NESCAC Baseball Level (Headfirst)

I've watched plenty fo NESCAC games in the past few years. If you can locate your pitches you'll be fine. Since you live in CT I recommend you visit Colby and Bates in March before making your decision. It's cold up there. It's three hours north of Boston.

Son competes against NESCAC schools, was recruited by NESCAC schools and works for HeadFirst over the summer. Low 80's undersized lefties do just fine at the NESCAC level, BUT - you have to compete and work very hard!

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2013LHP said....To be completely honest, I'm not sure how I fit in to the college baseball experience. I'm a lefty and throw in the low 80s with a slider and changeup. Obviously this isn't really D1 material, especially with my frame (5'9), but how would this fit in to NESCAC baseball?

2013LHP,

Welcome to HSBBWeb. Be confident. Pitching is more than mph, it is about deception. If you can deceive hitters and change speeds you'll be fine. Also, you can count on learning new pitches and strenghening your arm while in college.

I would visit all schools you are interestd in not just the NESCAC schools. Cast a wide net to find what you are most comfortable with, as well as schools that are intersted in you. NESCAC schools are very competitive with Admissions, so I would research the Admissions process as much as possible depending on your intended major. Each NESCAC school is vastly different from the other even though they share the same athletic conference. They have very specific guidelines about athletic recruiting, so I would try to understand that process too. http://www.nescac.com/admissions/admissions

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2013LHP said.....I am going to Headfirst this August and have been in contact with 5 or 6 NESCAC coaches to make sure they look out for me. What should I expect out of this experience? Will I generate interest, or probably not?

Get in touch with all NESCAC schools and any school on the HeadFirst list you have interest in. You can expect the NESCAC schools or any highly competitive academic school to watch you at HeadFirst, invite you to one of their select camps, and monitor your progress over the summer. They will stay in touch with you, and possibly encourage you to apply to their school. There can be some players the coach can sponsor or offer "slots" through Admissions. The number or slots varies by school. You really need to do some research on this topic because it is unique to the NESCAC schools. Keep in mind, lots of players make the baseball team without "slots" as well. Like any college baseball team (at any level) it is a huge committment, so please do your research on that too. This site is a fantastic resource for all the questions that are going through your head. The "search" function or "advanced search" is a great way to get started.

Best of luck, and let us know if you have specific questions.

Some very good advice provided already.

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Originally posted by 2013LHP:

To be completely honest, I'm not sure how I fit in to the college baseball experience. I'm a lefty and throw in the low 80s with a slider and changeup. Obviously this isn't really D1 material, especially with my frame (5'9), but how would this fit in to NESCAC baseball?

I'm a 5'11" LHP and in the fall of my freshman year of college I topped out at 81 mph. I pitched Division III ball for 3 seasons and compiled a 1.61 career ERA over 105 innings pitched and garnered an All-Region honor. Now I'm playing my final year of eligibility at the Division I level, at a Big East school.

Look up who Michael Roth is, or Josh Spence. They're the craftiness of crafty college lefties of the last five years.

This guy didn't do too bad for himself either: http://www.baseball-reference....rs/m/moyerja01.shtml

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Originally posted by fenwaysouth:

quote:

2013LHP said....To be completely honest, I'm not sure how I fit in to the college baseball experience. I'm a lefty and throw in the low 80s with a slider and changeup. Obviously this isn't really D1 material, especially with my frame (5'9), but how would this fit in to NESCAC baseball?

2013LHP,

Welcome to HSBBWeb. Be confident. Pitching is more than mph, it is about deception. If you can deceive hitters and change speeds you'll be fine. Also, you can count on learning new pitches and strenghening your arm while in college.

I would visit all schools you are interestd in not just the NESCAC schools. Cast a wide net to find what you are most comfortable with, as well as schools that are intersted in you. NESCAC schools are very competitive with Admissions, so I would research the Admissions process as much as possible depending on your intended major. Each NESCAC school is vastly different from the other even though they share the same athletic conference. They have very specific guidelines about athletic recruiting, so I would try to understand that process too. http://www.nescac.com/admissions/admissions

quote:

2013LHP said.....I am going to Headfirst this August and have been in contact with 5 or 6 NESCAC coaches to make sure they look out for me. What should I expect out of this experience? Will I generate interest, or probably not?

Get in touch with all NESCAC schools and any school on the HeadFirst list you have interest in. You can expect the NESCAC schools or any highly competitive academic school to watch you at HeadFirst, invite you to one of their select camps, and monitor your progress over the summer. They will stay in touch with you, and possibly encourage you to apply to their school. There can be some players the coach can sponsor or offer "slots" through Admissions. The number or slots varies by school. You really need to do some research on this topic because it is unique to the NESCAC schools. Keep in mind, lots of players make the baseball team without "slots" as well. Like any college baseball team (at any level) it is a huge committment, so please do your research on that too. This site is a fantastic resource for all the questions that are going through your head. The "search" function or "advanced search" is a great way to get started.

Best of luck, and let us know if you have specific questions.

Thanks for all the great advice fenwaysouth, and everybody else. You guys are right, I need to expand and not only look at the NESCACs as their admissions rates are normally <30% and the pull on admissions varies greatly at every school. From the information I've gathered from some people, it seems like the player has to be qualified for the school academically, almost more-so than any other conference, including Ivy.

J H, thank you for your advice. I agree with what you said about craftiness, and I do work on other things than velocity only. I was asking basically because I'm looking forward to Headfirst in July, and know that velocity is going to be a key factor there because they only get to see a few innings of work.

One more thing: a teammate of mine went to Headfirst, stayed in communication with a couple coaches for the following weeks, and was encouraged to apply ED to 3 schools. He chose Middlebury eventually. Is this the common route for a recruited athlete that a coach is interested in? Do many offers get made with Headfirst alone?

quote:

Thanks for all the great advice fenwaysouth, and everybody else. You guys are right, I need to expand and not only look at the NESCACs as their admissions rates are normally <30% and the pull on admissions varies greatly at every school. From the information I've gathered from some people, it seems like the player has to be qualified for the school academically, almost more-so than any other conference, including Ivy.

2013LHP,

You're very welcome, and you are very right for these kinds of schools. The athlete does have to be qualified academically and may be competing with other athletes to get accepted. If an athlete can get accepted on his own merit (on par with the student body), so much the better for him or her.

I know it is tough to NOT lump these schools together. But, you really can't. The acceptance rates vary considerably depending on which school within the college you are applying. For example: Harvard has an overall acceptance rate of 7%, but there may be schools within the University that are more or less....so it really depends on the situation. You can't compare those acceptance rates to other NESCAC or Ivys because each is a seperate case all on its own. So, it is difficult to compare. By researching this further, you will find out which school and situation works best for you.

quote:

One more thing: a teammate of mine went to Headfirst, stayed in communication with a couple coaches for the following weeks, and was encouraged to apply ED to 3 schools. He chose Middlebury eventually. Is this the common route for a recruited athlete that a coach is interested in? Do many offers get made with Headfirst alone?

Yes. NESCACs can recommend students for "slots", or "tips" to Admissions. In return, the coach will most likely want you to verbally commit, and apply ED or EA to secure you as a recruited athlete. There are pros and cons to doing this. If you do it, my recommendation is that you have ALL of financial aid packaging completed in advance. Again, this is something you need to do a little more research on.

You'll know immediately if a HeadFirst coach is interested. He will ask for a copy of your hs transcript. The amount of interest or the quantity of offers (at HeadFirst) will be determined by the coaches need for a LHP, and how well you perform at the showcase. It really is that simple...supply vs demand. If the HeadFirst schools are the type of schools you want to pursue then you are in the right place. Remember there are no guarantees, and this is an opportunity to get in front of hundreds of coaches. My son had a terrific experience at HeadFirst a couple years ago. The school he is attending, he met the coaches at HeadFirst.

Again, best of luck and feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

If you believe you're NESCAC material you should also check out Babson and Wheaton.

The numbers that are important are your core SAT (english & Math),your CORE UNWEIGHTED GPA (English, Math, Science, Social Studies), & the number of AP's on your schedule. Only after that do you even have to think about your fastball. You supplied all of these numbers to Headfirst when you signed up for camp, however it is very important that you update the Headfirst site with better numbers when you have them. Coaches have a binder that sorts the data for them. They highlight the list before camp with kids that fit their position needs AND have the academic profile they are looking for. Here is the good news: Every single coach needs left handed pitching, no one says "I have too many lefty's on my staff, I don't need to look for any more."

PM me if you want more information about Headfirst, how to prepare, and what to do when you are there. My son had a great time there - he went in with the right attitude, and its just what the guys say in the first five minutes of camp- "play hard, have fun".

RJM:

Thanks for the mention of Babson. They had -0- innings pitched by lefties last year. Funny thing is that they usually sent 7 left handed hitters to the plate every game. Babson is a great academic school and by all objective measures getting better. Coach Noone would love to hear from a lefty working in the low 80s who can get admitted to Babson.

2013LHP, welcome to the Boards! Nice to see another Ct connection. We are few but we are proud.

My son is a 2013 catcher, and there are another couple of CT 2013s on the boards as well. Maybe we will be at the same event this summer.

Good luck!

That's right twotex! We are few, but proud

Season starts tonight in Stamford at Battle of Borders. We don't play up here again until NEast Tourny in Worcester, then Diamond Nation. Will our paths cross at all, KAy?

By the way, I have to brag about "our" catcher that you met in Jupiter. He was selected for the All State West Team ---- plays next week, and has a chance I guess to make the All CT team which would then play in MA. He was amazing this year. We are all so excited for him.

Looks like Session III of Headfirst for our son. Anyone else going to that session?

Mary, my son is heavily into Legion now, but looking at camps/showcase schedule, plus a tournament team for the end of summer. Surely our paths will cross. At least I hope so.

2013LHP. It is great that you have been in touch with the coaches to let them know of your interest. After they see you you will be able to judge their interest by the number of phone calls that they make to you. My son was receiving phone calls in the spring of his junior year from his eventual NESCAC coach. As someone stated earlier it can be harder to gain admission to some of these schools than the Iviesso work on the grades and test scores. If you want more info you can PM me.