College baseball is a whole different level than high school. You must realize that the success you had in high school doesn’t necessarily translate to the playing field in college. College recruiters are professionals that are paid to evaluate and project a kid‘s current abilities and determine if those abilities will carry over to their particular program. Just because you hit 10 homeruns in high school your senior year doesn’t mean you’ll do the same vs college pitching.

Make sure you keep things in perspective. College baseball has a place for players of all talent levels. The best thing that you can do is be realistic with your ability, especially the closer you get to your senior year in high school. Find the college program that fits you best as a player. If you are super talented, then pursue the top programs. If not, you may want to target smaller schools and spend your time and energy trying to get into their programs.

Make sure you go out and watch college games of all levels and honestly assess yourself against the players on the field. Ask people in the know to provide you with honest feedback to what level they think you can contribute at.

Here is an eye-opening scenario – There is only one kid that will play shortstop for the Texas Longhorns. Picture every high school shortstop in Texas. Now picture every shortstop in Texas in the last four years. If the kid who holds the title as the best player in that group and is better than all the other shortstops that the recruiter from Texas saw from other states, they’ll be the shortstop at Texas. Only one player will hold that distinction.

Bottom line, set your goals high, but make sure that your goals are attainable. Not being able to contribute to your team is no fun for anyone. Make sure that you pursue a situation that will give you a chance to get on the field on a regular basis. You want to avoid getting caught up in transferring schools – that can get messy for all involved.