I think everyone has given good advice. The reason for the impotance of this website.
I agree with much of what has been said, but one thing to add.
Not all top D1 schools run their programs that begin in the fall with 48 and get cut back to 35. It is not a usual practice to do so. I had found in my experience, this could be common with some of the bigger state schools (with over 30K in attendance), the ones with loads of talent in their state to choose from, than the smaller state schools or private universities. The biggest problem, the biggest offenders are the mid-smaller D1 schools.
The best 9 play (most pitchers will get into teh rotation). And for those who do not believe me, most big schools need a stable of pitchers to get to playoffs. The really good coach, rotates his other players as subs, runners, DH, etc, so they will be ready to play the following year. Many of those bigger ones do look for transfers, especially pitchers because they may suddenly need players who are READY and most freshman are NOT ready to play on the higher levels in teh more powerful conferences.
I see the biggest problem (not parents or even coaches) as the MLB draft. Good coaches are constantly juggling getting the best possible recruits and losing them before they come to school. Coaches DON'T want to get caught short so they tend to over recruit. NCAA will never put restrictions on recruiting because of this, just mandate by spring they have the required 35 on your roster.
As long as we as parnets accept this and learn how to deal with the realities, it will make one less player less shocked when they are released. Its our job to educate as many as we can.