Northeast 10

We spent a good amount of time looking at the D2 NE-10. Great conference, wood bat (as all should be!), great competition. But with a wide variety of programs from top to bottom. Here are my Humble Opinion thoughts, far from scientific or perfectly accurate, based purely on my son's (2012) baseball experience with them and no doubt influenced by what he had to show them, which in all honesty was not always top of pack on the limited number of days where/if he had the opportunity with this group:

Franklin Pierce, baseball factory, coach wants to win every year, welcomes transfers with talent, always looking for the next great arm. Runs tons of cattle call clinics. Fields strong teams. Campus literally in the middle of no where.

SNHU: Franklin Pierce clone in the making, and practically there. Another coach who wants to win. Recently started up JV to maximize talent pool. If admitted, pay your housing deposit ASAP or risk not having housing. It fills up fast. Coach has little time outside of email for those he is not keenly interested in.

St. Anselm: High academic school with zero tolerance for athletes looking for an excuse just to get by. Referred to as St. C's for that reason. Excellent coaching staff looking for the whole person rather than just the great ballplayer. Coach corresponds readily. Also is lead organizer of many Top 96 clinics.

Assumption: Coach has little interest in corresponding unless you are asking about his camp. In fairness, he also teaches in the local school system so is likely pressed for time. Will be direct in his assessment once recruiting final call rolls around.

St. Michael's: Program just re-entered the NE-10. Students love the school. Baseball program rebuilding but not aggressively.

Stonehill: Excellent coach, the total package that a parent and player would want. High academic school. Coach corresponds readily and provides honest feedback.

I believe there are 16 teams in this conference so be sure to check them all out. Again, the above should not be considered true for all interested parties, just my experience on a very limited basis.

I hope this engenders some further comments on these programs as the above is far from the last word on them.

this makes me laugh

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this makes me laugh

Of course it does!

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Originally posted by TRhit:
this makes me laugh

Glad I could give you a chuckle, TR. But not in the least bit surprised.

What was it old Bill once wrote? "Dogs may bark, but the caravan rolls on."

I suppose you could apply that to either one of our posts, depending on your perspective.

Thanks RedSoxFan 21! We really appreciate that you took the time to respond to our request. We are just trying to do our due diligence and be as educated as possible about these schools. Any insight on U Mass Lowell or Merrimack? Son will be attending some college games this weekend to see a couple of these teams play.

@ TRhit, not sure how to take your comment. Any info you could add about any of these schools would be helpful. We realize that people may have different experiences.

My son was recruited by UMass Lowell last year. Coach Harring is a great guy. One of the few that when he was told he picked another school, he sincerely asked who and then told my son he made a great choice and was friends with his future coach. No-nonsense old school type. You can't beat LeLachuer Park as far as a facility goes. The challenge with Lowell is that they have practically zero athletic scholarship money. They get about 25k a year for the entire program. However, if you can get aid other ways, they too are a very succesful program and usually near the top with the usual suspects. I don't know anything about Merrimack.

Good points LJ. Can't beat playing your home games in a minor league park. And the UMass Lowell program has a great reputation, as you well point out.

Merrimack coaches are a fairly new crew to Merrimack but seem to be very focused. Our involvement with them was too late in the cycle to really be able to report on it.

LJ brings up a good point when it comes to scholly's. While northeast D2s can give baseball scholarships it's generally reserved for their top recruits, normally all staters who are actively being recruited early on. This was true at St. A's.

Likewise some of them, like St. Mike's, had zero money for baseball because the D2s only need provide scholly's to their basketball program to qualify.

You will find that most privates will find around $10,000 for you in combined merit/need regardless of your level of need and presuming an acceptable showing on grades/SAT.

Remember, that is on average, there can be a wide spectrum out there so cast your net widely and wisely.

Interesting information about the difference in funding at these schools. We were totally unaware. Thanks to all for responding.

May not seem important now, but be sure whatever school you choose passes the 'broken leg' test or in baseball terms the 'tommy john surgery' test.

Would you be happy at that school if you weren't playing baseball?

Sports scholarship money is very limited - consider that if a school has 10K available for 30+ players each that could be there 5 years - that's how coaches do the math. Year 1 you could be enticed by a larger number, but the following year is year 1 for someone else and guess what the coach is trying to do? Recruit the "flavor of the month". Conversely if you get academic money - there's a better shot as long as you continue your high academic standards of repeating your grant.