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Congratulations Napa Envy Gold 14U!

by MochaMike » Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:54 pm

For winning (I assume) the 14U Bracket this past weekend in the Napa/Suisun DF Tourney.

http://www.dfsoftball.com/2014%20Tourna ... 0Napa.html

The girls played well & the coaches were polite....

Saturday game summaries: (from memory)
16-2
9-3
12-0

Sunday
21-0 (Top of the first inning was over 65 minutes long)
12-0
? Championship game

The only issue was they are talent "A" program, who played in a "B" only tournament.
The girls looked rather bored.

Now, I may sound like a sore loser paren (well, technically I guess I am), but why would Coaches decide play in a Tourney several levels beneath their players ability?

My daughter was the team that was 16-2 Sat & 12-0 on Sunday.... (Sunday it was 3 up, 3 down every inning, with the exception of the 1st inning where my daughter was walked).
The umpires were really nice though & let our #11 batter bat at the end of the 3rd inning as a 4th out.
The other 8 teams in the tourney all played well, were talented and all would have had a chance to possibly make it to the championship game... That is, if a powerhouse team like this wasn't there.


Stay Classy Envy Gold.

This is the same team that "The Envy Gold 14-and-under girls fastpitch softball team played in the ASA NorCal Championship qualifier tournament last weekend in Vacaville and finished in second place." (losing to 14U KG Hitters) & went on to play in Colorado this past summer.
http://napavalleyregister.com/sports/en ... 1f84a.html

https://gc.com/t/spring-2014/envy-gold- ... 3173000150

http://www.triplecrownsports.com/showte ... mid=125256
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by SeeBallHitBall » Mon Sep 29, 2014 5:12 pm

I hope that was cathartic.

Sorry that event ended in a talent mismatch. I would assume that the eventual champions were looking for "A/B" type tournament and it ended up being more "B/C" than "A" by the sound of it.

The DF tourneys aren't typically the strong and unless the eventual champion has significantly upgraded their roster, they would never be mistaken for a "powerhouse" in any other tourneys.

...and traveling to Colorado only means that the organization convinced the parents to pay some cash.
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by Tyler Durden » Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:04 pm

SeeBallHitBall wrote:I hope that was cathartic.



Awesome.

And as for you, Mocha, you need to get out more. Your link to last summer's ASA tourney has zilch to do with a tournament from last week, buddy. And your overall whine about the 'Envy Gold' :lol: team terrorizing a September tourney is weak. Buck up, little camper. You're in 14u now. High School ball is looming.
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by Foul Ball Magnet » Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:55 pm

And your overall whine about the 'Envy Gold' :lol: team terrorizing a September tourney is weak. Buck up, little camper. You're in 14u now. High School ball is looming.


Holy crap, that was funny TD.

Stay Classy Envy Gold.


Mocha, from your post it sounds like they were classy considering the very weak opposition. What the hell do you expect from a DF tourney? I am sure when they penciled in they didn't expect for the rest of the competition to be so weak. With DF, it is like rolling the dice, you never know who will show up. DF does not advertise these as "B" or "C" tournaments either... so Envy probably entered since it was local in the Napa area and they didn't have to drive all the way to Lincoln or Stockton to play. I guess if I were in the Envy coaches shoes, I would have maybe played up in 16U/18U for better competition.

Your team should take the ass-whooping as motivation to improve, get better and be able to compete with Envy Gold the next time you play them.
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by rickrobben » Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:05 pm

My name is Rick Robben and I created the Envy Gold. I have coached softball for 23 years and coached mainly for the Sorcerer under my dear friend Phil Mumma.

Both my daughters graduated from high level division one programs and I still wanted to coach. I decided to put some talented local kids together and travel. We went to Los Angles, San Diego, Colorado the Fresno Force Classic and played some stiff competition in Stockton. Down south we got killed. But, it showed the kids what it takes to go to the next level. We go to big tournaments get beat up and come back and practice.

The same formula I used when coaching the Fresno Force and the Sorcerer. Slowly the kids got better

As far as this weekend. Once a year we play in a Napa tournament. The families, friends and grandparents get to watch the kids play. This weekend every player played an equal amount. We were not there to win a trophy. But, only to play and get better.

I am not going to go into all the great players who have played for me. You can google that.

My advice is to always play against better competition. But, sometimes go have so fun and play close to home. But, not often.

Softball is a great game and I have spent half my life coaching. Dennis Fong is a dear friend of mine and I enjoy seeing him once a year.

Best of luck to all your daughters. It's a great ride. I hope your family has the success mine has had.
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by MochaMike » Tue Sep 30, 2014 5:10 pm

rickrobben wrote:As far as this weekend. Once a year we play in a Napa tournament. The families, friends and grandparents get to watch the kids play. This weekend every player played an equal amount. We were not there to win a trophy. But, only to play and get better.

My advice is to always play against better competition. But, sometimes go have so fun and play close to home. But, not often.


The games were played in Suisun, not Napa... Suisun is only 20 minute from Vacaville (where you played in the NorCal Championships several months ago). 20 minutes is not far for friends & family & grandparents to travel to see the kids play.

Then why were you at this tournament? Sounds like you deliberately contradicted your own advice with your girls.

None of the 14U teams were "A" teams... They were all average B & upper C. I'd go as far as to say that maybe 1-2 girls if any on a few of the teams who played could have played on an A team.. And then, they'd probably be on the bench most of the time.

Envy Gold could have easily played up in the 16U category... From what I saw of the 16U teams, your team would had a good shot to win that division.

My daughter played A ball a few years ago. She is a talented player, but not a stand out...
We decided to play B ball because its on par with her abilities (as with most of the girls on most of the teams)..
Unlike some parents, I have no illusions about my daughter.. she may or may not play Varisty in HS. But that is not the point.

I played numerous sports growing up... I've been coached by good & bad coaches (a good coach I played for had film released last month about him, maybe you should go see it & learn something?).
I've had numerous classmates play College & Professional Football, Baseball, & Basketball. I won't drop names, but you can google about the coach above.

Do me a favor & post up photos or pics of the stats from the games over the weekend.

I'm pretty sure the girls that sat in the field for 65+ minutes during the top of the 1st inning didn't have much fun.
(That was purely an observation from watching the girls on the field, as well when they were exiting the ball park).

For the record, the Envy Gold players & coaching staff acted very respectable/polite/professional on @ off the field.

It was my understanding that it was a B tournament. 8 out of 9 teams were B level.

If any if those teams wanted to play A level teams, don't you think they would enter A level tourneys ? (Or at least A-B tourneys).

If the situation was reversed, how would an A level team feel about traveling hours by car or plane & then end up playing only C teams?
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by norcalover » Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:04 pm

Rick Robbin sounds like the Ricky Bobby of the softball world!!!!!! :D
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by fansoftball » Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:13 pm

rickrobben wrote:Best of luck to all your daughters. It's a great ride. I hope your family has the success mine has had.


classic rick robben. some people never change
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by Tyler Durden » Wed Oct 01, 2014 7:50 am

MagicMike posts up a whiny diatribe, looking to get some support from other whiners. Rick posts a very reasonable reply, that says, among other things, (and I'm paraphrasing) "Always try to play up to better competition, BUT SOMETIMES it's Ok to play local because it's fun for the girls and their families".

Nothing wrong with that. But, Mike replies, still twisted about his punkin being in the field for 65 long minutes in the top of the First. Haha RUFKM? Coach those kids up. At 14u, if you can't get three outs in an hour, that is baffling.

No wonder NorCal still staggers around and wonders why they get no respect at the top level.
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by MochaMike » Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:10 am

Tyler, try reading what I posted.

My daughter was not on the team that was on the field for 65 minutes.
It was a 2-3 inning game, & I'm guessing (I didn't watch innings 2 & 3) Envy made mercy outs since the score remained 21-0.

She was the team that lost 16-2 (4 innings) on Sat. She made an RBI & pitched 2.5 innings, with 3Ks & 2 fielding outs from the mound. It was 8-2 when she was pulled. They scored the other 8 during the end of 3rd & them the 4th.

Sunday they lost 12-0. (3 innings)
3 up, 3 down.

Pretty sure it wasn't much fun for any of the girls from either team. Maybe Rick will ask his players how they felt & post up.

From your posts, it sounds like you may be a parent of a player on the Envy. Are you (or associated/friends)?

If not, you sound like an ass with your win at all costs/show no mercy attitude.
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