Taking the summer off or getting more serious?

Yes, it happens often at about the 15-16th year and fallout continues through high school and college.

Burnout is an often cited reason and is, in fact, legitimate with some very good athletes that just "discover" other interests, or distractions.

After all, they are at this age driving, learning about those lovely young female creatures, and finding many fun, less hard-work, activities.

Moreover, many what had been serious baseball players to this point, are making the very real discovery that they can't really compete at the H.S. level for a starting role. That definitely is a "soul searching" moment about how they want to spend their leisure time. I think more often than not, this is the reason for drop-out from this age onward.

In the spring of his 8th grade year my son quit baseball (and all other competitive sports for that matter. That summer he reconsidered when football started but after a short stint, quit that too, saying his heart wasn't in it. He decided to try out for baseball in the spring of his freshman year. He came back with a new love of the game. That was 4 years ago. A few weeks ago he finished his first year of DI college ball and is more passionate and focused than ever. So there is hope.