HS Grad on College Summer Teams

I know of a kid who is doing it this summer. Pretty good summer league program too. He is going to a nationally ranked D1 in the fall, so he's got the talent. And he played on a very good showcase team that played in a lot of wood bat tournaments. My opinion is that it is a bad idea for moral if he's playing and college players are sitting.

Lot of it depends on how good the team / league is.  Obviously the better (think Cape Cod) the less likely it will happen.  It can be done but most times these teams are looking for proven talent at the college level and will take a college guy over a HS guy more times than naught.  I agree with Stafford in that getting playing time will be difficult also.

So you need to weight what's important - getting limited playing time around much better talent or playing with others his age and getting more playing time.

Very few leagues will actually allow that. One I know of that you might look into would be the Perfect Game Summer League. There was a time when they would allow one incoming freshman to be placed on a team.

BK_Razorback,

JMO....I suggest taking a step back to think this through.  What is the best possible outcome for your son (as a future high school graduate) to play with experienced college players in a summer league?  The college players will have had at least (most will have had more) a full year of physical and mental development (reps and coaching tips) ahead of your son.   He's going to need a lot of reps to get confidence to compete for a position in the Fall.  He's going to have to work his *ss off in the gym too.  While my son never played in college summer league (he did engineering internships), I go to a lot of college summer games every year ( I travel a lot).  Some of leagues have exceptional college talent.

It could be a lot of unnecessary pressure on him. I saw a local player in my area play as a recent high schooler in a college league a few years ago.   He's a catcher for a top program in the South.  He definetly struggled with the bat and he was outclassed by more experienced pitchers..  At that time, he didn't have the polish to hit off speed stuff.  With two years under his belt he now eats up off speed stuff.   The only worst thing I can think of is if he was a pitcher.   As a parent, I would be dead set against it if my kid was a pitcher.   I think as a position player it takes an extremely special kid to compete as a recent high school graduate in a top notch college summer league.  Again, JMO.

I have seen it and most were considered high draft picks. I personally would focus on individual work, maybe some weekend play on a Connie Mac team and as fenway posted work his tail off in the gym and come into fall the best shape in his life. 

Bad idea.

HIgh schooler's playing with college players in summer league is boys trying to play with men.  I have seen D3 players struggle on these teams I can't think of a reason college summer team would even take on a  high school kid.

Last season on my son's team they did have a high school catcher that was the bull pen catcher only, wasn't even on the roster.  Was a local kid. Didn't get uniform, was not involved any team stuff.

Bad idea

And there are D3 players who excel on these teams and D1 players who scuffle. I believe one of the  starting shortstops in the NECBL All Star game last year was a D3 kid.

The differences for a HS player are very well summarized by others, in terms of physical strength and maturity.  I know of one local LHP who was placed in the Northwoods league by his Pac12 coach. He reported late with HS playoffs and graduation, etc.  While he was 89-92mph, he had control issues in HS.  They were compounded in the Northwoods league because the players had better command of the strike zone and he put added pressure on himself to try and succeed against a level of competition he had not seen before.  His confidence was given a pretty good shake and it didn't start to return until midway through his sophomore year.

I would agree with those who feel it is a really bad idea for reasons of maturity in baseball as well as off the field and the vast difference in skill between just finishing a HS season and stepping onto a field with high quality college players.

I think, like most things, this is dependent on specific situation and area.  In my area, there seems to be two types of summer college teams.  One is more formal and plays in a high level league (Calif. Collegiate League here) and carries high level talent across the roster.  They pull guys in, mostly D1, from all over the country.  The other is independent teams that are typically heavy JC player based, sometimes with a mix of four year players and often even have some of the better older adult rec players sprinkled in.  The better HS player can usually fit in with the latter but tends to sit an awful lot with the former, when they are even allowed. 

We are fortunate to have sort of a hybrid here in our town.  Over the last few years, a few of our better HS players have had the opportunity to play with this team before heading off to play for their colleges and it has been mostly a positive experience for them.  BTW, this team brings in more and more incoming freshman each year who are signed to play at Cal Poly.  It has been exciting to watch a few excel with this year's team who just hosted a regional.

The college coach from the school where your son will attend may have some say in what your son does the summer before Freshman year.  I know of a D1 college in our area that has some players come to take a few classes in summer school and work out in their facility.  Keewartson's coach said to "play Legion/local summer ball and take a nice vacation because it may be the last one you get in a while...."  

As with most things when giving advice, I don't know if it’s good to make broad stroke assessments that a HS senior shouldn't play in a college summer league.  IMO it depends on the player and their particular situation.  

My son did play in a college league upon graduating HS (Cal Ripken League) and while maybe not the top tier league, there was certainly a lot of very good talent in the league.  Actually there were 3 HS players on his team’s roster (1 pitcher (son) and 2 position players).

In my son’s situation his college coach suggested he play in the league (along with the team that drafted him).  The college coach told him he expected him to be a contributor as a freshman so this would be a good opportunity for him to get used to what he would be facing the following year. Truth is the main reason he did it was because it gave his drafting team a chance to see him a few more times before making their final offer (which worked out well for son).

So while a college summer league might not be a good idea for everyone…I just wanted to share a different POV from someone that has been there. As others have stated, I suggest your son have a conversation with his college coaches to see what they say.  Good luck!

I agree with infielddad. It is not so much the Division that decides whether a player struggles. I have seen D1 players not make it through the season and D2 and D3 players in the all-star game.

It comes down to talent. Does his future coach think he is ready? If he is draft-able as JerseyDad's son maybe he does.  Take in some games at some of the leagues and see the talent. How does your son compare. 

Positions in the top leagues are precious and playing time can be scarce, a coach may be unwilling to use one of the spots he has for a player that has not been on campus yet.

Good luck and enjoy where ever he may play.