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Reply to "Your Son's College Baseball Freshman Experience"

Late to the party (typical) for what should be a "golden thread".

How long ago was your son a college freshman baseball player? My goodness 10 years ugh

What level was he playing? Juco, D3, D2 or D1? Something else?  D3 - likely best D3 program in country for his 4 years, went toe to toe with P5 in fall of one year. 4 year Regionals, 3 years conf. champion, 2 years CWS.

Did he stay at that school through graduation? If not, how many different colleges did he attend? Yes

If he switched schools, why did he switch?

How much did your son play as a freshman? If he did not play, was he redshirted? If he was redshirted, when was he told about it? 14 innings pitching as a reliever, started a Regional game.  32 of 45 games in field/batting

What were the biggest surprises and challenges for your son freshman year? How many big hairy men there were to compete with. Size of the team.

Overall, how was your son's experience as a freshman baseball player? Did it meet, surpass or miss his expectations? How about in regard to your expectations as a parent? Exceeded both. Surprised how well the team "traveled" and  positive parent participation.

Based on your son's experience as a freshman baseball player and your's as the parent, what advice would you have for the freshman player and his parent? Parents: Sit down, shut up, listen, learn from Sr/Jr Parents, and cheer on the team. Player: Work harder than everyone else, and do the best you can to be a great teammate. Realize external factors sometimes impact your fate on the field.  (Coaches opinions, injuries, other players, team needs)

Did your son complete 4 years of college baseball eligibility? If not, why? Graduated in 4 years

While his Freshman year exceeded his expectations his Soph year did not:

Note he was a two way:

Freshmen: "Earned" starting outfield position during the year. Contributor out of the bullpen.

Soph: Lost "his" starting position to an incoming freshmen who went on to be one of the best hitters in programs history. Decided going into the season to only play the field so ended up a spot starter/off the bench and became a positive influence to the team, even though he was not regularly starting.

Jr: "Earned back" a starting OF position and broke his finger after 4 games into the season. (LH for a RHP  thank goodness) Had no chance to make it back in time to contribute in the field so started pitching again and ended up the winning pitcher for the conf championship game.

Decided over the summer that pitching was a lot easier than field/hitting and perfected his craft during the off season. 

Sr: Became a spot starter (RHP) and late inning closer/high leverage reliever during the CWS run.

Final note: Playing for a winning program is a lot more fun than playing for a mediocre program. Nothing compares to tournament play, conf, regionals, CWS games. Winning coaches regardless of level are special.

JMO.

Last edited by BOF
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