Where is No Cal

[DBLUE]

18 Gold

1. Sorcerers (Phil)- Great team! Good speed, power, pitching, coaching=Great team!
2. Sting (Bob)- Alot of good athletes, with good pitching, good coaching!!
3. Strikezone(Don)- Always put out a good team, college kids will help out at the end!
4. Sting (Fano)- Will have good athletes, pitching will be question for this team!
5. Sharks (Barrera)- Have decent pitching, but position players will be question!
6. RR Gold (Bob) - Good team in the fall, good speed, power, along with decent pitching!
7. Sorcerers(Pete) - Decent team, pitching as good as fall, but good athletes, will be good!
8. Shockers - Good players, college kids will help them, pitching is question mark!
9. Grapettes(Gomes)- Could be easily moved up ahead, good bats, power, Pitching?
10 Strikkers (Garcia)- Good fall squad, great speed, good bats, pitching also question mark!

Any other suggestions are welcomed!

THE GURU

[NapoleonD]

Sorry, posted a reply elsewhere which said heybucket posted but I see your original post here...

I have to disagree with that list (18 Gold not included). Just added those teams I feel were left out and also commented on those originally listed. Numbers just to list and not in any particular order.
14U
1. Lady Sharks - 94's from 12U team last year will help them, with good coaching!
2. Valley Stompers - 4th Place at Western Natl's, a year older, strong pitching!
3. Mize Diamonds - Strong Fall, need to replace players that moved to 16's
4. Salinas Storm
5. Strikkers - Looks to be a young team primarily
6. Sorcerers - They have no 14's team
7. Grapettes - Brand new team, Reid's team would have been here, but moved up to 16's
8. Sting - Need alot of help to go along with some key players, not sure about them!
9. Strikezone - Very good athletes, pitching questionable, but this team could be sleeper!
10. CA Breeze - Good athletes, stays competitive
Tornadoes - 14U team from last year split up


16U
The most balanced of the age groups!! This group will be fun to watch this year! I agree with that...
1. Grapettes(Bindii)- Great athletes, good pitching good pickups, and good coaching!
2. Sorcerers - Nice merge with AA, will help this team out alot, good pitching! Who is AA? As an organization, the Concord Mavericks disbanded to join the Sorcerers
3. Grapettes(Reid) - Some say better than Bindis, pretty close, will see on the field!
4. Strikezone - Struggled last year, Much improved, with some key pickups!
5. Sting - Young team with good talent, pitching will be the question!!
6. Breeze - Always great team, might move up quick. Good coaching!
7. Strikkers - Good athletes, pitching needs to improve from fall! Good coaching!!
8. Mize Diamonds - Old team, good athletes, could be the sleeper of this group!!
9. Flames - Seem to put out good team every year! Same ole story!
10.Heat - Heard they had a great group of athletes, going off hear say!
Missing:
1. Lady Magic - Talking Nor Cal, can't forget the Sacramento area. They can play...
2. Shockers - Last year's Contra Costa Cobras team.
3. All American Sports Academy - Good athletes, coaching could be suspect

[DBLUE]

Thank you NapoleonD for the help establishing the top 10!

But you are quite off with some of these additions.

To put the Stompers in that position because of a 4th place finish at Westerns, is probably the wrong thing to do! Heard that Organization went south anyways.

To put Mize at 3or 4? Did you get the chance to watch this team? They need alot of help, not saying they can't crack the top ten in the future once play has started, but for now no way!

Sorcerers 16s have I believe 1 player left from that Mavs. team, but did get some players along with their new coach from All American!

18 Gold , like everyone else says, the top 2 are very solid at their spots. But, from there, any of those teams below could be swap anywhere in that top ten! But, there are some sleepers that will establish themselves very quickly, and move up on everyones radar!

I appreciate the comments, and help!

[NapoleonD]

Hey DBLUE...
Thanks for starting the list.

Again, I did not put the teams in numbered order, so I do not feel Mize is 3 or 4, but desrves to be on the list. They played 16's in the Fall and did pretty well.

The Stompers also played 16's in the Fall and did pretty well. Why wouldn't a 4th place finish against SO Cal teams at Westerns not matter? As a matter of fact, I believe they have beaten every team on your 14U list. As an organization, I do not remember seeing a 18 Gold team from them.

Are we talking about Ray's Sorcerer's 16U team? Must have picked up 16's from AA due to the other team which moved up to 16's in AA. Like you said, the 16's group will be interesting to watch this season, but think the Lady Magic may be the sleeper team.

It'll be great to see the season start and see just how right, or wrong, we were...

[ssarge]

but think the Lady Magic may be the sleeper team.

They're not a sleeper team, in my opinion, they are a front-runner. They could compete very well in Gold.

The Stompers also played 16's in the Fall and did pretty well. Why wouldn't a 4th place finish against SO Cal teams at Westerns not matter? As a matter of fact, I believe they have beaten every team on your 14U list. As an organization, I do not remember seeing a 18 Gold team from them.

They've had a Gold team, coached by Joe Calloway. They entered the Gold qualifiers last year.

Regards,

Scott

[Intel]

Any 16U Nor Cal discussion must include teams from the Central Valley.

Randy Bergs' Fresno Force team. Won Central Cal 16U Metro, 9th at Colorado and 25th at Nationals. Now a year older, been playing 18 Gold all fall. This team will win the Central Cal 16U Metro and will be a "force" to contend with in Kentucky. This is a top 5 team.

[NapoleonD]

Thanks Scott...
Haven't seen the Lady Magic play, just keep hearing/reading about their accomplishments. I believe most of those girls are 93's as well.

As for the Stompers, I knew they had a Gold team last year, just did not see one during the Fall.

Intel,
We are missing many Central Valley and Sacramento area teams.

[Intel]

I will give a try for the Central Cal ASA. Top two teams qualify for the ASA Nationals

18U - Not going to try, will be interesting to see who stays gold and who goes 18U.

16U - 1. Fresno Force - Berg. Strong second year team, class of the division
2. California Connection. Who ever in Bakesfield puts this team together will be tough.
3. (Tie) Fresno Force - Reiter. Partial to team as DD is on it. Good Fall, should be strong all-around team. Central Cal Dirt Dogs. Will score runs, pitching and defense has to hold up.

14U - 1. California Stars - Defending champions, if they kept top pitcher
2. Fresno Force - Added some strong talent.
3. Central Cal Dirt Dogs - Always tough
4. Clovis Rockets - Reichel Young and hungry

12U - 1. Central Cal Dirt Dogs
2. Clovis Rockets - Moorehead

[Intel]

16U Divison in Nor Cal Should be exciting. Upcoming friendlies should give some hints as who is in the top 10.

January 12th. Nor Cal Shockers, All-American Sports Academy, Bears, Strike Zone

January 20th. Sorcerers, Nor Cal Victory, Fresno Force Reiter, Grapettes-Bindi, Strikkers, Shockers.

February 2. Fresno Force Reiter, Central Cal Dirt Dogs, Salinas Storm, plus three additional spaces available.

[heybucket]

If you guys e-mail us the scores from tournaments or friendlies we will post them here.
Thanks heybucket.com