If I Was a Kid Again and Wanted to Play College Baseball, Here's What I'd Do
If you're 12 to 14 and you want to play college baseball, the clock is already ticking.
That's not a bad thing. It's the biggest window of opportunity you'll ever have.
Four years or more is more than 1,400 days. That's 1,400 chances to get a little better than the day before.
I've been through it firsthand: from being cut in junior college, to playing Division 1 baseball, to playing professional baseball. Knowing what I know now from running a baseball academy and talking with countless college coaches, here's exactly what I'd do if I were 14, or in middle school, again.
1. I wouldn't worry about getting recruited yet
Everybody wants to know how to get noticed: camps, showcases, recruiting profiles, emails to coaches. Until you're a junior or senior in high school, that's just noise.
The recruiting landscape has changed. Because of that, college coaches put more attention and investment into older, ready-made players. They recruit players who can help them win today.
There's a misconception that college is a level focused on development. Yes, college coaches want you to get better while you're in their program. But at the end of the day, if you come in lacking development or needing to be retaught fundamentals, you won't last.
Whether it's D1, D2, D3 or NAIA, college programs have limits on how many practice and weight room hours they can hold each season. Most team practice time goes to intrasquads, to see which players will compete for starting spots in the spring. There aren't many chances for a coach to stop and reteach the baseball IQ or fundamentals a player is expected to know. That's why your youth years are critical.
So the goal right now isn't getting seen. It's becoming a player worth seeing.
That's what ONE PCT BTR means. Get one percent better every day, and let recruiting take care of itself later by being a player worth recruiting.
2. I'd treat the classroom like the cage
I'd take my grades as seriously as my swing, or my drip. A coach can love you on the field, but he can't offer you if admissions won't let you in.
A strong GPA opens doors your bat can't open alone. It gets you into more schools, it can unlock academic money, and it tells coaches you're disciplined. Coaches notice that.
The first question a coach asks about a player is, "What are his grades like?" If a player doesn't have the grades (or isn't a fit for the majors the school offers), the coach won't invest his time recruiting him. He'll be crossed off the list.
3. I'd know how I'm developing
Players today live in the greatest era ever to become the player they've dreamed of being, thanks to the information and technology available to understand and develop their game. Almost to a fault, it's too much. Most young players have no idea if they're actually getting better. They guess. I'd stop guessing and start tracking:
60 time: your speed, the one skill that can create opportunities before a coach ever sees you play.
Strength: your lifts, tracked and measured over time. Your body has to be physical to compete in college, not only on the field but to endure a full season. A lot of players say they want to play D1, but how many of them weigh 190 to 215 pounds?
Exit velo: how hard you hit the ball. Not in a controlled setting, but in games. Whether it's a hit or an out, how consistently can you barrel the ball hard?
Game performance: what actually happens when it counts. Do your stats match the type of player you believe you are? Are you dominating, in the middle of the pack, or at the bottom? The game tells you which skills or measurables to focus on. Not hitting doubles? Add power. Can't throw strikes? Throw more. No stolen bases? Get faster.
If you're not measuring it, you're guessing. Write the numbers down, test them on a schedule, and watch the trend over months, not days.
4. I'd win the weight room
The players getting looks at 17 or 18 began building their bodies at 14. Strength and speed show up in every number a coach cares about: exit velo, throwing velo, 60 time.
You don't need to max out. You need to show up consistently, learn to move well, and get stronger with good coaching.
5. I'd own my mindset
How you handle an 0-for-4 says more about you than any highlight reel. Coaches watch body language. They watch how you respond to a strikeout, an error, a bad call.
It's common for players to get recruited after a coach watches them fail. If a coach already knows you can play, why would he only evaluate you on a day when everything goes right? He wants to see how you handle an 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and an error in the field.
Do you play with the same energy and intensity as when you have three hits? Do you keep your composure, or do you throw your gear in the dugout? Do you still cheer for your teammates at the front of the dugout, or do you suddenly become an "I" guy once things don't go your way?
Coaches care about these little things more than how great your performance is. They're bringing you into a program built to play a game of failure, and they'll spend the next eight to nine months around you. They want to know you'll be a team player who adds to the culture, not one who takes away from it.
Mindset can cross you off the list as quickly as it can put you on it.
Baseball is a game of failure. The players who last are the ones who learn to reset, compete pitch to pitch, and stay the same person on a good day and a bad one.
Better question: who do I need to become?
Nobody is handing you a roster spot, and college roster spots are getting harder to earn every year as the college game keeps changing. You earn it in the reps nobody sees: the early mornings, the extra swings, the homework done before practice. But you have to work at it every day. The players who aren't working every day are getting passed by the players who are.
So stop asking, "How do I get seen?" Ask, "What player do I need to become so I can't be ignored?"
Four years is plenty of time to become a completely different player, if you stack ONE PCT BTR every single day.
Sign up to train with the OPA coaching staff, who take pride in developing you into the player you want to be. If you want more than a few in-person sessions, you can get a plan built out to support your training every day of the week.
Start stacking your one percent today.
ONE PCT BTR.
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