@JucoDad - As a former baseball parent (3 sons), I know I didn’t pay much attention to any other sports unless I had interest or experience....specifically baseball and tennis for me. Fast forward a few years, and two of my daughter-in- laws (DIL) were college student athletes. One played D1 soccer and the other was a D3 swimmer. Both loved their sport and talking to their parents they seemed every bit as crazy as we were about baseball. They keep in touch with their network of former high school and college athlete parents just as my wife and I do. One of my DILs went to a wedding in Paris to see her old college teammates, and they’ve remained just as tight as my oldest has with his college baseball teammates.
Both DILs have shared how difficult and competitive their non-revenue sport recruiting journey was. Both were seriously thinking of college athletics when they were sophomores in high school which pretty much corresponds to when my oldest son decided college baseball could be in his future. Both DILs went to large high schools, and had many teammates go on to compete in their sport in college. One DIL has 3 sisters, and they all swam in college.
It appears there is an athletic “silo” that we only know and see what is going on in our kids particular sport. Maybe because of the focus needed to get a college athletic opportunity or the scholarship dollars that parents appear to be chasing. You be the judge.
Just my experience....
PS...Where I think baseball is very different is how and when a player goes professional.