Hello. I am a 9th grader at a high school in Westchester, Ny. I am 5"8 140 pounds. I have a 3.9 gpa through the first month and a little of school. I throw 72-74 mph. I play for a club team as well as my Jv baseball team. I have already talked to some schools (Clark University d3) and a NAIA program. Is it too early to reach out to my ideal schools (tufts university, Amherst college, Hamilton college)? As you can see I am looking for a good academic school with a decent baseball program. I would be open to any good d1 academic schools with a mediocre baseball team. What is the best step for me now? Should I reach out to more coaches? Should I be looking to do showcases soon?
You’re pretty early in the process for high academic baseball. The D1 academic (Ivy) timeline has definitely moved up in the past few years, but they aren’t looking at freshmen. Clark is a good program and Pyne has done a good job there in his first few seasons. The two most important things right now are grades and getting better. Stay on top of your schoolwork - with or without baseball you’ll be glad you did. Find a good travel team (unless your club team can provide good exposure at tournaments) and work on your game. If you can manage to get good individual coaching that will certainly help. Getting stronger while maintaining flexibility and agility are important. Not sure if you are a position player or if you pitch, but posting velo suggests you pitch. Incrementally adding velo will be important. D3 high academic recruiting currently primarily takes place the summer between junior and senior year. Starting to prepare now will only make you more ready when the time comes. Regarding showcases, a good rule of thumb is to only showcase when you have something to show. Perfect Game showcases are something you might explore when the time comes. Also check out Headfirst camps when you get closer to actual recruiting. For the most part, the only freshmen getting looks are guys who are obviously destined for high level D1. Good luck.
In principle, you could fill out a “Sport-Specific Recruiting Form” for your colleges of interest. Should you be premature in your approach, then you may simply be notified of a more appropriate time to resubmit your information. Even in this event, your inquiry may lead you to details regarding camps and clinics that might be suitable for you in the near future. Good luck.
Unless you are phenom as @nhparent9 writes, you won’t get serious looks until the summer between sophomore and junior year. Then, the purpose is to get on some radar screens. We found that my S got better exposure at school camps and “showcase” camps vs. “showcase” tournaments that his travel ball team participated in. The coaches are concentrated in fewer ball fields. Also when it is a “camp” there is more opportunity for direct communication with coaches as they “instruct” you. We did Headfirst Sacramento and then the Stanford All Star camps back to back summer of sophomore and junior years. The recruiting push by the coaches was after the junior year camps. If your parents can afford it, doing a camp this coming summer (freshman summer) may not be a bad idea for you to get familiar with the format and give you an idea of where you stand relative to other baseball hopefuls.
In the meantime, get video of yourself in practice and game situation during your sophomore year. You could put together video from your freshmen season and summer, but will you be putting your best foot forward when you send video to coaches? They will almost always ask for it.
I’m a senior baseball player who just got an offer from a D3 school. I only decided the summer before my senior year that I wanted to play in college. My HS coach told me about some showcases in my area, and my pitching coach suggested one in NY. Some of my teammates played in summer leagues that traveled around the midwest, and got looks from coaches there. I think D3 is a lot about establishing relationships with coaches. Reach out your junior year (summer before junior year if you’re playing on a summer travel team). Tell them where you’ll be playing and that you’d like for them to come see you. I think it’s best for them to see you in a game. Showcases can be intimidating; you may be playing against great D1 players. A lot of D3 programs seem to be very regional; if you’re in the East, look at schools in the East. Ask your coach to reach out to the coaches when the time is right. My coach made calls for me and I really think that helped. I got my offer after going to a camp at the school. We learned a lot about the program, and then had a scrimmage. I still have to be accepted academically, so be sure to keep your grades to the school’s standard. You won’t get preferential treatment just because you’re a recruited athlete at a D3 school.