Michigan State is playing the Lansing Lugnuts tonight. Last year MSU had an exhibition against the Air Force Academy. Both games were advertised, etc...What are the rules against outside competition? I also noticed that that smaller DI-D3 play each other and also play jucos. Juco seems to play a 15 game schedule against other Jucos (and some 4 year and travel teams).
So how is my son's fall ball going? Forthose that don't know he is rehabbing from TJ. He was injured first game of last year and began throwing in early July (I think).
Every other week or so when I am talking about life, school, his GF, classes, etc with him, I throw in a "how's baseball going"- Response I get is "good". When I ask how is arm is and if he is still doing ok on throwing program I get "Fine and Yep". Gotta love that boy.
On other hand, I have a 26 year old son who plays softball 4 nights a week and "coaches / finds players" for 3 of them. I can ask "how's softball going?" 4 hours and every at bat later.... 
Son is an incoming Freshman at a D2 in FL. He's been down there since 8/12. The HC who recruited him announced his departure shortly after the 2016 season ended. The new coach has been announced and he has had some informal meetings with the incoming Freshmen recruiting class. They start formal baseball activities on 9/9 but the boys have been getting together daily for BP, long toss, ground balls and of course, lifting / running. So far, so good and he has really clicked with the new HC. Only hitch was they had him listed as a PO but he got that straightened out. They have 3 scrimmages planned with other schools but not sure yet what the full schedule will be. He's really anxious to get back on the field. I can't remember when he's gone this long between games. He played his last one here back in the first week of August. Heading down there in Oct to catch some action.
Good luck to your son. A switch in Coach is not always a bad thing. Just depends on the situation. Looks like the Old coach might have seen him as a PO, but the new coach may be open to him being a two way player, if he performs.
First day of practice yesterday. They play a game with first years pitching. Today the returning pitchers hit the field. Boy has good 'game'. Hit ball all places. Says coach asks if he has ever caught. And to take it as a compliment. Back story I loved watching him catch in LL. He loved the gear hated the position. Growing a lot and the position seemed to exacerbate it. Plus fir
st practice in HS kid takes long swing and comes around and breaks finger on rec. hand. Team had decent catcher and he was headed to 3rd so no biggie. Has not caught a game since 13 yo travel. Best news is this team has a great catcher so there will be no being thrown into fire. We'll see where it heads over the winter. He has specifically requested that I NOT send a catchers bag.
First baseball meeting of the year yesterday. 62 guys show up -- just over 30 incoming guys, just under 30 returning guys from last year's varsity and JV squads. That's a LOT of guys. About the same number as last year, though, as near as the kid can figure. Hard to know at this stage how many are bona fide players and how many are "lookie-loos" or how many will be regulars when 'voluntary" morning weights start up next week or when fall tryouts -- which won't happen until mid-October-- finally start.
It kinda odd how late his school starts. I know that at least one of the other schools in the conference starts fall ball next week.
I haven't posted in this thread yet because I didn't know if my son was going to play this year or just be a full-time graduate student.
We received word yesterday.
He gets another season of baseball!
The NCAA has granted a waiver of the five-year clock and is allowing him an extra year to complete his eligibility.
(And there was great rejoicing.)
Swampboy posted:I haven't posted in this thread yet because I didn't know if my son was going to play this year or just be a full-time graduate student.
We received word yesterday.
He gets another season of baseball!
The NCAA has granted a waiver of the five-year clock and is allowing him an extra year to complete his eligibility.
(And there was great rejoicing.)
Awesome to hear the great news. Congrats to him & the family. Enjoy it!!
Great news Swampboy and family - great rejoicing indeed!
Wolf posted:Son is an incoming Freshman at a D2 in FL. He's been down there since 8/12. The HC who recruited him announced his departure shortly after the 2016 season ended. The new coach has been announced and he has had some informal meetings with the incoming Freshmen recruiting class. They start formal baseball activities on 9/9 but the boys have been getting together daily for BP, long toss, ground balls and of course, lifting / running. So far, so good and he has really clicked with the new HC. Only hitch was they had him listed as a PO but he got that straightened out. They have 3 scrimmages planned with other schools but not sure yet what the full schedule will be. He's really anxious to get back on the field. I can't remember when he's gone this long between games. He played his last one here back in the first week of August. Heading down there in Oct to catch some action.
At what D2?
runitout posted:First day of practice yesterday. They play a game with first years pitching. Today the returning pitchers hit the field. Boy has good 'game'. Hit ball all places. Says coach asks if he has ever caught. And to take it as a compliment. Back story I loved watching him catch in LL. He loved the gear hated the position. Growing a lot and the position seemed to exacerbate it. Plus fir
st practice in HS kid takes long swing and comes around and breaks finger on rec. hand. Team had decent catcher and he was headed to 3rd so no biggie. Has not caught a game since 13 yo travel. Best news is this team has a great catcher so there will be no being thrown into fire. We'll see where it heads over the winter. He has specifically requested that I NOT send a catchers bag.
Interesting you say that....when my son was younger he was always a SS and our hardest throwing pitcher. Our starting catcher was also our #2 pitcher....so when he pitched, my son would move to catcher...nobody else could do it. To this day I still tell him he was born to be a catcher....great bat, great arm and really understood "the game" and how to deal with it from the catcher's position. He ended up staying at SS and pitching and is now a pitcher in college. Always wonder what would have happened had he stuck with catching
TPM - he is at Eckerd College. Had a long talk with him after the first day of activities yesterday. He's really impressed with the new staff and the team is building chemistry. Right now, HC has him working with the pitchers and the infielders so they can figure out how he can best help the team.
Wolf posted:TPM - he is at Eckerd College. Had a long talk with him after the first day of activities yesterday. He's really impressed with the new staff and the team is building chemistry. Right now, HC has him working with the pitchers and the infielders so they can figure out how he can best help the team.
Well this is real cool Wolf, as my son just began his first season too at a D2 in Fl...Florida Southern.... as the pitching coach!!!!
Best of luck to your son lets keep in touch!
Go Mocs!!
That sounds kind of weird.....
TPM posted:Wolf posted:TPM - he is at Eckerd College.
Well this is real cool Wolf, as my son just began his first season too at a D2 in Fl...Florida Southern.... as the pitching coach!!!!
And I expect to be able to see both teams play next spring after I finish my move to FL.
Swampboy posted:TPM posted:Wolf posted:TPM - he is at Eckerd College.
Well this is real cool Wolf, as my son just began his first season too at a D2 in Fl...Florida Southern.... as the pitching coach!!!!
And I expect to be able to see both teams play next spring after I finish my move to FL.
WTG!!!
Swampboy posted:I haven't posted in this thread yet because I didn't know if my son was going to play this year or just be a full-time graduate student.
We received word yesterday.
He gets another season of baseball!
The NCAA has granted a waiver of the five-year clock and is allowing him an extra year to complete his eligibility.
(And there was great rejoicing.)
I am so happy to hear that. Will he be playing for the same team he did his undergrad? Or a new team?
Son is a freshman LHP at a D3 (changed my Avatar to his school). He choose the school because of his major is in the business school (Sport Management) and he had the opportunity to play baseball. I was a little concerned the first week of classes because a group of his close high school friends are all at a B1G school and he started to wonder if he made the right choice going to a small school. It didn't help that at the first team meeting he said there were a ton a guys.
The first day of practice was Labor Day and lasted six hours with evaluations and a lot of running. Said his legs were burning, second day did him just as bad. After three days he said he's having fun and the other guys are pretty cool. Supposed to throw from the mound today to start getting ready for a scrimmage in two weeks. Coach told my son during recruitment not expect to play as a freshman because he's got 4 seniors lefties, 1 junior and 2 sophomores. However, I told him to go out and try to grab a roster spot.
One thing he has learned in his first week is a lot of guys go to D3 to play and end up quitting for 3 reasons: 1) don't want to put in the effort/workouts too hard (already had two freshman quit), 2) lack of playing time, or 3) don't enjoy baseball anymore. His honors program mentor was on the team last year, and didn't go back out.
JBoss posted:Son is a freshman LHP at a D3 (changed my Avatar to his school). He choose the school because of his major is in the business school (Sport Management) and he had the opportunity to play baseball. I was a little concerned the first week of classes because a group of his close high school friends are all at a B1G school and he started to wonder if he made the right choice going to a small school. It didn't help that at the first team meeting he said there were a ton a guys.
The first day of practice was Labor Day and lasted six hours with evaluations and a lot of running. Said his legs were burning, second day did him just as bad. After three days he said he's having fun and the other guys are pretty cool. Supposed to throw from the mound today to start getting ready for a scrimmage in two weeks. Coach told my son during recruitment not expect to play as a freshman because he's got 4 seniors lefties, 1 junior and 2 sophomores. However, I told him to go out and try to grab a roster spot.
One thing he has learned in his first week is a lot of guys go to D3 to play and end up quitting for 3 reasons: 1) don't want to put in the effort/workouts too hard (already had two freshman quit), 2) lack of playing time, or 3) don't enjoy baseball anymore. His honors program mentor was on the team last year, and didn't go back out.
The hard work that has to go into playing collge ball occurs in all divisions of baseball. While I am not sure of the value of running, all programs do that, to foster team unity and weed some players out.
Next year he will come better prepred!!!
The drop out rate at D3, I was told, was because the players are there either for private pay, or on academic scholarships.
Best of luck to your son!!!
Wow TPM! That is quite an accomplishment for him. Wish I was moving down there too but that will have to wait. Enjoy the sunshine and SSC baseball....
Good luck to your son (except when they play Eckerd, of course....
Wolf posted:Wow TPM! That is quite an accomplishment for him. Wish I was moving down there too but that will have to wait. Enjoy the sunshine and SSC baseball....
Good luck to your son (except when they play Eckerd, of course....
Thank you. I live in Florida, the sushine is awesome but the heat and humidity just has been unbearable.
Have to beat Nova Southeastern, the defending D3 champs!
BishopLeftiesDad posted:Swampboy posted:I haven't posted in this thread yet because I didn't know if my son was going to play this year or just be a full-time graduate student.
We received word yesterday.
He gets another season of baseball!
The NCAA has granted a waiver of the five-year clock and is allowing him an extra year to complete his eligibility.
(And there was great rejoicing.)
I am so happy to hear that. Will he be playing for the same team he did his undergrad? Or a new team?
Same school. He and the coaches seem to understand and like each other. And they offered a scholarship, which they credited to his account even before the waiver was approved.
Swampboy. Very good to hear. It is nice when a student ends up in the right place. And it is nice that he gets another season. I have special respect for ex-wrestlers. I beleive those are two sports that are tough to mesh.
TPM posted:JBoss posted:Son is a freshman LHP at a D3 (changed my Avatar to his school). He choose the school because of his major is in the business school (Sport Management) and he had the opportunity to play baseball. I was a little concerned the first week of classes because a group of his close high school friends are all at a B1G school and he started to wonder if he made the right choice going to a small school. It didn't help that at the first team meeting he said there were a ton a guys.
The first day of practice was Labor Day and lasted six hours with evaluations and a lot of running. Said his legs were burning, second day did him just as bad. After three days he said he's having fun and the other guys are pretty cool. Supposed to throw from the mound today to start getting ready for a scrimmage in two weeks. Coach told my son during recruitment not expect to play as a freshman because he's got 4 seniors lefties, 1 junior and 2 sophomores. However, I told him to go out and try to grab a roster spot.
One thing he has learned in his first week is a lot of guys go to D3 to play and end up quitting for 3 reasons: 1) don't want to put in the effort/workouts too hard (already had two freshman quit), 2) lack of playing time, or 3) don't enjoy baseball anymore. His honors program mentor was on the team last year, and didn't go back out.
The hard work that has to go into playing collge ball occurs in all divisions of baseball. While I am not sure of the value of running, all programs do that, to foster team unity and weed some players out.
Next year he will come better prepred!!!
The drop out rate at D3, I was told, was because the players are there either for private pay, or on academic scholarships.
Best of luck to your son!!!
I think one big factor in the attrition rate at D3 programs is just the sheer volume of players that some coaches grind through every year to get their rosters set.
Depending on the school's admission standards, and locale, some coaches are able to "recruit" a LOT of guys, and often pretty talented guys at that. (especially if they are in a hotbed of baseball like California, where there are only a few D3 schools but many, many players wanting to play)
There are no roster limits. There are no scarce scholarship funds to apportion out. Why not welcome and encourage all reasonable comers? Of course, just because you bring in a lot of guys, doesn't mean you are going to play a lot of guys.
By the way, this isn't just a D3 thing. I know from our recruiting experience that some of the D2's here in California -- especially D2 Cal State schools, which are dirt cheap and have pretty laid back admissions standards -- take this approach. Some of them basically put out cattle calls to all reasonable comers and let fall competition sort who sees the field and who doesn't.
In a program like that, once a player steps on campus, he really must be ready to compete. Of course, this need to be ready to compete is present at all levels and in all programs. But it's especially true for the kinds of programs I am talking about.
Not all D3's stockpile talent in this way. Schools with really strict admissions standards probably couldn't if they tried. And they have to be more focused in their recruitment, if they are going to compete.
But for schools with lesser admission standards that can go out and bring in kids with a wider range of academic ability, who also don't have to worry about doling out scarce scholarships, it can be reasonable strategy, especially if they simultaneously focus on bringing in some number of "premium" recruits who they are pretty confident, but not absolutely confident will take various roster spots.
I also think that at lesser academic schools this stockpiling approach may be smiled upon by the academic administration, since it may make a positive contribution to their overall yield rates and get more paying customers through the door.
That's certainly a big reason why you see JV teams at some of these less academically demanding D3 schools.
That enables the coach to give even more players a looking over before really having to rely on them. You cut the dross, place your most competitive 30 or so on the varsity, and place some more on the JV, You give your JV guys a chance to show you what they are made of -- in sort of an extended try-out. If they work out, you put them on the varsity the following year. If not, you say good-bye to them the following year.
This is roughly how my son program works.
If you're a player in this kind of a system, it can get pretty disheartening pretty fast. In my son's program, for example, there were 64 guys on the fall roster last year for voluntary weights and fall ball. After cuts, there were 8 upperclassmen outfielders assigned to the varsity and 5 freshman outfielders assigned to the JV roster -- though one was academically ineligible come spring time, so by the time the season opened they were down to 4 frosh outfielders.
That's a helluva lot of outfielders in one program. The 6th, 7th and 8th outfielders on the varsity roster basically rode the pine all season. In fact, the 4 JV frosh outfielders got more action in the short JV season than any of those 3 bench guys did during the much longer varsity season.
My point is, you can be "on the team" or "In the program" in some of these D3 programs where stockpiling talent is the norm, but also be a very long way from the seeing the diamond. Not everybody can bear to put up with that. Especially not when there are so many other cool and rewarding things they could be doing with their time in college.
SD, I'm kinda mildly appalled every time I hear this about your son's school. It just doesn't seem fair to either the recruits, or to the other teams in the league whose academic standards would make this kind of recruiting impossible. I mean it's laughable to even speculate how a Pomona or Cal Tech could play that game, isn't it? Do you get the idea that many other schools in the SCIAC operate like that? Or other D3 schools in general?
In California due to distance and geography, conferences can be made of strange bed fellows. It is not like in the east or even herebin the mid west. There are limited conference affiliations available. Basically in southern california the sciac is it. Chapman usedbto be independent, but due to location they spent most their seasons playing sciac and naia schools. the disparate academics in the SCIAC.
Here in ohio you have a school can havebup to 5 different conferences that hey may be associated with, OAC, NCAC, HCAC, MIAA AND THE PAC. So it is easier to find a conference with an academic fit.
It is one of the reasons SOS does not work well for the westerns schools. They spend so much time playing and beating up on each other, that they tend to end up with lower SOS. SD has talked about it. Cal Lu has been traveling to play good competition, so if they do not win the conference, they still have a shot for a Pool C bid.
6 or 7 years ago there was an attempt to split D3 and make a D4. This was spear headed by some of the mid to high academic schools, this being one of the reasons. Thank goodness it did not pass. The funny thing was it was predicted that Mount Union would have been going to D4. Look up Mount Union Football. One of the best programs in D3, some would say the best.
JCG posted:SD, I'm kinda mildly appalled every time I hear this about your son's school. It just doesn't seem fair to either the recruits, or to the other teams in the league whose academic standards would make this kind of recruiting impossible. I mean it's laughable to even speculate how a Pomona or Cal Tech could play that game, isn't it? Do you get the idea that many other schools in the SCIAC operate like that? Or other D3 schools in general?
I can't really speak for other schools, since I've only seen one up close and personal. I wouldn't be completely surprised if some of the less selective schools did take somewhat similar routes. I mean from the coach's perspective it's pretty much a no-lose situation. The one big down side is having to deal with many broken hearts. But that's more a problem for the players than for the coach.
I know Occidental started a JV team a few years back and according to something I read although it started out kind of disorganized, it's now highly integrated into the overall program. I wouldn't be surprised if they use it to expose young players to genuine college baseball and to take a long look at them, without having to stake much on them immediately. They did share the regular season championship with Cal Lu this past year for the first time in a long time. Who knows, maybe the additional recruiting that comes with fielding a JV squad has had some impact.
That said, Pomona-Pitzer has won 5 SCIAC baseball championships since 2002 -- most recently in 2010. That's pretty darned impressive -- though admittedly that was before Chapman -- which gave everybody one more consistently competitive team to contend with -- joined the league.
But you know, I'm not sure that the SCIAC is particularly egregious when it comes to the spread of schools. I mean the PAC 12 includes both Stanford and Arizona State -- two schools with vastly different academic profiles. Similarly the Big 10 includes both Northwestern and Ohio State.
Unless the truly elite schools are just going to play each other, at any level, they are always going to face challenges, wouldn't you think? There are NOT enough of them that you could have the equivalent of the IVY league in every part of the country.
By the way, I think most of the schools in the SCIAC count as "selective" by national measures of these things. Of course, Cal Tech and the Claremont Colleges are in the "most selective" category. Cal Tech (8.8% Acceptance rate, 39.2% yield), Pomona College 9.1% acceptance rate, 41% yield), Claremont McKenna (9.4% acceptance, 50% yield). Among the merely selective are: Cal Lu (48% acceptance Rate, 18% Yield) , Redlands (66.4% acceptance rate, 21% yield rate), Chapman (45% acceptance rate, 25% yield). Occidental, 44% acceptance rate 21%). So there are really two distinct clusters of schools in the league in terms of selectivity. But that's not all that unusual, I would think.
At practice today son finally got to throw from the mound. Faced three seniors: pop out, strike out, and a ground out. Not too bad. Hopefully the coach was watching!
Interesting, SD. Thanks, and good luck to Slugger this year.
Not my son, but my cousin's kid -- who is the same age as my son -- walked on at a midwestern D1 and has apparently won himself a spot on the fall ball roster. Doesn't guarantee him a place on the Spring roster. But at least he gets a chance to show his stuff.
SluggerDad posted:Not my son, but my cousin's kid -- who is the same age as my son -- walked on at a midwestern D1 and has apparently won himself a spot on the fall ball roster. Doesn't guarantee him a place on the Spring roster. But at least he gets a chance to show his stuff.
Keeps the dream alive!
Oh the woes of the college freshman.
Son's girlfriend plays volleyball at a strong mid major program. Earned her first collegiate start vs a top 25 team. Half way through the first set she gets replaced. Learning opportunity but not quite ready.
Son throws live on Saturday for first time. One inning or 20 pitches. Infield hit, strikeout, HBP, Line out to CF and three run bomb to left later he is done. Calls my brother and says well guess it isn't HS anymore. Forgotten to him in this is strikeout was on 3 pitches of a returning freshman all american and homer was hit by juco all american. Breaking balls start this week which will be a welcome addition to son who is a sinker slider guy.
I was a little anxious over the weekend over his results but scrolling my Twitter feed I ran across the story of the Army football player who lost his life in a car accident over the weekend. God sure has a way of setting one straight. My prayers go out to that young man's family.
Continued good luck to everyone's boys this fall.
SluggerDad posted:JCG posted:SD, I'm kinda mildly appalled every time I hear this about your son's school. It just doesn't seem fair to either the recruits, or to the other teams in the league whose academic standards would make this kind of recruiting impossible. I mean it's laughable to even speculate how a Pomona or Cal Tech could play that game, isn't it? Do you get the idea that many other schools in the SCIAC operate like that? Or other D3 schools in general?
I can't really speak for other schools, since I've only seen one up close and personal. I wouldn't be completely surprised if some of the less selective schools did take somewhat similar routes. I mean from the coach's perspective it's pretty much a no-lose situation. The one big down side is having to deal with many broken hearts. But that's more a problem for the players than for the coach.
I know Occidental started a JV team a few years back and according to something I read although it started out kind of disorganized, it's now highly integrated into the overall program. I wouldn't be surprised if they use it to expose young players to genuine college baseball and to take a long look at them, without having to stake much on them immediately. They did share the regular season championship with Cal Lu this past year for the first time in a long time. Who knows, maybe the additional recruiting that comes with fielding a JV squad has had some impact.
That said, Pomona-Pitzer has won 5 SCIAC baseball championships since 2002 -- most recently in 2010. That's pretty darned impressive -- though admittedly that was before Chapman -- which gave everybody one more consistently competitive team to contend with -- joined the league.
But you know, I'm not sure that the SCIAC is particularly egregious when it comes to the spread of schools. I mean the PAC 12 includes both Stanford and Arizona State -- two schools with vastly different academic profiles. Similarly the Big 10 includes both Northwestern and Ohio State.
Unless the truly elite schools are just going to play each other, at any level, they are always going to face challenges, wouldn't you think? There are NOT enough of them that you could have the equivalent of the IVY league in every part of the country.
By the way, I think most of the schools in the SCIAC count as "selective" by national measures of these things. Of course, Cal Tech and the Claremont Colleges are in the "most selective" category. Cal Tech (8.8% Acceptance rate, 39.2% yield), Pomona College 9.1% acceptance rate, 41% yield), Claremont McKenna (9.4% acceptance, 50% yield). Among the merely selective are: Cal Lu (48% acceptance Rate, 18% Yield) , Redlands (66.4% acceptance rate, 21% yield rate), Chapman (45% acceptance rate, 25% yield). Occidental, 44% acceptance rate 21%). So there are really two distinct clusters of schools in the league in terms of selectivity. But that's not all that unusual, I would think.
Occidental no longer has a JV team. Not sure when they ended it, but they didn't have it last year.
BackstopDad32 posted:Oh the woes of the college freshman.
Yeah. It's a new environment. I remember my son reporting back early in his freshman fall semester, "Dad, there's guys here way better than me, and they're not even prospects."
Fall Ball is super important but mainly for the coaches to evaluate players than anything else. Unless a well proven star, the Fall is the time the coaches map out what the spring will look like. I didn't fully appreciate just how much you can gain or lose in a fall. I figured this gets sorted out in the spring, but a lot is arranged in the fall. For the player, development is important but I know the coaches use this as their crutch for determining the future.
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Best to all of your Sons. This has been a very enlightening thread.
I love this thread. College baseball is hard at every level!
It is an opportunity for the Freshmen to make an impression and the upperclassmen to keep their jobs.
I hope HS parents read this thread.
SwampBoy I just saw that post. Congrats that's awesome.
Just got a text from kid... 'First at bat first pitch I hit a double that almost went out'... Happy PAPI!!!
Bolts-Coach-PR posted:Just got a text from kid... 'First at bat first pitch I hit a double that almost went out'... Happy PAPI!!!
What does son think of HC josh holiday?
TPM posted:Bolts-Coach-PR posted:Just got a text from kid... 'First at bat first pitch I hit a double that almost went out'... Happy PAPI!!!
What does son think of HC josh holiday?
Hard to imagine any kid not liking Coach Holliday. Even harder to imagine that if a kid didn't like him that his Dad would post that viewpoint on a public message board!
I sure wish that we lived close enough that my 13 year old could attend these https://joshhollidaybaseballschool.com/