Good Luck and be safe!!! Memorial Day nears!

[GameTime23]

Bucket sure has been dead.....wish my kid was 12 again..hehehehehhe


I wouldn’t blame those kids and teams at all.... younger kids will be playing in this one with NCS and other HS championships being played.... many teams are pulling kids up for this one if they are done with HS ball…..


Plus AASA will have a handful of local college coaches there as they have in the past...RR and Roseville won't......Right now 2016(almost done) 2017 & 2018's are what big schools looking at...I get it for sure and good luck to all.

Thank god HS is OVER!!!!! wooohooooo

[JimineyCricket]

I have to wonder if some of the complaining about 14u teams playing up is coming from parents of 16u or 18u players that are really just afraid that their DD's team is going to get beat by one of their younger rivals this weekend... Just sayin'

[fansoftball]

Was looking at 18U brackets this morning for the long awaited opening weekend of travel ball. First of all, good luck to all this summer.

I must also say be PLEASE be very safe based on what I am reading in each age group. I say this as there are 14U teams in the 18U/Gold bracket (you two DADDIES know who you are)!!!!! OMFG, seriously? Please be safe and protect the young ladies who you are responsible for. The Tournament Director should also have some balls and stop this cr@p from going on. We are NOT talking about top 14U teams by any stretch of anyone's imagination. Freakin ABSURD.

Who are the 14U teams?

[onlooker]

Was looking at 18U brackets this morning for the long awaited opening weekend of travel ball. First of all, good luck to all this summer.

I must also say be PLEASE be very safe based on what I am reading in each age group. I say this as there are 14U teams in the 18U/Gold bracket (you two DADDIES know who you are)!!!!! OMFG, seriously? Please be safe and protect the young ladies who you are responsible for. The Tournament Director should also have some balls and stop this cr@p from going on. We are NOT talking about top 14U teams by any stretch of anyone's imagination. Freakin ABSURD.

Who are the 14U teams?

Niccum and Kappmeyer. Luckily they are in the same pool, ...so they can play each other in one of the 5 games. Which they could/should do in 14's (or 16's). This isn't playing up, this is putting kids at risk, i see minimal to zero benefit in this. Im not going to sit here and predict doom for them, that is not my point. I just dont want to say I told you so come monday. I am fearing for the girls.

of course someone may come on here and point out that they one or both possibly picked up a 16/18u P to help compete. If that is the case, then all but that girl im concerned for.

[Bigbats12]

I do not like girls playing up either but sometimes a case can be made. I think you see more and more of this as girls get older. How many top 18's teams are playing in this tournament? How many of the girls on Kapp's and Niccum's team played varsity softball this spring? Last time I checked, 18 year olds play varsity.

As a coach and even as a parent, do you want your kid to play all spring on the varsity team and then come back to travel ball to play 6th, 7th, and 8th graders? I am not saying jumping two age groups is the way to go but I think you have to look at overall competition.

[rbi]

On the other side of the equation, If i am "quality" true 18G team im not touching a tourney with a 14's team in it, not gonna happen, unless they had the latest coming in Cat on the team, then it might be good to get some swings in, just saying..

[CTCBAT]

If you have seen their draw it's possible those teams go 1,2 in their pool.

The Ybarra Tournament has been bigger in the 14/16 age group while a handfull of the top 18's are in the AASA tournament. In fact I think the only decent 18G team in Ybarra's tournament is Foothill Gold.

[Bleacher bug]

16 teams from 14u playing up in other age groups. Put that list together and add in a few other 14s you have yourself a pretty good 14u bracket.
14u in 18G
2 teams
Grapes Kap
Foothill Gold Niccum

2nd yr 14u in 16u (I get the 2nd year teams playing 16’s)
10 teams
West Sac Attack, NC Bandits, Crackers Miller, CA Destroyers, Cracker Stone, Lady Aces, Team California Garcia, USA Elite 99, Heat Lagbed, KG Kiko

1st yr 14u in 16u (This I don’t get, None of these teams have the pitching to get through this. Fortunately they are playing some lower level 16’s. Parents you might want to break out those face masks from 10u. When a pitcher misses middle she is not the only one to pay. Be safe when playing the strong teams keep your corners back.
4 teams
Firecracker 2K, has a chance to compete.

Don’t get me wrong I think the teams below are strong teams but they have yet to do anything playing in their own age group.
Lady Magic 1 and done in Fresno playing Sorcerers, not even sure if they had a base runner on during the entire game.
CA Beeze Leles, Pretty sure this team has been 1 and done in the last 3 tourneys they have entered.
Firecracker Sj finally made it past game 1 Mothers Day when the better first year 14s were down south.

[SwingMan]

Spot on - love it!

[onlooker]

i agree 100% with everything BleacherBug said. It is EXACTLY what I am thinking, and I would have to think the majority of adults as well.

And for the record, if your DD played varsity as a freshman this year, that doesn't always mean she is ready for 18U. it is NOT a measuring stick by any daddies stretch of the imagination. goodness.

Jiminy, definitely not the case or motive behind my OP. While losing to a 14U team isn't always good for the head of the 18U parents, it really is not the reason for my post. My problems are with 14U teams in 18U and 1st year 14's in 16U. This is ridiculous imo. Not so much on the front of the girls/families/orgs havent proven valuable/fun over time, but more appropriately we mess up our own thing here in Nor Cal. If you put all the 14's (except Team Cali, FC Miller and Kiko) in 14's and the rest of these 2nd year 14's in 14's where they belong you would have a great 16U and 14U trny.

25 minutes to first pitch, funny seeing 60 mph warm up and 50 mph warm up on opposite foul lines, this could get ugly. i think i just saw about a 30 mph change up!!!! OMFG