USSSA "The Ribbon" tournament

[Smiley]

My predictions:

12U: Hotshots
14U: Thunderhawks
16U: Fever
18U: Heat

[AZ96Dad]

I like the predictions here I think you are right on. I like Thunderhawks if 14U but definately think Team AZ can snatch the title as well. In 16U it will be either Fever or Stealth but can Stealth only throw #99 and make a long run to win it? Should be fun, great turnout across the board for this tournament!

[AZ96Dad]

Congrats to Team AZ and Stealth for their respective championships in 14U and 16U

[Smiley]

Okay, so I missed it a bit. Hotshots got it done at 12U. Heat lost in extra innings at 18U. As so often is the case, pitching did them in. Thunderhawks and Fever were major disappointments. Both suffered from lack of good pitching and poor defense. Neither faced much competition but could not perform in the rare tough game. Team AZ is an absolute beast as a first-year 14U team. Watched them all weekend. Hitting and pitching are phenomenal. Should jump up in 14U rankings, maybe to number 2. Stealth proved to be dominant at 16U. I heard they completely outclassed Fever in two games although the game scores were close. Jaguars showed well as well, but no top 16U teams were there so hard to judge them (other than as losing to a 14U team).

Who has eyewitness reports from 12U, 16U, and 18U?

[GreenMachine]

I was able to watch 14U at Victory Lane this weekend.

TeamAZ beat the Wildfire in the championship game 6-4. Great Job Team AZ and Wildfire

Losing to Wildfire was Thunderhawks and losing to Team AZ was the 12UKillerBees (Are they really 12U they have a few kids who look like they are 16?)

All and all a great tournament by the top 4 teams!!

And other then the traffic because of the Walk for Hope it was a great run tournament by USSSA.

[AZ96Dad]

I happened to watch Fever, Stealth, Team AZ , Widlfire and Thunderhawks this weekend. Stealth and Team AZ showed they are tough, Team AZ seems to be limited as well behind their #1 pitcher, as right out of the gate on elimination Sunday they got a scare being tied 4-4 with a very young and small Desert Wolves team, but they showed they are a contender by hanging in there and taking care of business and winning the tournament. Fever showed signs but same thing besides their number one pitcher others seemed to get touched up a bit. Wildfire is another solid first year 14U team that will give some teams trouble when they show up, just ask the Thunderhawks. As for the Thunderhawks, I seen them play Team AZ on Sat. and they were winning the game the whole time until walks and errors gave Team AZ 7 runs in the last inning, they bounced back well pounding Wildfire 13-1 in the next game off Wildfire's ace, then on Sunday Wildfire's #2 stiffled them producing alot of fly ball outs, then with game tied Wildfire scored winning run off 3 errors no hits in last inning, very disappointing to see a second year 14 fall apart like that. What did this weekend show me, that it is still early and it was the first tourney for most teams, all have some work to do, and some positions to fill will be fun to see these teams battle for the berths next summer!

[Smiley]

What did this weekend show me, that it is still early and it was the first tourney for most teams, all have some work to do, and some positions to fill will be fun to see these teams battle for the berths next summer!

I could not agree more with this statement, but I did not see the 14U weekend exactly the same as you did. I thought TAZ showed good pitching depth. Thunderhawks need a surprising amount of work for an older team with experienced players. I don't at all see them competing with the top tier this year, whereas Team AZ is likely to be in the mix at the end. (Although both teams are likely to struggle for a while at the increased pitching distance in the spring.) I want to see Wildfire again a few times before I become a true believer.

I hate to say it because I like the team, but Fever simply has no pitching. Their hitters can do very well against slow defenses and poor pitching, but they will have to make dramatic changes to get to the next level against very good teams. I would take TAZ over Fever in a 7 game series right now, mostly because of pitching.

KB's are no doubt at the top of 12U and will prove that after dropping back in the spring.

[thebest14uhitterinaz]

gone in sixty seconds

[Smiley]

Wow. I think from that response we know that the self-proclaimed "best 14u hitter in az" plays for Fever and her mom is angry to learn that even one person thinks Fever's pitching is shaky. Although I didn't see the games this weekend, I did "hear" that Fever has not picked up any new pitching. I did see Fever play with the same pitching last year, several times. If (1) I have personal knowledge of the quality of pitching last year and (2) I now learn that nothing has improved, then (3) I am competent to offer an opinion. I also can assume that Fever pitched its best in the toughest games, which it lost in route to an early departure on Sunday.

I can tell you that there are many problems with my daughter's team, and I think most reasonable people would agree with that about their team as well. Apparantly Fever, however, cannot see anything other than roses. Good luck with that Ms. thebest14uhitterinaz, because it will get you embarrassed at college showcases, etc.

Now to be fair, if I am mistaken on the facts and you picked up a No. 1 ace pitcher who just wasn't available last weekend, I apologize. With your team speed and defense (not to mention the Best Hitter in AZ, whoever that is), adding a solid pitcher will keep you well above Team AZ, even in my meaningless ranking of teams.

[1azfastpitch]

Looks like you hit the nail on the head. IMO