High School Ball...

The HS my son is going to in the fall has a solid program for a private school. While it is far from a recruitment factory, they are a brotherhood. My son is excited that he will be fighting for a chance to be a part of it next spring. He is attending their baseball camp for a second summer, while he loves his middle school and their playoff run, he admits he is most amped about attending the camp in a couple of weeks

We have more memories of the HS and Legion games my son played in than any travel team tournament.  Son's senior year his HS team won the District Championship for the first time in 25 years.  He had a critical hit in the late stages of the game.  That year they made it to the state tournament only to lose in the quarterfinals.

40 years ago I played HS football.   My team went on a three year run winning the District Championship and Regional Championship two of the three years and going on to the state tournament (lost in the state finals my senior year).   The brotherhood among players is a unique experience.

There's something to be said for winning (or even participating in) such tournaments with your friends and classmates.

My son's HS teams (soph, jr & senior years) were 3 of the best we've had in a long time.  His junior year they set the record for most wins in a season and lost in the District finals on a bogus walk-off balk call.  Senior year they didn't expect to be much over .500 and ended up missing the previous year's record by 1 win.  Lost in district finals after knocking off the number 1 team in the state in the semi's the day before.....son had 2 RBI, gave up 3 hits and had 11 K's).  Easily my favorite game he has ever been involved in.   Baseball wise, his travel ball teams were better....just more overall talent and much better competition, but the HS games are the ones he talks about now when his favorite baseball games come up

Baseballcomesthird posted:

Just a thought. I must say, high school baseball is quite an incredible experience. A lot people feel like high school is useless and travel is the only thing that matters because it gets you recruited, however I have come to the realization that there is no better feeling than playing with your friends from your town who you have been playing with for years. Not to mention the common goal of bringing home a state championship. I have come to this realization as I am going to a new school next year and will no longer have these experiences with my friends that I have known for so long. How has high school baseball impacted you?

I posted this photo last year. It was taken after my 2017 son's team lost in the playoffs.  It says all I have to say about HS ball for the players.

OK I'm not a man of few words so I have to add this:  My son is the guy in the middle. He recently finished is freshman year of playing D3 college baseball and loves it.  The kid on the right took a year off but will be playing Juco ball in the fall.  The kid on the left was going to play in college, but had a change of heart, so this was his final game. I'm sure it broke his dad's heart at least a little.  It's kind of like life in general. Parents usually know when it's the end of their sons' baseball careers, but very often they don't.  So you might as well enjoy each game like it's the last.