Tagged With "Soph"

Hey everyone. First post here. My son is a high academic kid and is a soph. RHP. Had some terrible travel ball experiences playing on a few elite regional teams. Had an injury during first year with national level travel team, which he seems to have overcome. I know he burnt out this past summer, too. Didn't play last summer and came back to HS ball in spring and really reconnected with the game and had a good year on varsity as soph. despite not playing at all for the year before. We're...

My 2019 RHP topped 82 as a sophomore, but not as tall as your son. Here's the path we took (everyone's is different): Played legion summer of rising sophomore and junior year, focusing on developing his craft Attend college camps in fall, after developing list of interested schools, continue email dialogue Played regional travel team and attended camps summer of rising junior year Son received multiple D1 and NESCAC offers. Sounds like the first bullet above may be important for your son, as...

Hi and welcome to the posting side. Considering he is targeting IVY or HA D3, he has time. Combining that with the concerns you state about "playing to please rather than himself", I would continue to be patient. While baseball can help get students into certain schools, you know well that it is a heavy commitment and the desire needs to exceed the notion of using it as a vehicle to get in. No doubt you are plenty capable of evaluating the numbers, skill set and projectability. I suspect he...

I assume you have the academics part of the equation down, but I'd have him taking the SAT/ACT as soon as possible once he's ready. Also, since you're in Maryland, there are ample opportunities for quick trips to visit lots of HA's (which seem to concentrate in the East). That will help determine the type of school he thinks he likes. Rather than showcase before he has something which stands out, I'd pay instead for top of the pack personal PC and strength trainer skilled in pitchers. My son...

Thanks guys for the quick responses. My experience (graduated HS in 1991) was you play high school, play legion, hit a few area camps. For me, I performed well at a few camps and got an offer. It seemed much more casual than the baseball machine that exists today. It's nice to see alternative paths still exist. In the end, we're really lucky to have a good, smart kid with some choices to make. If he decides to go for it, I just want him to understand what it will take, i.e. make an informed...

Noted on the velo Gooseg. I watch a lot of SEC and ACC baseball. They might look for 90+, but a lot of RHP I see are mid to high 80s. But you're right, low to mid 80's back in the day could get you in at a mid to lower level DI program as a RHP. Not so much today.

So, there are a couple things your son is going to need to do to get an Ivy coach's attention. He's going to have to nail his SAT/ACTs and then demonstrate he's got the stuff to compete at the mid to low D1 level. To accomplish these things he is going to need to take care of business and focus over the next 15 months. For a HA D3 he would have more time probably 18 months. But the bottom line is this is not easy stuff, he has to have something tangible to show any college coach. For your...

Fenway makes a great point about leading with academics; it's logistically so much easier to start with a pile of guys who have a shot of admission (as athletes) and find the baseball skills than the other way around. With that thought in mind, on all campus visits son had a sealed envelop of grades and scores (updated as he aged) to give to any baseball coach he ran into; on every campus visit on our college route he would take a whack at seeing the baseball department (alone). Tail end of...

I recommend taking the SAT and ACT as soon as possible (summer/fall) and make sure he takes at least some challenging AP and/or Honors classes in his junior year while maintaining a high GPA. We found with our son that being able to demonstrate to HA coaches that the academic eligibility component was taken care of prior to/early in the junior year was a big advantage. They were primarily interested in weighted GPA. If your son wants to pursue it, try to attend a HA camp, such as HeadFirst,...

Hey, couple more things...Aren't PSAT scores good enough if in 1400-1450 range to show IVY coaches? Does it have to be actual SAT? We'd prefer him to prep and take SAT in spring of Junior year. Also, what are thoughts on doing showcases PO versus PO and position as it pertains to the pitcher athlete perception. My kid has played varsity since freshman year and has been blocked in OF by upper classman so he's sort of become a PO but still has ability (not DI level) as hitter/OF. Curious to...

Do Ivies look at sophs?

Yes, they look at sophs. There are a few posters on HSBBWeb that have shared their recruiting situations with me over the years. Ivys look at many, many recruits because they have to. If a young recruit is demonstrating D1 level capabilities and has taken the SAT or ACT to meet their requirements they are going to want to talk. Remember, the Ivys are competing against other D1 schools for talent.

I know nothing about IVYS. Summer before freshman year in high school, his youth coach told us he could play college baseball and would likely start for HS the next year. I got on this site and started doing research. When he actually DID become a starting pitcher the next year, we told son the following: If you want to do the work to get to college baseball, here's the deal. We will finance showcases, a travel team, some camps, etc. IF you do the work of arranging lessons, put what you...

Thanks. Are PSAT scores in consideration in lieu of ACT/SAT? How are grades evaluated?

Re: when to take the tests. As soon as he has a shot at the score needed - the earlier the better. There is no penalty to taking multiple tests. The earliest ACT test, I believe, is September; that gives him the summer to study. Waiting until spring could mean a testing logjam if he needs to take the ACT/SAT again (a very normal occurance), plus multiple AP tests, plus HS baseball. There are 56 kids per year getting into the IVIes for baseball; the competition for one of those spots is as...

Trying to take SAT/ACT tests in the spring or summer is very difficult, because baseball is played on most Saturdays. Is he going to skip a game? For Ivies and other high-academics you will also have to figure out a time to take SAT subject tests, that eats up another Saturday test date. The fall and winter are much easier to schedule (unless your son is playing football). For that matter, if you play in fall baseball tournaments/showcases, that eats yet more Saturdays. So, there are really...

I believe at least some of the Ivies no longer require subject tests. Doesn't mean a kid shouldn't take them, but I don't believe they are required, at least not at all. My guess is it would be easy enough to research on the admissions site for each school. The earlier the better on the SAT in terms of baseball timing. The Ivy timeline appears to be moving up in an effort to keep up with earlier and earlier baseball recruiting and commitment in general.