Division III baseball

The question only you can answer is how good is "good"-academically. While top DI baseball programs (Texas, Miami, ASU etc) are exclusive in skilled-player recruitment, many of the academically exclusive DIII schools need 1350-1500 SATS scores, and maintain 20-25% acceptance rates from an already self-selected set of top students.

As something I'm experienced with (DIII liberal arts schools), I will offer that, from among U.S. News & World Reports 2006 top 25 liberal arts schools, six have what could be considered "good" baseball programs.

For this post I've referenced "good programs" as those with current, consecutive winning seasons and at least one recent post-season appearance. Issues like "the coach is a great guy" can't be compared.

NOTES: Several of the top 25 liberal arts schools are essentially womens colleges not offering baseball and one school, Colgate, is in the DI Patriot League.
All the schools listed below are in the East. The U.S. News academic rankings are listed after each school name.

Williams (1)
Amherst (2)
Bowdoin (6)
Haverford (8)
Washington and Lee (14)
Trinity (25)

Obviously, other academically elite DIII schools, Johns Hopkins for example, have "good" programs, they simply aren't listed among liberal arts schools.

good luck

Haverdad post is 100% correct and he has listed some great D3's. Here are a few more you may want to check out:

Tufts(while not ranked in the D3 Baseball Top 25 it does have a good baseball program and excellent academics and has a national ranking in academics.

Wheaton College(In baseball ranked 12th in the nation, good academics)

Renssalear(RPI)A top 30-40 D3 baeball program and excellent academics.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute(WPI) excellent academics(ranked 53rd in the nation by US News), great coach, going through rebuilding year. My son attends. He loves it. Great team chemistry. Gone to post season play 2 out of last 5 years. Will graduate 9 seniors this year, 4 outfielders, 4 pitchers and 1 third baseman.

Muhlenberg college, excellent academics and good baseball program. Head coach coached in the Cape league this summer.

Eastern Conn. State(always in the Baseball top 25 and good academics).

The acadmics and admission requirements at most D3's are tough. As HaverDad said the average SAT score is around 1300. The academics are tough but the athletic programs work around the academics which is great. Alot of D3 players get drafted every year. For me it's the best of both worlds.

They play less games than D1 and D2(between 35-40) and they don't usually travel very far from their colleges(they just don't have the budget). Usually they make a spring break trip for 7-10 days and play between 8-10 games during the trip. I hope this helps.

My son turned down 2 D1 schools to go play D3 and he's very happy with his decision.

Cathage University is a top 25 team in Kenosha Wisconsin.They have been winning for years!Expensive school,good academically. A couple of things about their team. Have about 40 guys on the roster,so probably not a lot of playing time your first couple of years and they have a JV team.
Wisconsin-Whitewater were the divison 3 national champs last season. Same thing as carthage 40 guys,except it would be harder to get playing time.It seems like only Jr. and Sr. play.
Illionis Wesleyan University- good academics, one of the best college fields in the state.It's really sweet. Top 25 team like Whitewater and Carthage. I have a friend that is on the team, told me he really does not care for the coach a lot of people don't. Also JV.

When talking about DIII in the northeast you are talking about traditionally strong baseball and of course academics...there are far more DIII schools up here than anywhere else...and although I agree with Haverdad...about what he considers quality programs, some are on the rise such as Villa Julie College. Academically we were very strong in US News and World report...baseball wise we just entered a conference and finished 2nd in our first season. It's tough to make playoffs with a newly established program and no conference. We will be there soon. All those schools he reference are TOP NOTCH academically he's right 1300-1500 SAT...there is also another batch such as Alvernia, York, U of Mary Wash, Salisbury and of course Villa Julie College who might be a slight step behind them either academically or program wise.

For Division 11 schools check out the Northeast 10 Conference....
For D111...quite a few of the top academic schools have been mentioned...also Brandeis, Babson,and Clark are strong academically and both Brandeis and Babson are strong in baseball...lesser known is Bridgewater State(D111) and Suffolk...but bear in mind many of these schools while offering Liberal Arts are generally known for other courses of higher education..ie Babson is known for Business and if you attend there for four years your fifth year for a Master's degree is offered free....but..in Freshman year you must begin your own business and by Senior year it must be up and running...demanding of time and now add in a sport...not an easy feat

Ohio has many DIII schools that are excellent both academically and in baseball. Wooster goes to NCAA post-season almost every year. Also look at Wittenburg, Denison, Marietta, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein and Heidelburg.

Cheeck out Wabash College in Crawfordsville, In. About 30 minutes away from Purdue, it has amazing academics (makes several princeton review lists every year) and has a baseball program on the upsing. A little catch: it is one of the last all male schools in the nation. only 900 kids!

If you all male thing gets to you, there is always DePauw University. A good baseball program with really good academics in nearby Greencastle, IN. There is about 1800 kids there.

tegid

great note regarding Wabash---I know a young man from AZ who is there and last I heard he is more than satisfied with his choice

thanks for all the responses. how are things down at wabash jake?

Catholic University (D.C.)
Johns Hopkins (Maryland)
St. Mary's (Maryland)

Larry just make sure Villa Julie College gets the right play...it is ranked the 2 highest in academic standards upon graduation to Johns Hopkins in MD, due to the 96% placement rate...just want to make sure it get added to the list!

My apologies to VJC. My wife graduated from VJC. Can't vouch for the baseball program yet. Have seen too much turnover and some real clowns at the helm. I hope the current coaching staff does things above board. If that happens, I see no reason not to recommend VJC to prospects. By the way, where does VJC play their home games?

larry,
we play our home games at Bachmann and Joe Cannon Stadium...there has been very little turnover I've been at the helm for 4 of the 7 years we have been in existence with my staff which has been with me since the beginning. I agree we had an uphill battle from the original coach however after 47 years I've got all my guys in the program, hence the 25 win season and 2nd in the conference. Watch out for this year! besides we just purchased the Former Ravens complex and we have arguably the best indoor facility in the area with full cages, mounds and a large indoor practice area on turf! Finally, the baseball gods have looked on us!