Thanks for all the responses here and assistance. I'll try to address as much of the feedback as a I can.
He wants to play an NCAA sport and get that experience. In the end he knows he needs to pick a school where he would be happy if he broke his leg on the first day of classes. He'd choose a great fit/school over a less good fit where he could play an NCAA sport. I guess he wants the best of both worlds, and as a 18 year old this is the time to have these dreams.
He didn't apply at any of the Ivy League schools, but did apply to the UC's, Stanford, Rice , Vandy, but outside of the mid level UC's these are schools are stretches for anyone, and all these baseball programs seem out of his reach and have not had any personal emails or calls to him.
He's got positive feedback on film last summer from some other schools that may have been a fit, but they all wanted to see him in person. The cynic in me just thought it was a money making endeavor and it wasn't viable to send him to each schools camp that said he looked good on film. A handful did offer walk on spots, and a few of those he applied to and might end up being a fit. In hindsight it might have made sense to have him do the showcase thing, but he did have D3 offers at this point and he wasn't the level that he would have scholarship at the D1 level. Since the baseball experts we trust are saying he is a now viable prospect I'd fly him from Sacramento to Florida this weekend to get him seen if there was a showcase that would get him seen.
The D1 schools looked at him as a position player, he's versatile, he can run, and can hit. The D3 schools seemed much more open to him doing both. He really doesn't have a preference. His pitching coach said he's not that far off from being a viable D1 pitching prospect.
He's content with his D3 choices and they are beyond safety's at this point since they want him and he's been admitted (or received a likely letter) but he's still considering looking at D1 school that might be a better fit with everything rolled in, merit $, major, athletic $, larger college experience etc...
I did appreciate the feedback about those specific situations where athletes were recruited in the spring of their senior year.
I'd gone though this with my daughter who plays D1 soccer. She was initially offered a walk on spot at on a D1 program with no guarantee. In June she had a school come in that she felt was better fit academically and was able to guarantee her a roster spot. She had not applied to the school prior to this. I wasn't sure if baseball had these situations as frequently.
I know many people feel offended about the US News ranking...I'm sorry. My son came up with a massive list of schools that he was interested in and ended up applying to more schools than his mother or I did combined. I felt it was more important to help him focus his list as opposed to broadening it. Obviously the Liberal Arts Colleges he applied to don't fit in this list, but in expanding out his current choices the "Top 50" just makes it a little easier give the board an idea of schools that he is interested in.