12U Teams

[Comets16]

How come in these 12U discussions you don't here Texas Diamonds name mentioned? Is it due to geography? Also would love to here any info on the this year 12's in games played against last year 12's. Did any 96 teams have sucess against 95 kruzers, Travelers, Kaos, etc over the year? How many of these 12U teams in RM will attemp a trip to ASA Nationals, instead of going to USFA World?

http://www.eteamz.com/mesquitediamonds/

[linedrive_hitter]

Well, I for one have heard little about the Diamonds team. May be because of the geography.

But to answer your question, a few of the teams tried to qualify for ASA nationals as a first year 12u. Are you really being fair to put them against the likes of the Krusiers? I believe there are only a handful of teams in the whole nation that can beat them. I know that the first year 12u top teams have played very close games and have beat some of the best teams in Houston (the TPS, Spring Sting, Kaos, Impact, to name a few ) Is there room to improve? You bet! I do believe they all are shooting for a spot to go and play at the ASA nationals. Good luck to the Diamonds and the rest of the teams and hope to see you at the field!

[smmartin]

I havent heard much for centex so ill throw in my 2 cents.
96's Austin Stars
Bombers
Austin Finest
97's Austins Finest
Bombers.
These are the teams that really come to mind first. There are a few others that can be good at any given moment. And no disrespect to HV but they didnt play AF in Florida and AF only lost to North Alabama who won and Team Worth who came in second. I would have liked to have a 3rd place game to really see who was third and forth. I think it would have been a great game.

[Warda3]

My New Rankings for Houston Area 12U's:

1. Kaos- Won RM and was the most impressive team over the weekend
2. Peppers- Second at RM. Only team to beat Kaos
3. Thunder- 4th at RM. Battled back through Loser's Bracket from first round loss to Sting.
4. Bandits- Unfortunately did not play at RM. Can hang with anyone on this list though.
5. Aces- 1-2 in Bracket at RM. Beat Ice, but lost to Fury and Thunder. Still have best 1-2 pitching punch of any team on the list. Team is advertising for new players, so not quite sure what's going on. Does anyone have any scoop?
6. Sting- Beat Thunder in first round of RM, but were knocked out by Cobras
7. Red Hots- Still top '97 team.
8. Riptide- Have not played many of the top teams on this list but have been a top team in the past.
9. Fury- Make the list because they beat Aces at RM...not any higher because they were knocked out by MC Elite
10. Ice- Two and out at RM...two tough teams though (Flame Throwers '95 and Aces)

Again these are just for fun and based on what I have seen and heard about through the fall season. All comments and feedbacks (and other rankings) are encouraged!!

[asmackdaddy]

Warda,
You have the TOP 3 pegged (In no particular order), and can draw a line after your top 5. All the teams below you top 5 can't compete consistantly.

Aces, Thunder, Kaos, Peppers and Bandits are the teams to watch. Any of them can have a bad game or a bad weekend and any of them can come out on top any weekend.

Aces: Best ACE pitcher out there, #2 pitcher not what she used to be, bats are below average, good speed, well coached

Thunder: Good ACE pitcher and a great hitting team, below average behind the plate, well coached.

Kaos: Relies on the wheels and solid defense, not a big hitting team, average pitching at best, good small ball team, well coached

Peppers: 3 good pitchers, great hitting team, good speed, well coached

Bandits: Two solid pitchers, great hitting team, not much speed, well coached

Ice, Sting, Red Hots, Riptide, Fury are all respectable teams and can win some games, even against the top 5's on occasion, but they are not worthy of breaking down. They all have alot of work to do.

[denver_dog]

So Jacgues,
Is it fair to say that you think the Fusion and the Diamonds are elite teams? They should be. Haven't they been together since, say t-ball? I know that the Kaos, Aces and Bandits are all newly built teams exsisting for only one year. I believe they have been pretty successful thus far having only one season behind them. On another thought, does winning USFA make you an elite team? In my opinion, thats like playing in a local tournament. But, just my opinion.
Winning ASA Nationals is being elite and I only know of 2 teams from Texas that has accomplished this. So, elite teams from any where in Texas are far and few between. There are teams that can build toward that goal and I do believe that could be The Diamonds,The Fusion, or any of 5 teams from Houston in a given amount of time.

As far as adding players, I know the Kaos pulled from their 95 team and the Aces had to pick up players for the RM due to school functions. I can see any of these teams needing more players for these reasons. Much better to have a roster player than having to pick up players from time to time. Does not matter what class you put any of them in, these posts are all just opinions.They are all 12u girls and therefore very unpridictable. Good luck to you

[3Bsnag]

Are you guys really responding to yet another Texas troll that is wrong on so many fronts, with a perverted screen name, and who types in pink?

Sam (I think was the poster) is right, all of this doesn't matter as much when the girls get older. You will look back on some of your posts (as I have too), and think why did I write that?

Congrats to you posters who are just discussing your thoughts and wishing other teams well.

[Warda3]

I'm with Snag. Even as far as trolls go this one is more misinformed and off base than most. Ignore them. Don't feed the trolls (especially the perverted ones).

With that being said I for one would love to hear from some of the D/FW 12U teams and see how the teams are doing and looking so far this fall.

[Warda3]

asmackdaddy,

I agree with you on there being a separation between the top 5 and bottom 5 on my list, but I was trying to keep with the spirit of what this board was orginally called (top 10) and to include more teams in the discussion.

While I agree with most of what you said about the top teams I disagree on a couple things:

Aces- Very little team speed from what I have seen. Have had toruble scoring runs all fall. They are looking for 3-4 more girls. Anyone know if they plan on carrying 15-16 girls or if some girls have quit or they are looking to make cuts.

Thunder- I did not see them hit the ball at RM well. I saw them only score 2 or 3 runs a couple of times, and some of their comeback wins (bombers and aces to name two) were helped a lot by errors and past balls/wild pitches

Kaos- Saw them completely shut down the two big 95 teams at the tournament who I saw absolutely crush the ball against average pitching. I think they only gave up 1 run in both games combined. And I believe the Championship game between them and the Peppers was like 7-1 (not sure on that so someone correct me if I am wrong). Pitching seems a lot better than average to me. Not sure on how they hit the ball overall because they do play a lot of small ball. They do score a lot of runs.

Peppers- The lefty is the only good pitcher I have seen. There's a pretty big drop off after that. They do hit the ball well, especially through the middle of the order. Did not see much team speed though, other than lead off.

Bandits- Probably have the best 1-2 pitching duo after the Aces. I agree not much speed but they can crush the ball, especially against average pitching.

It was fun seeing so many top teams at RM this past weekend. I still say the Kaos looked the best and most consistent throughout the weekend, but it's still awfully early. But I'm with you, these guys will probably trade punches throughout the fall and into the spring, and if one of these teams does not bring their "A" game to a tournament where several others are entered, they could be going home early (see Aces, and almost Thunder at RM). Any one of these teams is capable of winning any tournament they enter. I think all five have a legit shot at finishing top 10 at nationals (all 5 won't but I think they all have a shot).

[hittinghard]

From what I heard the Aces are keeping everyone for now, that usually means when they find what they are looking for they will cut the bottem half. Their #2 pitcher has dropped but that's what happens when you sit behind a strong #1, maybe it will be in her best interest (#2) to make a move and become another teams #1.

It looked like there was trouble in the Thunder camp at RMD. Heard they had players upset.