What separates high school and college baseball?

[sgt.pepper]

Well, I guess mine's the blackest on this one. No idea that many people from RHS played at the next level. Perhaps narrowing it down to those that played D-1 would be more telling. Maybe I should have said how many people from Riverside lettered in baseball in college. Either way I'm sure the list would be shorter. Oh yeah, didn't Quinn play at Riverside. He was a better hitter than 95% of that list, and you forgot him. Anyway how is Riverside this year?

Yeah, i remember Eric. He played at Jackson State and the Freed I think. Very good hitter, and he is also a student of the game. The shame is that he was not given the baseball job at RHS!!! Maybe he did not want to be a part of the revolving door policy on coaches at RHS. Some good talent in several boys and girls sports has been lost over there.

[RHSALUM]

Well, I guess mine's the blackest on this one. No idea that many people from RHS played at the next level. Perhaps narrowing it down to those that played D-1 would be more telling. Maybe I should have said how many people from Riverside lettered in baseball in college. Either way I'm sure the list would be shorter. Oh yeah, didn't Quinn play at Riverside. He was a better hitter than 95% of that list, and you forgot him. Anyway how is Riverside this year?

Yeah I'm sorry I forgot E.Q. He was one of the better defensive players to play at RHS. Not an all inclusive list, just the one's that jumped to mind. I know that Odle played at Memphis State for a while and finished at Union. Another player is Alan Maxwell. Most of our players have played locally. ( ie. JSCC, Freed, UTM, etc. ).

 

Riverside is doing alright this year. 4-2 record. We have one really good pitcher by the name of Ross Garrett. He tied the school record with 17 K's in a game. He did it in 6 innings

Edited March 28, 2006 by RHSALUM

[sgt.pepper]

Yeah I'm sorry I forgot E.Q. He was one of the better defensive players to play at RHS. Not an all inclusive list, just the one's that jumped to mind. I know that Odle played at Memphis State for a while and finished at Union. Another player is Alan Maxwell. Most of our players have played locally. ( ie. JSCC, Freed, UTM, etc. ).

 

Riverside is doing alright this year. 4-2 record. We have one really good pitcher by the name of Ross Garrett. He tied the school record with 17 K's in a game. He did it in 6 innings

Congrats to Garrett on that! He's a very good pitcher! I have one question. Why doesn't somebody promote baseball over there? If I was involved with the program, I would be tired of being a feeder for other programs in athletics!! Some really good talent over there, and others that should be there. Do you agree? What's the deal?

[Pitcher99]

The speed of the game is a very big difference. In college pitchers locate alot more than they did in high school. Also pitchers use the insde corner of the plate more than high school pitchers do.

[broad_axe]

The speed of the game is a very big difference. In college pitchers locate alot more than they did in high school. Also pitchers use the insde corner of the plate more than high school pitchers do.

100% correct. Pitchers establish the inside part of the plate very well in college. As opposed to high school, where most pitchers live outside.

[RHSALUM]

Congrats to Garrett on that! He's a very good pitcher! I have one question. Why doesn't somebody promote baseball over there? If I was involved with the program, I would be tired of being a feeder for other programs in athletics!! Some really good talent over there, and others that should be there. Do you agree? What's the deal?

A lot of it had to do with the coaching carosel that went on for a while. Parents didn't want their kids playing in a program that was unstable. Never knew from one year to the next who the coach was going to be, it would all depend on if a school board member's child got to play or not. You know how that goes. The stability issue hopefully has been addressed with Coach Goff. He has been here the last 3 years. He is an alumni and coached on the college level. There is a lot of young, up and coming talent that hopefully won't be influenced by past mistakes.

[sgt.pepper]

A lot of it had to do with the coaching carosel that went on for a while. Parents didn't want their kids playing in a program that was unstable. Never knew from one year to the next who the coach was going to be, it would all depend on if a school board member's child got to play or not. You know how that goes. The stability issue hopefully has been addressed with Coach Goff. He has been here the last 3 years. He is an alumni and coached on the college level. There is a lot of young, up and coming talent that hopefully won't be influenced by past mistakes.

I agree with you that the talent is definitely there. That stinks about the political side of things. I guess that goes on everywhere though. One important issue you guys might adress is having a summer program in house. This might help out with losing players to teams they play for in the summer. Seriously, think how good you guys would be in single A with the kid that went to USJ. Isn't he from the Riverside area?

[cbg]

Work ethic!!!!!! Most very good high school players have the ability to play at the D1 level but very few have the maturity.

Can the player wait his turn (until they are a junior) to get playing time.

Will the player make the necessary grades.

They must stay away from the injuries.

Will "little miss wonderful" want to get married?

Does the player want to get out of bed at 5:30am & be in the weightroom from 6:00am-7:00am. Breakfast is from 7:15-7:45 and you go to class from 8:00am-2:00pm. Practice starts @ 3:00pm and goes until 5:30pm. It's get a shower and dinner from 6:00pm-7:00pm with the mandatory study period from 7:30pm-9:30pm. That leaves very little free time for the player to become a normal student and most kids don't or will not devote that much time to baseball. It's a "JOB" in college at the higher levels and most players and parents do not understand this on the front end. If the school gives you money they expect a return on their investment.

[TigerBenchPress]

1. Physical maturity

 

2. Skills more refined

 

3. Depth in pitching staff - in high school most teams go one, maybe two deep in quality pitching. In college baseball pitching staffs are generally 6-8 deep in quality.

 

4. Everyday lineup - in high school you have maybe three hitters that you really have to pitch to. The rest you can pitch around and get out with less than your best stuff. In college you only have one, maybe two hitters that you can get out with less than good stuff. Everybody else in the lineup was one of those three in high school. They can all hurt you.

 

5. Coaching - high school coaches do a good job in the limited time that they have. However, in college baseball it is a full time sport. Coaches get to spend more time in game situations and in instructional time throughout the entire year. College fall schedules (or intersquads for NCAA D1 programs) double the time that coaches can spend on the field with players.

 

6. Single sport athletes - in high school very few baseball players are baseball only athletes. Most play either football or basketball, meaning that their time is split between sports. In college 95% of baseball players are baseball only players (the exception being as some very small 4 year colleges) so they have more time to devote to baseball to refine skills and improve God given abilities.

[joe_davola]

Work ethic!!!!!! Most very good high school players have the ability to play at the D1 level but very few have the maturity.

Can the player wait his turn (until they are a junior) to get playing time.

Will the player make the necessary grades.

They must stay away from the injuries.

Will "little miss wonderful" want to get married?

Does the player want to get out of bed at 5:30am & be in the weightroom from 6:00am-7:00am. Breakfast is from 7:15-7:45 and you go to class from 8:00am-2:00pm. Practice starts @ 3:00pm and goes until 5:30pm. It's get a shower and dinner from 6:00pm-7:00pm with the mandatory study period from 7:30pm-9:30pm. That leaves very little free time for the player to become a normal student and most kids don't or will not devote that much time to baseball. It's a "JOB" in college at the higher levels and most players and parents do not understand this on the front end. If the school gives you money they expect a return on their investment.

"Little Miss Wonderful", I love it!!!!!!!

[ThePaperBoy]

The Biggest difference between high school and college hitters is that college hitters go to the plate with an approach each AB, while high school hitters are just there to hit

[RHSALUM]

I agree with you that the talent is definitely there. That stinks about the political side of things. I guess that goes on everywhere though. One important issue you guys might adress is having a summer program in house. This might help out with losing players to teams they play for in the summer. Seriously, think how good you guys would be in single A with the kid that went to USJ. Isn't he from the Riverside area?

Yes Gant is from Decatur County. If we had him along with our on Ross Garrett, Jay Gilbert, and Stephen McGriff we would have one of the most effective pitching staffs in the area. A summer program is something that might help, however a lot of people in our area think that you have to leave the area to be considered a good ball player. We have a lack of "publicity" in our area. Memphis and Jackson don't cover us very well and neither does Nashville. It seems that if you want any pub you had better go to one of the privates in Jackson.