The Iowa high school baseball season occurs throughout the summer, while all other states have their high school baseball season in the springtime. This difference can cause advantages and disadvantages for Iowa high school players trying to play in college.
This year the Pleasant Valley baseball team has seven seniors planning on playing collegiate level baseball. Having their baseball season occur in the summer has both helped and hindered their efforts to get recruited by colleges.
Senior Matthew Meyer, varsity baseball player, committed to Simpson College shared his take on summer baseball. “Baseball in the summer is awesome because you do not have to worry about school and the weather is always nice,” Meyer said. “It sucks though because when you look for recruiting, coaches are down south.”
Many colleges do a lot of recruiting in Southern states during the summer because many prestigious summer baseball leagues are located south. This leaves many Iowa high school players with only a small amount of recruiters present for their baseball season.
AJ Reuter, the assistant college baseball coach for the Coe College Kohawks, has recruited many baseball players for his program. He explained his thoughts on when Iowa high school baseball takes place.
“Recruiting Iowa baseball players would primarily be a downfall if they would otherwise try to have all their prospects visit and start making decisions by early/late fall rather than into the winter months,” Reuter said.
Iowa players trying to get recruited by colleges will have to wait longer to get recruited. By the time their senior year ends, college classes will be starting in less than two months.
Although, having a summer baseball season is not all bad. Reuter explained the advantages of having a season during the summer. “College baseball is played in the spring which does not always allow all coaching staff to travel and clear schedules to see players playing in the spring” he stated. “College season concludes around late spring when Iowa baseball starts and frees up coaches to start recruitment efforts right away.”
The state of Iowa, being the only state to have high school baseball play in the summer, has created many pros and cons for its players, but PV’s seven future collegiate baseball players have pushed through these obstacles.
