Coyote -
My son went through a very similar situation to yours. He went to a 2A school that has been football oriented. My son was the youngest in his class, a relief pitcher in the "crafty lefty" mold. Good mechanics, but needing more physical development. His FB was 75 mph, but his screwball, knuckle ball, curve, ability to hit spots and knowledge of the game got outs. When no one was beating a path to our door, I found this site (Thanks to all!). I can tell you from experience that TR is correct, YOU (and your family) will have to make it work - your HS coach and excuses won't get it done.
First of all, go the "recruiting" section of this website and read everything they have to offer - timelines, example letters, etc. Next, Since you are also from Texas, go to
http://www.window.state.tx.us/scholars/schools/colleges.html. This website has all of the Texas colleges and universities. Look for those you would be interested in and see if they have baseball. Note that Stephen F. Austin will be starting their program next year, so they don't have a coach at this time. Angelo State starts this year. Several JUCO's have programs that are either new or less than 5 years old. The coaches at these schools are the folks you need to target ASAP.
We sent a "quick & dirty" biograpy, telling the coach where he played, who he played for, graduation date, age, height, weight, grades, notable stats and career goals. Be prepared to send out some practice film, if they ask for it. My son converted his to DVD to make it more user friendly. He asked them to notify him of camps & tryouts and offered to go to any tryout they wanted him at. He followed up with a letter telling them about how he was practicing over the winter (no select team) and sent them a schedule for his upcoming year.
Finally, go to every college tryout you can. We have driven all over the state to tryouts (most are free, some have nominal fees). Hustle everywhere, be positive and friendly with everyone (helps get you noticed). D2's and JUCO's can give you a tryout, D1's and D3's can't, but we have seen them attending JUCO tryouts. Attend every pro-baseball tryout you can - they are free and those scouts know all of the baseball programs and coaches. Also, get in contact with new programs (JUCO & 4 year) and struggling programs (they often need players). If you can afford a showcase, go. A friend of ours got signed thanks to one of them.
So, did it work? We found out about all of this last October, so we started late. In November, my son sent out about 30 letters. I think 8 coaches responded by April, 2 more after that. We went to lots of tryouts. He got offers to "walk-on" at a D2 and from two D3 schools he liked. He accepted a partial offer at a JUCO he liked after a tryout. The night after he signed, another JUCO called to make an offer. You can make it happen!
Good luck and get to work.
