Finding a Good High School?

Trevor,
Welcome to the HSBBWEB. I will do my best to answer your question. You say you are heading into 8th grade; Does your middle school have a baseball team? I would do everything I could to make the middle school team and focus on being the player and team mate on the roster. Play on a travel team that will get you quality and quantity reps.

I think it is perfectly fine to play on a team that does not win championships. Good scouts, recruiters and coaches have well trained eyes and will be able to see talent in a player whether his team is winning of loosing.

As far as knowing what comes first – GRADES. Stay focused in the classroom. You can’t get into a good school (college) with poor grades no matter how well you play the game.

Since you are 13 or 14 years old, I will give you a nice welcome.

First thing you need to do is find a good summer team/program in your area that will help you develop your skills and get you seen by scouts. Some will start at 14U which will probably be next summer for you. A lot start at 15U so you have some time to research and find one that you and your parents will think is best for you.

Also, just because your high school has a bad team now, doesnt mean they will stink by the time you are there. When my son was in 7th grade, they won less then 6 games, and had a horrible history. But now, after his junior year they have won at least 15 games (out of 25 or so) the three years he has been there. They have played in the district championship all three years, and are pretty good contenders to make a great run at state this coming year. Things change.

Even if the program stays down, it wont effect you, unless the coach is a complete fool, and even then, I dont see how it would make you a worse ballplayer playing for him. And I am a firm believer in never picking a high school based on the baseball program. My son will have two teammates this next year that started at a private school and have since tranferred back to the public school. And it's not that the private school has a better program and they saw no playing time. Both played as freshman.

Start high school with good grades and keep them there, do well on entrance exams, and find a good summer team. That will take care of most aspects of your "career"

I think if you spend some time looking at posts on this site you will gain lots of valuable information.

As an 8th grader you should be focusing on enjoying and improving your game, not worrying about recruiters.

No, high school quality does not matter to recruiters but what does matter is trying to play against and with people who will raise your level of play. Go up against the best and you will improve.

High school choice is more important from an academic standpoint. Check with some college admissions offices and ask them how the high schools you might attend compare to each other from that vantage point.

College is about getting an education that will launch you to a succesful life as a part of your community. Baseball is an excellent complement to that process but you need to pick your schools on the basis of academics first and make sure you would pick the school if baseball were NOT a consideration.

You may have heard, If you build it they will come? Well if you build up your talents you will have plenty of opportunities to put yourself into a position where recruiters will come.

Bottom line: work hard at your game, more importantly on your academics, and enjoy what you are doing!

As to travel teams I have a different view than some of the other posters. I think travel teams are a waste of your time and money at least until you reach the summer before your Junior year in high school. Stay local while young; you'll do just fine.

Trevor,
Welcome to HSBBW. You have come to a great site with loads of information you can absorb over the next few years.

First of all, high school baseball is not a career. It is something to be enjoyed as part of your overall high school experience. Choose a high school that fits you academically and socially. I think the baseball program should be the least of your considerations.

My sons attended a high school with a horrible baseball program. They had never had a winning season, and the year before they entered were 3-17. Their freshman year they made varsity and the team went 7-12. The next 3 years were all winning seasons with a state tournament appearance. The school however is very strong academically and nationally rated in the top public schools by various publications. As a result, they had a smooth transition their freshman year to the rigors of college coursework and playing D1 baseball.

My advice is to prepare yourself academically during the school year, play high school ball with your friends, play as competitive ball as you can during the summer, and take in all of the info availablem on this site to help you get to the next level.

Good luck!

John F. Kennedy may have been thinking of situations like this when he said,

quote:

Ask not what your high school can do for you, ask what you can do for your high school .

Or something like that.

quote:

Originally posted by Trevor:
do you think college and pro scouts care if your high school programs is good or bad aslong you play for a good travel team?

Most likely, they won't even know what your HS team did.

Just had a visit this week, and the coach only saw son pitch in one game at WWBA.

quote:

lhprhp said...My advice is to prepare yourself academically during the school year, play high school ball with your friends, play as competitive ball as you can during the summer, and take in all of the info availablem on this site to help you get to the next level.

Trevor,

That advice from lhprhp is "golden". In addiiton, the better your academics, the more baseball choices you will have at the end of your high school career.

While my oldest son was being recruited, he was NEVER asked about his high school baseball team. EVERY college coach that recruited him asked about his high school grades. That just about sums it.

Good luck.

Trevor ... My son went to a high school that previously had 19 losing seasons in 22 years. They hadn't made districts in 20 years. He became part of a new tradition. In addition to a new coach two years before his soph year there was an influx of talent. He played on two conference champions and a second place team. While my son had graduated the team came in second this past spring. They have made districts four straight years. His junior year they went the furthest of any baseball team in his schools history. Don't overlook being part of something potentially big rather than looking for the easy ride. You never know.

Looking back to those losing teams that predate my son, on of the kids on those losing teams was drafted in the 7th round. He played on a top end showcase team. However, if you're good enough to start for LA or BBN check it out. As for college ball, no coach ever talked to my son's high school coach. They talked to his showcase head coach and assistant (former D1 coach and pro scout).

For those posters who would like to help Trevor keep in mind most kids still play Legion in his area. AAU ball is starting to make some headway. Mostly only the top studs looking to get out of the area to play ACC or SEC ball play for showcase teams. The rest pick and chose a handful of individual showcases.

quote:

Originally posted by lhprhp:
First of all, high school baseball is not a career. It is something to be enjoyed as part of your overall high school experience. Choose a high school that fits you academically and socially. I think the baseball program should be the least of your considerations.

My sons attended a high school with a horrible baseball program. They had never had a winning season, and the year before they entered were 3-17. Their freshman year they made varsity and the team went 7-12. The next 3 years were all winning seasons with a state tournament appearance. The school however is very strong academically and nationally rated in the top public schools by various publications. As a result, they had a smooth transition their freshman year to the rigors of college coursework and playing D1 baseball.

My advice is to prepare yourself academically during the school year, play high school ball with your friends, play as competitive ball as you can during the summer, and take in all of the info availablem on this site to help you get to the next level.

Good luck!

Good post!

My son's freshman year saw the HS varsity squad go 5 and 14 while his JV squad lost the JV district championship to come in 2nd. It would have been very tempting not to play varsity based on the previous years record. But a new coach had been hired and we knew there were good players coming up from JV. My son's sophomore year the varsity went 12-8 and qualified for the district playoffs for the first time in 20 years. Didn't make regionals. His junior year they just missed the playoffs even though their district record was one game better.

His senior year, they got off to a 9-0 start, finished the regular season 16-3, won the district tournament (it had been 25 years since the last district championship) in a dramatic come-from-behind victory (my son drove in the tying run with two outs in the 7th), were regional runner ups, and advanced to the state quarterfinals and were two outs from advancing to the final four.

To borrow a phrase from the financial market, "You can't predict future results based on past performance." I believe the same in sports. PA Dino's paraphrase of JFK's famous quote is spot on. Choose your high school on the academics, then worry about baseball (or the sport of your choosing).

Who knows? You might be the difference between a losing team and a championship contender.

FWIW - my son had a stellar year his senior year - named 1st Team All District (1B), 1st Team All Region (1B), 1st Team All Area (local media selection) and was one of four players in the district to be named to state (Honorable Mention - 1B). All this while playing in the shadow of his teammate who would eventually be drafted by the Rays in the 6th round. My son is now playing at a Div II JUCO - signed his NLI the night of the district championship.

in my region you have no choice in thw matter unless you go to a private school---u must attend the school in your town