Do you remove college from your list ?

To be 100% honest, I was ready to jump all over you " making the broadest of searches for a college he might like to attend".  IMO this should be your sons job.  But then I realized that I was working with my son this weekend helping him find email contacts for colleges on his list.  Though we take a different approach.  He researches the schools, comes up with the list of schools he would want to play for and I help him with the contact emails and addresses.

Anyway, if you want my opinion, do not remove them from your list.  Your son is a year away from the major recruiting event for his class.  Things may change between now and then.  Your son could improve, the current commits could decommit, etc.  I would say never close a door until you need to.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about other corner infielders.  Truth is most colleges have an abundance of potential corner infielders, only they are currently listed as middle infielders. I would be more concerned if a college had a long list of shortstop recruits.

More important is your son's confidence in going to a school and winning the job.  Plus there are so many things that can change between now and 2019 when he is a freshman in college.  But no matter what, most colleges will have competition at most every position.

Once again, if I am the best 3rd baseman, I would be more concerned with the second best shortstop moving over.

Absolutely not. For our process, we eliminated schools only when we got enough of a feel for the coaching staff and whether there was a fit for my son. Schools that didn't have a fit for other reasons (location, size, programs, majors) were easy to eliminate as a threshold matter. The rest stayed on the list until son got a feeling he didn't want to play for the guys eh was communicating with.

Some coaches make that easy, others don't show their cards as readily. But if a school made it clear they were interested in our son, the roster shake out played no role in the decision-making. My son believes he can compete with anyone at his position; a form of confidence he has worked extremely hard to build and something that attracted the coaches at his ultimate choice. Knowing that, the choice was easy because we know that internal competition makes the whole program better.

BTW, I meant to mention this in my earlier post, when it comes to commitments, things change.  I know of a non-baseball recruit who signed their NLI last week.  Going to a very large program.  He received a call the morning he was to sign his NLI from a major program (one of the top 5 in the country) congratulating on signing his NLI but letting him know that if he wanted to de-commit they still had a place for him.  He stuck with his original commitment.

No matter where you go, there is going to be competition for every position.  If there's not competition going into your freshman year, there will be behind you during your sophomore, junior and senior year.  A position is rarely ever a guarantee.  If one player shows he can hit better than a guy that is already there, college coaches won't hesitate to make a shift.  

So, I say, unless a team has a huge overflow of players in your position, don't cross it off your list.  Just be prepared to go in and compete for play time no matter what.  And, really, the biggest variable will be how well you hit.  I believe most colleges will sacrifice a little defense for a better bat.

Anywhere your son chooses he's going to have multiple players competing for his position. He will also have other players who couldn't win middle infield jobs competing for corner infield positions. It's not uncommon for most of the position recruits to be former high school shortstops and centerfielders.

A friend's son was his state's Gatorade Player of the Year. He was recruited as a shortstop. He started at first as a freshman. He wasn't going to beat out an all SEC shortstop. He could hit. Soph year he moved to short.

Hit the hell out of the ball. Do all the little things right. Have a good attitude. Be willing to play anywhere. Outwork everyone. If the talent is there the coach will find a place for him.

Only a 2018, plenty of time, keep getting stronger, faster, and improving the skill set.  You can edge out players by having stronger grades as well.  Coach won't be worried about your son keeping his grades up.

I've never been fond of burning my bridges until it's really final or your just not given a choice.

Shoot....your son could be the better corner infielder that the school really wants, and will recruit over their earlier commit!

Don't rule anyone out.

Hueysdad,

A 2018 shouldn't be crossing any school off his list at this point in time.   Keep your eye on the program in question, and continue to build your target list with new programs and new opportunities.  This recruiting gig is a lot of work if it is done right.  Focusing on one school is risky.....build in some margin for error by finding schools that want your son's talent.  

When the time comes to make a decision, you make a decision.  Competition is going to be there before you are part of the program, and when you become part of any program.  It will challenge your son to develop his talent and outwork the competition in college and in his professional life.

Good luck!

As I've said to my son many times, one a coach's primary goals is to go out and recruit a kid better than you.  Have your son keep working - he may be that kid that is better than what they currently have.

I'm glad I asked this question. It looks like a 100% ,not to cross anyone off the list. Plus I can take some talking points away from this to discuss with my son. It helps to sound like you know what your talking about, when speaking to a 15 year old lol . He's working hard and loves to compete . Hopefully, he gets to the point that any coach that sees him says I have to find a spot for this kid. Thank you