We (jointly) decided that for his freshmen season (rising Soph) my son would stay with us and play on a team whose home field is about ½ hour drive from our house. He is able to spend a little time with us, enjoy the California summer (we live on the coast), see some of his friends, and is able to get to his home gym down the street. He commutes with one other player in the area who is doing the same thing so they are sharing in commute costs. Overall it has worked out pretty well but next year he will likely find another team for a new experience.
A one hour drive might be a bit much however, when you add up how many times you have to go back and forth it might be worth staying with a local host family, and getting over to see your family when you can. (and vise versa)