by dittoz » Wed May 19, 2010 7:32 am
1. Sorcerers - haven't lost a tournament/great pitching/solid everywhere
2. San Jose Sting - good showing in Fresno/top pitcher in area
3. Breeze 96 - good showing in LA tournaments - but losing top pitcher?
4. Fresno Force
5. Lady Magic
6. AASA
7. RR Gold DY
8. Roseville Heat
9. Grapettes DH
Me thinks there are several issues in this list, but will try to keep things in perspective;
1) Sorcerers - Clearly the #1 14u team in NorCal and one of the top in CA. Deep pitching and strong hitters from 1-9.
2) Sting - Another of the top teams and obviously a very dominant pitcher, but after that...??? Good hitting and heads up play
3) Breeze '96 - Not losing top pitcher - she's a temp player from the Breeze '95 team. Rumor has it '96 was attempting to convince her to remain with them. Combined with Whitt, the two offer a potent 1-2 punch. If/When she leaves, look for '96 to drop down a few notches.
4) Force - Solid team - played the Sorcerers well in their one meeting earlier in the spring.
5) Lady Magic - Pitching will carry them when it's on and they have very good speed on the bases. Fielding seems to come and go although they are certainly strong fundamentally. Def a contender to win their 3rd Metro in as many years.
6) AASA - Young team but certainly not without talent. Look for them to play quite a bit on Sundays but will fall short when facing off against Grapettes/CR in Stockton.
7) RR Gold - While this is a competitive team, they will not stand up as well to the better pitchers and hitters on Sunday.
8) Heat - Good hitting and always a hard working team, they will come up short until they find dominant pitching.
9) Grapettes/DH - Reformed as a mostly '96 team after last fall and without a dominant pitcher, this team will struggle with success on Sundays. Now that Snyder has left their circle, they MUST find a replacement if they expect to contend.
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As the high school season comes to an end and we see the older 14's returning, here's a (slightly) different slant on things;
1) Sorcerers (will they lose any NorCal 14u games this year?)
2) Sting
3) Grapettes - CR (should cruise to Stockton Metro title)
4) Force
5) TNT
6) Breeze '96 - (Sac? Stockton... ?)
7) Lady Magic
8) Breeze '95
9) AASA
10) Storm
Being from NorCal, what do I know anyway???