Tuff,
I think everyone here has tried to give you good advice, but in reality, you know the situation better than anyone and have to make your choices. I agree with Boomer.....don't quit. In life, if you don't like your boss, you don't necessarily quit your job. You have to learn ways of coping.
As far as your summer baseball....do the camps and a few good showcases. Play on a the team that will give you the most exposure. If you have the talent then someone will see you. One thing to remember...go to a college that you will be happy attending without baseball in the mix. If you get hurt or anything else, make sure you'll like where you are and will get the education you need for your future.
I understand your frustration. My son is a high schools senior and made a decision as a soph. NOT to play with the local Legion team. The big catch here is the HS coach is the assistant coach for the Legion team and the Legion coach is the assist. coach for the HS team. Need I say to much more about this. He's been treated like an outcast and often even his teammates treat him differently. He's been a starter every year and has played almost every minute of every game dudring his HS career. You can see the writing on the wall here. Very hard to take at times. We knew from past experience that his exposure would be very limited playing Legion. He would have played...no doubt there. His goal was to play college baseball and we all felt that playing where he would get exposure outweighed just about all the other issues. Showcases, camps and Summer & Fall Travel teams....we did what we could afford to do. As a parent I wonder if we did enough. The one thing we never thought would happen would be the coaches attitude towards him. The coach rides him constantly and rarely has anything nice or good to say and publicly embarrasses him when ever he has the chance. He treats him differently than his legion boys. Our son will probably never be All County, All Met or get any accolades here in our area. The coach has changed his stats on several occasions so he can promote who he wants and give awards to guys that don't really deserve it. As a parent it a very tough thing to watch your son be treated this way and cope with. Our son has begged us NOT to interfere and we have respected his wishes. It's been very tough to take. The only saving grace is that others, outside of our area have gotten to know our son and know his abilities and his passion for the game. He received his greatest reward when he signed his NLI to a DI school last November. He has something now that 99% of the other players in our area DON'T have....the opportunity to go to the next level, in a DI program. Exposure is the name of the game. You can't expect a HS coach to do that for you. Most college coaches understand the politics of HS baseball....they generally want to make their own minds up and will want to see you in action. None of the schools our son had official visits with even contacted the HS Coach. They talked with the Summer coach and major league scouts, and of course came to see him play in the Fall if they hadn't seen him at a showcase or camp. I'm very proud of my son for his accomplishments, and for never quiting, despite his HS Coach. He may not be the star in the local newspapers,and may not receive any of the kudo's that he might deserve but one thing he did do was to continue to work hard and play as much as he could. The more S---T the coach gave him, the harder he worked. Now, he has much more than those "All County, All-State selections"... his reward, plain and simple....he's going on to play the game he loves at the DI level and he's getting good $$ to do so. While the coach and other kids are dusting off their HS trophies, he'll be playing college baseball.
Playing college baseball is like having a full time job. Getting a scholarship to play or being on the team doesn't assure you playing time....you have to go out there and earn it. Like JUSTMOM said, the college coach will control you and and many aspects of your college life. So you'll have to accept it and learn to make the best of it.
I know this was long winded, but hang in there and work harder. Quiting is not the answer. I don't know that talking to you coach would do any good. If you decide to take that route, make sure you take someone with you to witness and or mediate the conversation. Life isn't always fair. Part of growing as an individual on and off the field is learning to deal with situations, good or bad. Ask yourself one question..."How bad do I want it?" If you're truly as good as you think you are and want it bad enough...go out there and make things happen....and again, try to play where you'll get exposure! Good Luck!
