Independent Player asked to showcases

Independants mom:

Welcome to the HSBBW...and you've opened up with a fine question for the rest of us.

I'll offer partial advice...have your son try out for his HS team next year.

It's apparent from your post that he is a good ball player and a good student...and he has a good dream...to play baseball in college. All prerequisites needed to climb up to the next level. There are always spots for good, talented, and hard working baseball players.

The situation on his HS team most likely will not change (i.e. politics going away, coaching change, or the starter ahead of him moving or, heaven forbid, being injured) therefore next year's result may very well be the same...but there is a chance that your son's lot may improve...work hard and give it a chance with an open mind. If you keep a positive attitude about it and have researched the alternatives then you really have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain!

Other more knowledgable and experienced posters will certainly offer you more good advice.

Much success to your son...he sounds like a good one...keep us posted won't you?

Mom:

It is unlikely based on what you say that he will get a scholarship for baseball. That does not mean, however, that he cannot get an opportunity to play college baseball, particularly at a Division III or NAIA level or at a JC. Part of it will depend on how much he wants to persevere at baseball versus how much he decides to move on to other things.

I agree with jemaz...particularly in regards to persevering...all the more reason to try out again for his HS team again next year.

For all we talk here about the relative unimportance of things like hs baseball stats, his having been cut from his hs team will probably look odd to a college coach who might well immedietly think it's either skill level or baggage.

If he does want to play in college, he needs to get on one of the many excellent summer teams in GA. College coaches aren't scouting men's teams. And he needs to go out for the hs team next year, for perception's sake.

I would never suggest there aren't politics and poor coaching decisions in some hs programs. But that's not a reason you want to give a prospective college coach.

quote:

He says he does not want to try out for the high school baseball team next year due to the politics and the fact that he would be playing behind a kid who is the number 7 or 8 catcher in the state of Georgia. His dream has always been to play college baseball.

This is a bad way to start the process out. Your son has to change his attitude and do that quick. Time is running short. PG events are a great way to get noticed. However your son needs a long term goal and that goal is right in front of his nose. He needs to work his arse off in order to make the team and beat out that catcher next year. He cannot use the excuse that there are politics involved, or the next guy is too good.

The UGLY truth today is that if he got cut by his HS team he most likely is not good enough to play college ball. That statement is not written in stone, but only he has the ability to change that.

It's obvious that he loves the game because he went outside the school to find a team. That team is only providing playing time, it is not a way to be noticed. Your son has to get back into the system that recruits High School players and that is not through an adult league. He cannot re-invent the recruiting process because he is running out of time, and by your own admission, at this point, is not good enough to be an "exception to the rule". In my opinion he is looking for an easy way to play college baseball and if that does not work out for him he will blame politics, the coach, and the high school for ruining his chances.

I'm very sorry if you precieve this as being somewhat rude and not the answer you wanted to here. By no means was it meant to be rude, but you asked for opinions and I could not think of a way to candycoat an answer. I really hope your son works on his game and uses the "winning the catching job" next season as a motivating factor. With his passion for the game he has a good start, now all he needs to do is put a competitive chip on his shoulder and work at his the game in order to be the best player he can be.

you can transfer to another HS. without knowing you name, no way to tell how good you really are.

hit some hs showcases, college baseball camps and to be honest most college coaches do their recruiting during the summer months at tournament and hs showcases anyways.

I saw a mens league game this spring, talent level was laughable, 76-78 mph was the norm for pitching or HS level. Any players with any talent will be playing independent or affiliated baseball. But you do have a few HS players and college players who are academically ineligible playing mens league to stay in shape prior to the draft

Not playing on your HS baseball team does not eliminate your son's chance to play college baseball. A player from a local HS here did not play & was not on the HS baseball team roster in his senior year. He is now on the roster of a college team in GA.

Having said that, it will be better if your son is on the HS roster. Meanwhile follow Orlando's advice. Find a good Connie Mack summer team to play on. College scouts follow those teams.

Independants mom,

Welcome to the High School Baseball Web! Another thought about your son playing behind a catcher who appears to have the spot locked up:

On many HS teams and even some college teams, players move to a position that might not be their first preference or their strongest suit defensively, but it is a position needed AND their coach wants their bat in the lineup. So if your son continues to emphasize working on his hitting at the same time that he develops as a catcher, he might find himself in the HS lineup one way or another (and perhaps could still play catcher on a summer team).

I agree that it would help your son's chances of playing college baseball if he sets a goal to make his HS team next year.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

Edit: I just noticed, this is post # 1000 for me!

If the boy can hit he won't be cut---they will find a position for him to play if he can hit

Perhaps though, as was noted above, the boy is not good enough to make the team

I would worry less about a scholarship and more on finding a college that gives opportunities to make the team as a walk on.

He also has to tryout for the HS team or better yet transfer to another school.

His situation is he isnt going to get a scholarship so you need to figure out what's your next step to be able to play in college.

Son signed his letter in November. Did he like his coach, no. Were their politics, yes there were. Did my son deal with the politics, Yes. My son is a catcher. According to his coach in high school there was always someone better than him. After his sophomore year we played on a select team. One that played all of the top teams in the state. Did they come out to see his team? No. But while they were there he maade the bestof it. Junior year my son split with a sophomore at the position. The sophomore caught all the big games my son caught all the "easy" games. Play-offs came around and my son caught the 2nd game of the series. Used it to his advantage. He recieved an invitation to the Area Code game try-outs and an invitation only to the Pittsburgh Pirates camp. Senior year comes around he gets visists or direct contact from 14 colleges & Ui=niversity, D-1 through D-III's. He signed with a great school. In short it is the players attitude. Your son needs to be on his high school team because you don't want the scouts to wonder why he is not playing high school ball. He needs to make his attitude that says I can show the coach I am a ball player and I can get a scholarship. Interesting I was at a banquet the other day and the Athletic Director for HISD stood up and said that only 1% of the atheletes in America will sign a letter of intent to play college baseball. Tells me that they must all have the will do attitude

My son can hit and takes lessons from Tommy Gregg of the Cardinals organization. During his tryouts he hit to all sides of the field, but no HR's. The other catcher is also a power hitter who, although he strikes out on a regular basis, when he does connect it is usually out of the park. His father is also the president of the booster club. This year the coach has played the same ten players - only switching out his pitchers and one outfielder for over 90 percent of the games. This is a team of over 18 players. My son will not switch schools for his senior year - the education offered at his school is the best in the county. He plans to go into the education field and will have the HOPE scholarship available to him - paying for college is not a problem.

I guess the next question would be how do you determine which colleges are the most open to walk-on's for their baseball programs?

If he's not on the HS baseball team as a senior his best chance would be to try out/attend a JC.

Independants mom:

I would recommend looking at DII or NAIA schools that have a junior varsity team or even a club team. You can find certain search engines that will tell you this and then check each school out. If you are interested in more details you can PM me.

TW344

Indy-Mom,
ALL NCAA schools "invite" walk-ons to an open tryout (by rule)

now, here's the catch . .
the program where a walk-on has the best chance of making the team is the one where the walk-on "stands out" or is "clearly better" than the recruited players whom the coaching staff has spent months/yrs identifying, recruiting, and getting on campus.

it's kind of a catch 22 - if your son "really is" a standout & clearly better than others he will have been recruited - - if he was not recruited he probably was NOT a standout . . AND thus will not "turn heads" at walk-on try-outs.

tho there are occsionally guys that get overlooked, most that think they were overlooked were seen & just didn't generate any interest

good luck

.

quote:

I guess the next question would be how do you determine which colleges are the most open to walk-on's for their baseball programs?

If this is the approach I would recommend that you look at schools from an academic point of view and then with that list check out the walk-on, JV, or club baseball possibilities. Check with the HS schools guidence councilor and get a long list of schools that have academic programs suited to your sons career path and then contact the coaches of those schools and let them fill you in on the schools walk-on policy. From your posts it seems your sons strengths are in academics and I feel it would be an injustice to choose a school by the baseball possibilities over academic programs. IMO your best bet is to stay away from D1 and focus your efforts on D2/D3. If it's the JC or CC route he may be looking into remember that you may be dealing with Xfer issues in a couple years. In most situations walk-ons tryouts can be very frustrating for players. With that said, catchers and pitchers seem to be the two positions where walk-ons seem to have the best chance.

Also remember that if a Freshmen walk-on makes a team that they will most likely be the lowest piece of the food chain and unless they can accept that role, they will not stay long. Coaches spend a lot of time recruiting players and those players will have to prove they DO NOT belong before a walk-on jumps ahead of them.

I have to agree with those who've said to work hard and try to make the team next year, and to work at another position as well. Alot can happen.

If he can play, for example, first base or outfield, and already he's another catcher, then the coach will have some depth, and very happy about it, particularly if something happens to the starting catcher.

Plus, you say the coach plays the same guys pretty much all the time. I don't know the situation, but I have to believe that a good many of those, if not the majority, are seniors, and so won't even be on the team next year. The coach will need another group of kids to play all the time. Have your son set his sights on being one of those players. Target one of those positions vacated by this year's outgoing seniors.

And as TR mentioned, if he can hit, they'll find a spot for him.

dad10 - thank you for your response, but just so you know, the ones who are sitting the bench are mostly the seniors. There are 3 seniors that are part of the regular players. I know that my son will continue to play somewhere. We are looking into fall travel leagues - there are some extremely good ones in the state of GA. I know that we will not be able to afford "East Cobb" which is about $1500 to play, but we will look into other teams. My son will not change schools for his senior year.
Yes, academics do come before sports in our home, but he would love to be able to continue to play baseball. He has stated that he will no go out for the HS baseball team next year because he has already promised the s****r coach that he would be the varsity keeper for the school s****r team. He will not break his promise to that coach. He is working this summer to improve both of his sports. He is attending a Notre Dame s****r camp and both perfect game and battle of the states for baseball. He will continue to play with the local men's team until the fall and he can get on a traveling baseball team for his age group.
He will not go out for his hs baseball team and just sit the bench for the whole year. With the other catcher's abilities (and is also a pretty good kid and a good friend of my son)and the fact that his father is the president of the booster club who raises all of the money for the coach, my son has no real chance for any playing time unless the other catcher get hurt. I would not wish that on this young man nor any other player. My son realizes the realities of the situation at his school and does not live in a dream world. He knows how the real world works and will make his way around obsticals to achieve his dreams.

The other catchers dad being the Booster Club Pres aside is it just possible that the boy is not good enough to even make the team

Never understand the power of versatility. Sure, your son may see himself as a catcher, but if he is a talented player he has the capability to play other positions as well.

A college coach would love to get a talented player who is versatile enough to play outfield when he isn't catching.

I realize you said that he has already decided he won't play - and this is all water under the bridge, however:

It might be a good idea for him to take the time now to go and visit a few of the coaches he might be interested in playing for. It might be good to talk over his decision with them and see what kind of reception he gets.

It's always best to get it straight from the horses mouth

maybe the s****R game is better suited to him,in my opinion if he doesn't feel the need to show the coach he is valuable to the team .he has given up already.never give up.never admit defeat.

To TRhit
According to his hitting coach - a manager for the Cardinals farm team and a former major league player - he is more than qualified to make the HS team.
To be perfectly blunt, both his old coach and one of the people that the HS coach had coaching the fall ball (GA HS rules - HS coaches can not coach the teams from july through january)both were totally flabergasted that he did not make the team. To the majority of the people involved with the team it was considered a "given" that he would make the team.

quote:

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To Aparent - that is something we had not thought about - the contacting of the college coaches now and letting them know the situation.
My son has also played, third, short, second - but all of this prior to HS. Since joining his HS team he has not been given the chance to do anything other than catch. He requested on a couple of occasions that the coach allow him to play other positions, but was told that "he was too valuable as a catch" - so much for that value.

If he has the tools and desire then go for the team next year

If I were a college coach I would be very skeptical about his drive and desire and that is vefore I see him on the field

I am not trying to be negative but a kid with talent as you claim plays baseball and does not quit

To all who have responded to my questions - thank you for some very valuable information and ideas.

I am going to wait until we have returned from both the showcase and tournament - around the end of July - to see what his stats are and how they believe that he did. I will let you all know at that time what happened and how we plan to proceed.

Again - thanks for all of the input and see you back around the end of July.

Just a word of advice in attending these events---since the boy has not played too much baseball of late, if any at all, he better be in tip top baseball shape because all the others players will be--- better to not be there than to be there and fall flat on your face

Yes I am aware he "plays" in some sort of adult league but I question the physical and baseball shape of the players