseball in general post covid. Especially when it comes to recruiting. They don’t know what D1 material is in today’s world. Same is true for many “baseball types.” In today’s world, just because you may be good enough to play D1 doesn’t mean you will get the opportunity to do so. There are more good players than there are D1 roster spots. That is a fact that some people just fail to recognize. Many parents/kids get the same advice as you did and, to be candid, those people are doing a disservice to those they advise. Right now is the most difficult time ever for a player to make a roster at a competitive D1 program. Especially if they are a freshman position player. It sounds like you ended up in a good place and I hope it works out.