We really struggled with our oldest in the college selection process. As teachers, we felt academics should be the first consideration. About half way into his senior year, however, we realized that was not his first consideration. He made his college selection based solely on baseball. Despite our reservations, we felt it was his choice to make and baseball has turned out to a great career for him so far.
Our second son made his selection out of high school based on the baseball program, too. He went the JUCO route and transferred upon graduation to a D1 based on a degree plan first and then baseball. Had he made his selection based on academics out of high school he would not have been able to pursue his current degree plan at any of the D1's that recruited him.
I guess my point is that every kid has to be allowed to follow their hearts when making their college selection. For some it may be baseball...at least out of high school... for others it may be a certain degree plan, and for others it will be both. The biggest mistake we made with our first was putting pressure on him to make a selection that would last 4 years. When you throw baseball into the mix, that's hard ...too hard IMHO for most 18 year olds.