soreshins wrote:Concerning the 14U division. I doubt that any Texas team will crack the top ten at ASA Nationals. No Texas team finished in the top 8 at the Hall of Fame (I believe the best finish was 12th).
Concerning the Texas Hawks. It is inaccurate to say "several" of their players came from the '94 Peppers. I am aware of 2 (both are very fine players) and they have not played for the '94 Peppers since 2007.
Concerning the '94 Peppers. They lost a lot of impact players. However, any top first year 14U team is going to lose some of their best players to gold ball or 16U the following year. Parents get the "exposure bug" and the players move on.
I was just asking since I knew the Peppers lost a lot of girls and I knew some of the Hawks played for them at one time. Brooke's Dad cleared that up. They are both fine teams that represent their respective organizations well!Any of these teams can do well at ASA Nationals. Lots of factors come into play as we all know. Draw, game times, etc..
SC Mean Green, Hawks, Batbusters would be my favorites do go the farthest. None of these teams seem to be intimidated by anyone they play. That is going to help them a lot at nationals. They play aggressively and hard and they never give up and they are all good defensive teams. (Defense wins championships, right?)
Don't forget the MC Magic. They are always a threat and always play hard. They can bunt you to death if they see they can't hit your pitcher.
Deer Park TPS and Houston Power can sneak up and beat some teams if they think they are just "little 95 teams" If you think you can skate by them because they are young, you are going to be in for a fight!
Peppers are not the same team this year as they have been in the past. They are still quality, but they are no longer the "team to beat" like they were in 12u (one of the best 2nd year 12u teams I have seen.) or 1st year in 14u. I know they lost several girls from those teams. (Bleature Creature, didn't several of the Hawks play on the Peppers?) If the Peppers get it all together, they could do OK.
Kruzers are still young. If their pitchers are "on", they could win some games. If they are not, they are in trouble.
Texas Travelers are a '95 team that can get hot and beat some teams also. They are very streaky. If they come into this tournament on a hot streak, they could make the bracket very interesting.
I think all of the Texas teams are playing for 4th or 5th place. SoCal IS that much better than the rest of the country! I hope I am wrong!
Sam the Sham wrote:When you say the Travelers and Kruzers have been the most consistent teams all year, are you taking into account that most of the better '94 teams had players that were playing high school ball? I saw them both at the NIT in Houston and made picks accordingly.
The '94 teams at that tournament were just getting their high schoolers back and for some, this was their first tournament back. In my opinion, many of the '94 teams looked rusty and the '95 teams looked like they were hitting on all cylinders.
I hope that all of the Texas teams do well. We shall see!
As far as the Peppers girls playing on the Hawks. I was not insinuating anything.
TheBucketeer wrote:Enlighten me please with your vast experience at ASA "A" nationals, what does it take to compete at the national level? Also, how many games in tournament play, since friendlies and round-robins dont count, because those are just for practice, have the Aces faced the Bandits, Peppers, Red Hots or Thunder this Spring/Summer? Based on what I read on your TX boards, I thought I was basing my opinion of the Diamonds on (1) what I saw 2 years ago, but also on (2) what they did in SA 6 weeks ago against what sounds like was the best and strongest tournament field of any tournament held to date in TX. Also, based on what I am reading, it sure sounds like Fusion is a team to watch out for if they are beating up on the Diamonds all the time. But hey what do I know, after all, I guess Fusion could be the Diamonds kryptonite just like the 97 Red Hots are to the best team in TX...the Aces. And for you Gonadmaster Flash, I heard the Diamonds lost their starting catcher and pitcher. Oh wait, my bad, I was thinking of another team.
Abracadabra wrote:Any of these teams can do well at ASA Nationals. Lots of factors come into play as we all know. Draw, game times, etc..
SC Mean Green, Hawks, Batbusters would be my favorites do go the farthest. None of these teams seem to be intimidated by anyone they play. That is going to help them a lot at nationals. They play aggressively and hard and they never give up and they are all good defensive teams. (Defense wins championships, right?)
Don't forget the MC Magic. They are always a threat and always play hard. They can bunt you to death if they see they can't hit your pitcher.
Deer Park TPS and Houston Power can sneak up and beat some teams if they think they are just "little 95 teams" If you think you can skate by them because they are young, you are going to be in for a fight!
Peppers are not the same team this year as they have been in the past. They are still quality, but they are no longer the "team to beat" like they were in 12u (one of the best 2nd year 12u teams I have seen.) or 1st year in 14u. I know they lost several girls from those teams. (Bleature Creature, didn't several of the Hawks play on the Peppers?) If the Peppers get it all together, they could do OK.
Kruzers are still young. If their pitchers are "on", they could win some games. If they are not, they are in trouble.
Texas Travelers are a '95 team that can get hot and beat some teams also. They are very streaky. If they come into this tournament on a hot streak, they could make the bracket very interesting.
I think all of the Texas teams are playing for 4th or 5th place. SoCal IS that much better than the rest of the country! I hope I am wrong!Sam the Sham wrote:When you say the Travelers and Kruzers have been the most consistent teams all year, are you taking into account that most of the better '94 teams had players that were playing high school ball? I saw them both at the NIT in Houston and made picks accordingly.
The '94 teams at that tournament were just getting their high schoolers back and for some, this was their first tournament back. In my opinion, many of the '94 teams looked rusty and the '95 teams looked like they were hitting on all cylinders.
I hope that all of the Texas teams do well. We shall see!
As far as the Peppers girls playing on the Hawks. I was not insinuating anything.
OK, so I want to make sure I am understanding you right you watched all the teams at the NIT in Houston and your top three teams are SC Mean Green DNP, Batbusters was not there, and Hawks DNP... Not the Kruzers 5TH and the Travelers who won the tournament, where is your logic in that...
Bigshooter wrote:i think it would be ether in the 10u area texas sting '98 or the TPS.
Flash4 wrote:Sorry, but I can't seem to control my thoughts. All the Texas teams seem to be inconsistent this year no matter what age group is playing! So how will things be different when they get to nationals?
10,12,14,16,18, or 18gold. They are all up and down every time they step on the field! We need consistency on the field before we can start bragging!
