Like thousands of others across America, I chose the community college route instead of going the traditional route of going to a NCAA school. Community college baseball has seen a drastic increase in athletes in the last decade. This trend became popular once students realized the benefits of going to a 2-year school and developing and showing up to a 4-year school as a junior ready to dominate. But what is making community college so special compared to the other divisions?
To answer this, I turned to an Owens Community College alumni and current assistant coach, Coach Trenton Byrd. I asked him a simple yet loaded question in “What makes the development at the community college level so unique?”
His response was “Because you have less resources than the bigger schools which leads to the athletes having more of a hunger to prove themselves.”
He then followed that up by saying, “That athletes looking to play at a community college are there to get experience at the college level without there being upperclassmen that have already secured a spot.”
The follow up question was “How did you like your experience at Owens?”
Byrd praised highly of the establishment by saying, “All the facilities were top notch while being able to travel the country playing games and making new friends. My favorite memory at Owens was going to the Division 3 Junior College World Series in 2021 when the team had thirty-five wins and fifteen losses.”
My final question for Coach Byrd was “Do you believe that Community College is a valuable option for high school athletes to consider when being recruited to collegiate athletics?”
Mr. Byrd states that, “It gives high school athletes another chance to play their sport for another few years. Also, community college gives high school athletes who were not highly recruited in high school a chance to develop their game to be able to move on to the bigger schools. Lastly, community college helps high school athletes who were recruited during high school but were not able to play due to grades a way to focus and get help on the academic side of being an athlete.
From my own personal experience and from the opinions of plenty of others in the baseball world, community college is the best path to take. There is an old-school mentality when it comes to playing at a community college. There is a certain “grind” attitude that you have to have at a community college if you want to become the best version of yourself. Because of this mindset, you will find community college players are on almost, if not every, NCAA team.
Coaches also recruit these athletes because they have proven themselves at a highly competitive level that a kid out of high school may not have proven he can do yet. The two years at a community college provide high school athletes with a route to finish developing while being able to compete.
To add on this topic, I consulted the Owens Community College Head Baseball Coach, Coach John Parisho. I asked him what he believes is the most important part of developing one of his athletes which he responded with, “I believe the most important factor is allowing them to have the resources to get better and give players the opportunity to use those resources to help them make themselves the best version they can be.”
You may be wondering, “But how do you know which high school players to recruit and give the opportunity to get better?” Which leads to my next question of, “What do you look for when recruiting a player?”
Coach Parisho responded with, “Just guys that want to be part of something special and want to belong to a brotherhood for life.”
My final question for Coach Parisho was, “Do you believe that this is the most competitive community college baseball has ever been and if so, why do you think it is?”
Coach Parisho’s answer was, “I think Community College baseball is at an all-time high when it comes to competition level. With so many variables when it comes to recruiting and the transfer portal,” the transfer portal provides collegiate athletes from transferring throughout the levels of college athletics without there being the same restrictions as there was in the past.
Coach Parisho finished with, “The community college route has become more attractive to players for development and financial reasons.”
Community college baseball continues to grow because it allows players to truly improve and get playing time right away. Players learn how to be tough, stay disciplined, and challenge themselves even when they don’t have the same opportunities as larger schools. This allows them to develop a strong mental game that coaches at 4-year schools truly appreciate.
With the transfer portal changing the way players move around and college becoming more costly, more and more players are turning to the community college route.
It allows them to develop, save money, and prove that they have what it takes to compete at a high level. For many players, community college is where they truly grow and gain the confidence they need to take the next step in their baseball career.
