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School suggestions

Blue10Blue10500+ posts
Hi everyone...I have been absolutely blown away by how helpful and knowledgable people on HSBBW are and I would like to ask another favor of you kind souls. One of my dear friends has a 2013 son that my son occasionally plays travel ball with (also from So Cal) and needs a little guidance in where to cast their nets. The player is a 5'11 175lb RHP who throws his FB about 80-82 and has a decent breaking ball, and is working on his changeup (per his pitching coach who we know). He is a kid who never gets any attention but is always getting guys OUT. (His travel coach toyed with the idea of putting "F"'s up when he pitches instead of "K"'s, since he rarely strikes guys out but so often gets hitter to chase a bad pitch and the kid ends up yelling "F!" while running to first Razz ) In short, he will never get anyone's attention at a showcase or necessarily even a 1- or 2 day camp due to low mph and maybe size, but he loves baseball more than anything and would love to play beyond high school. The travel coach is a very nice guy but he is more focused on getting the D1-type kids placed and the tournaments they go to are more geared toward this type of player, so he doesn't get too many innings. Sooooo, that was a long way of asking you for suggestions of D3 programs that are willing to give kids like this a shot. He is willing to go anywhere in the country for college. He is about a 3.0 in college prep classes with so-so test scores (about 1600-1700 projected) and is just one of the nicest kids you could ever meet. Thank you in advance for any advice or suggestions...I will pass along any and all info...you guys are amazing!
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BOFBOF10,000+ posts
Need some more information on what type of major he is looking at. There are plenty of D3's in the south and midwest that would fit this type of player. Also is money an issue? He is not going to get too much D3 academic money (I don't think anyway)

Go d3baseball.com and look through the schools there. Pick ones at the lower end of their conferences.
S smalltownmom100+ posts
Blue, If I didn't live in Florida I would have to think we had the same boy in mind. There is a 2012 in our area with a low 80's fastball and decent offspeed stuff. He just doesn't get looks, but as my husband says, all he gets is outs. There are several top D1 pitching prospects near us and 1 possible high round pitcher. Certainly all are deserving. But the facts are, this kid is as consistent as a sunny day in Florida. He doesn't strike you out, but he gets you out. Fortunately he has good grades and test scores, so hopefully he will find a good D3. I sure wish your friend well.
Blue10Blue10500+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by BOF:
Need some more information on what type of major he is looking at. There are plenty of D3's in the south and midwest that would fit this type of player. Also is money an issue? He is not going to get too much D3 academic money (I don't think anyway)

Go d3baseball.com and look through the schools there. Pick ones at the lower end of their conferences.


Probably humanities/history major, not a math/science guy. Parents will likely not need need-based aid except at the most expensive privates. If he picks some possible schools, at this point, should he just be filling out recruiting questionnaires and maybe writing a letter of intro expressing his interest to the coaches at these schools? Make/post a video? If any schools write back, how should he follow up...attend some camps? Aren't there a lot of schools that don't run "prospect" camps? I had posted a while back asking if there was anything of the "Headfirst" type of camp for lower academic D3 schools but there doesn't seem to be based on the lack of responses. I guess the challenge is that he may be targeting schools far from home and it's hard to both make and narrow the initial list and then to show what he can do because of the distance. Maybe he should email coaches asking if he can call them to ask about their school and program?
Last edited by Blue10
OzoneOzone500+ posts
ALL OF THE ABOVE ...... the recruiting process can be a daunting task - especially for the middle of the road athlete. Tell them to go to my site and contact me for some help www.baseballprep.org There are plenty of D3's out his way that he should be in contact with. Get his video on YouTube, find out what camps or showcases the target schools will be at and go where there will be more than a few. Most important, invite them to see a workout - be persistent and they will come or send someone to see him.
V VaRHPmom100+ posts
We're going through this process right now with our 2012 son. I can give you a few points based on experience.

First, set up a berecruited.com site. You can establish a site for free and then guide coaches to it. There is also an upgrade option. We didn't use it since we went with another paid site but wish we had gone this route.

Second, start contacting coaches. The more you personalize the e-mail on why he is interested in the college academically and the baseball program in particular, the better. Include a bio (just as this website suggests).

Third, look for showcases that invite a wide spectrum of schools. We are fortunate to have several in Virginia that are well attended. I would think that you have the same in California. Use these message boards to determine the good ones from the bad.

Fourth, contact coaches and start going on college visits. (Wish we had done more of this.) A big point is to establish a relationship with the coach.

Fifth, if possible, have the high school or travel ball coach call the schools that he is interested in. Also, make sure you find out if his coaches have been contacted by any colleges. My son's HS coach is really good about letting my son know when a school has contacted the coaching staff about him.

Finally (and really the most important), keep working on those grades and retake the SAT.

As a 2013 with a realistic focus on where he fits, he will be getting a head start on those who are chasing an unrealistic D1 dream.

Good luck!
LauraZALauraZA100+ posts
My 2011 pitcher was in the same position finishing his junior year. He know he wanted to go to a D3 Academic school so we had a 3 prong approach.

1. He sent out personalized e-mails to all schools he was interested in and let them no his summer schedule.

2. He attended the summer Headfirst Showcase where most schools are D3's at many different levels. This proved to be the success of his recruitment. He had about 30 contacts from the Showcase.

3. He got on the best travel team possible because coaches talk and if he wasn't right for a D1, etc. they always pass names around.

Also, we took him to a pitching coach who increased his velocity by 4mph right out of the box by changing a few mechanics.

The good news is he still has several months to develop. Good luck to you and your friend.
BOFBOF10,000+ posts
This opens up the possibilities for him, as there are a many excellent small Liberal Arts schools around the country. My advice still holds in that I would go to D3baseball.com and then look at the various conferences. Go to the conference websites and start working through them.

Backtracking a bit he is a 2013 so 80-82 is not that bad and I would guess that he will at least be throwing mid 80’s by the time he is a Sr. With a good strength and conditioning program with some good instruction it is not unreasonable to project him as a 86-89 Soph which would be very competitive in many DIII programs, especially if he gets outs.

Like I said go to the website and start to find conferences and then go to last years standings. Take the SCIAC for example, which is in California, CLU, Pomona, CMS, Occidental are all excellent schools. Take the SCAC, all of those schools could be a fit for him. He might play less at Birmingham Southern, Millsaps or Trinity, but he might not, and he can certainly play for many of the other schools on the list. Anyway he and his family are going to have to work it, but if they do the research and start to contact the coaches now he can find a place to play that matches what he is looking for. As someone posted don’t forget about NAIA schools. Westmont in Santa Barbara is a small Christian school with an excellent baseball program. I would most definitely get to a Headfirst camp also.

Hope this helps, good luck to him.
JF Jones fan100+ posts
If he stays in the low 80's but has good control, try Sewanee, Centre, Oglethorpe. Outstanding schools, okay baseball. Birmingham-Southern, Millsaps and Trinity are all in baseball rich areas. They draw from kids who didn't want to play D1 or D2 ball or didn't make the cut for the Southern powerhouse D1 and D2 schools, and don't want to go low D1 out of the South or settle for the lower level academics that are offered at most D2's in the area. They also get a decent amount of transfer activity from players who figure out they have little chance to play at Auburn, Alabama, Miss St, Ole Miss, etc., and don't want to ride the pine for all 4 years.

If he gets to the upper 80's, those schools will be interested.
infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
Jones fan,
The OP says the pitcher has about a 3.0 GPA and 1600 to 1700 SAT's.
Do you think those academics/scores will be adequate for admission at Centre, Oglethorpe, Sewanee?
Hendrix in the SCAC has recently recruited Southern CA aggressively, successfully and with a marked improvement in their program. But again, while the baseball numbers could work at Hendrix, I wonder about the academics/SAT.
Blue10, I would completely agree with retaking the SAT's and having a prep course.
Moving those SAT's up can open far more doors.
It might be prudent for the player and his family to visit schools like Redlands, LaVerne and other SCIAC's and perhaps travel to Oregon/Washington to visit and watch games in the Northwest D3 league...some terrific schools, beautiful part of the world and some wonderful D3 baseball at Linfield, George Fox and others.
There are some very solid NAIA opportunities in your area also that also might be explored.
BTW, congrats for taking an interest in and supporting this player and his family.
If they do a lot of research, combined with what can be learned on this site, he will find a spot, a good spot in college and with the opportunity to play and get outs for 4 more years.
slottyslotty500+ posts
Blue10: An SAT prep course is definitely worth looking into. And if your friend can afford it, I would recommend at least investigating one-on-one SAT tutoring--it can really make a difference (my son is living proof). As others have suggested here, if he can raise his scores a couple of hundred points (not unheard of), his options will increase exponentially.

Also, a good pitching coach would help him maximize his velocity potential--once again, interest will increase dramatically if he can get his fastball up to a consistent mid-80s.

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