collegiate league out of high school

if you have the talent, why not?

You gain one of college experience, before you enter College.

Depends on the quality of the League.

are you a pitcher or a hitter? Have you played many night games?

Do you have an offer from a team? Do you have any fear?

Bob

founder of the Area Code games

Son's future college coach said to "play legion or local and take a family vacation.  It may be the last chance for a while....."

Ours (for younger son) too.  Glad we listened.

On top of that, our older son who had been through 2 college summer teams told us that HS kids in college summer leagues were looked down upon by the college teammates.  He said the 'welcome mat' would not be out and also advised not to do it.

Two local players recently did this.  First player ended up being a 2nd round draft choice out of college this year.  GREAT kid.  He did this coming out of HS as a pitcher.  Got about 5 innings all summer.  Waste of time.

Second kid was so uncomfortable after half a summer, he came home.

Not saying no one should do it.  Just some things to think about.

Son is a SS/MI so I know competition for play time is going to be extremely tough.  I know his mother and I both had hoped he would take it easy this summer. But with him I don't think that is possible as he is usually on 3 teams minimum over the summer and has been for years. He has played on a tough amateur league team for the last three summers so he is used to the cold shoulder at first from older players but that was never a problem.

He has a offer and they want a contract by the end of the month. It is a fairly new team in the Midwest but Jr's idea is that if he plays well this summer it will help him get on the league he wants to the following year. His future college coach is all for it and is the one who set it up.

Is it season contract or 15-day contract? Sometimes the younger players are "fillers".  Top recruits to D1 usually have no worries because if the player is marginalized the D1 team will probably not be happy and that affects the summmer team's chances of landing similar recruits going forward. 

I don't doubt that you have a point Bum, but 2 of the leagues I'm talking about above are the Cape and the Northwoods League.  Doubt any college coach (D1 or otherwise) is gonna pull future players over how a HS kid was treated.  In fact, both of those examples above were placed by their soon-to-be college coach…and still, it happened.

Again, not saying this is everywhere…but there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that it happens and is worth considering.

My suggestion is to "go for it". The competition will make the player quicker and

his instincts will sharpen.

One of our players, a LHP from the Goodwill Series trip last year to Australia played last summer after graduation with a College League team in California.

LHP had not receive his college opportunity until he began playing in June.

He is now a Freshman pitcher at a  California Division 1 University and

he will be a valuable member  of the pitching staff.

Bob

Maybe another factor is icing the player.  A lot of these h.s. kids are overused due to their premier talent level.  Maybe the college coach is perfectly fine ensuring they get limited action so as not to get hurt before they can have at 'em. 

I don't think the Cape is a place for A HS player, no matter what talent level they have.  It is not a conducive atmosphere for that age of player.

Bum, Jr. turned down his Cape offer.  He had just come off of 70+ games in the Northwoods in front of 6,500 fans a night in Madison and went back for a second year.  He had heard the Cape played on h.s.-quality fields in front of a few hundred fans.  He wanted to pitch in front of the big crowds.

"Son's future college coach said to "play legion or local and take a family vacation.  It may be the last chance for a while..."

My son's future PC said the same thing. Play a little local ball, 3 innings max, fastball & change only. Work with your trainer, do the eight week pre-fall ball workouts and have fun. Might be awhile before you can have a free summer. Good advice, he showed up fresh and ready to go to work. 

Son played but it was with an independent, not in one of the higher profile leagues.  It was also very close to home.  All but maybe four of the players were college players so he benefited from playing with that group.  But the opposing teams (many were in the better leagues) usually threw their lower tier guys so he actually saw better pitching the previous fall in scout league (littered with kids that got drafted soon after).

Also, it was a huge time commitment.  For some reason, they had to be at the park two and a half hours before game time.  They hit and did IO's but there was a lot of hanging around killing time.  So, it ended up taking up seven + hours of the day most days for most of the summer.  I felt really bad for some of the kids who rarely played yet were expected to be there all the time.  Tough to juggle a summer job to earn some money.  It's not like HS or college where you are maybe paying your dues for a better shot to play more next year.

So, like everything, lots of pros and cons to consider.

For your son, when the contract was discussed, was there any discussion about playing time?  Did his college coach say it may help him get in that league he wants to play in the following year?  Can he set that up as well?  Those are questions I'd be asking.

My suggestion, get a job ( the money will come in handy in college), take a good vacation and train hard....take the time to get in shape for that fall season!

mech1978 - my son played in the Cal Ripken College League out to high school. Maybe he was lucky however he had a great experience and was accepted by his team mates with no issues (that I was aware of). 

Truth be told the reason he accepted the offer was because the team that drafted him suggested he take part in the league.  Actually the PC for the school he was planning on attending was all for it saying it would give him good insight as to what it would be like to pitch at a higher level as a freshman.  Since they allowed my son to drive down on his pitching days and then come home after the game it was a pretty easy decision.

It was apparent to us that his drafting team wanted to watch him a bit more before making their final offer so this was a way to see him in a wood bat environment against better competition.  He wasn’t alone either, on his team there were three other HS players that were also drafted.  I believe two of them signed with their drafting team and one went on to play at Virginia.  

If it weren’t for being drafted he probably would have taken the summer off from baseball…as silly as it may sound for an 18 year old ball player, playing in a college league for him was strictly a business decision.

jerseydad- There were a handful of HS players scattered throughout the Ripken League when I played there as well. I also played in the Valley League and the Coastal Plain League, and the Ripken was the only one that had HS grads. My team had two- both catchers. One left early to attend one of the service academies. He was a good defensive catcher who struggled a bit at the plate. The other was a top recruit who was about 6'2", 225 lbs. and had an older brother who was a top prospect in the minor leagues. He struggled defensively and grew into the offensive side of the game as he adjusted to the quality of pitching. Both players performed well during their freshman campaigns the immediate season after, each starting between 25-30 games and getting around 100 ABs.

Socially, there was no trouble with these players fitting in. We accepted them as teammates and enjoyed their presence. Both were very mature young men who had a good sense of themselves as ballplayers and as people. 

This is obviously just one experience, and I'm sure there are some that aren't as positive. But in this particular instance- I'm sure both of these players would agree that the summer season was a successful and enjoyable one.

Mech, Bum, Jr. loved the Northwoods Leauge and the Madison Mallards gave my son a great experience.  He really needed it at the time, because he was doing a D1 to D1 transfer and he needed the innings in the Summer.  He was actually their #1 starter.  The fans were electric, the food great, and the travel from town to town was very much like his minor league experience.  I actually asked him about this yesterday and he said the only difference in the minors is that the players come and go so quickly so it's harder to build a "team" relationship.. but he said it definitely prepared him for what was to come, especially logging innings against wood. 

My son played in Bellingham for the Bells of the WCL right out of high school this past summer. I can't tell you enough how great an experience this was for him. The Bells are a first class organization in everything they do. He had a great (and I mean great) host family, was treated well by the players, fans, ownership, coaches etc. - it was a fantastic experience.

From a baseball perspective having 125 ab's vs college pitchers BEFORE he stepped on campus was huge. He had played in all of the big tournaments, PG events, area codes etc. but this experience by far made the first few months in college much easier. He knew how the older kids acted in the clubhouse, on the field and of course off the field. 10 hour bus trips, motels, late night stops at Safeway to try and find food were all learning experiences that will serve him well.

From a parent perspective when we dropped him off at school it was really easy. I had no doubt he was ready to be on his own, heck he had been on his own already for two plus months.

With that said he was fortunate to be with a truly great group of people in Bellingham. I cannot imagine a better situation, it was as good as it gets!

Warning Track;

Your son has talent, courage and mental toughness. The 6th tool!

The 125 AB is the key.

He will have a successful college career. What school will he play for?

Bob

University of San Diego

I will watch him play when they play SSU.

Bob

The Valley League voted to not allow high school players at all. There really was no one pushing for it as the league has no problem attracting plenty of skilled players; on top of  that, during the winter meetings, a MLB rep. recommended against it. A lot of good points made above-travel, several hours at the park daily,etc. And I'd think a freshman would want to get to campus in tip top shape, rested and ready to go-college baseball is a ton more work than high school ball, a huge adjustment, and that doesn't include the academic adjustments, or the time management skills development.   Unless a kid is named Bryce Harper, a sure fire first  round pick out of high school, I see no advantage.  Any high school player will have 3 years to play college summer ball-why rush it?