UPDATED! 12u Top Team Ranking – Pre ASA Nationals Poll!

[bracketologist]

Thanks and my dd is not on the Crackers but honestly they deserve credit. Actually all teams work hard and the girls show up to play and deserve credit but with a big win like that we know how hard it is to play a complete day with 12 year olds. Fortunately LOL my dd is on one of the top teams so we should see each other plenty this year. Good luck to all this weekend and in the next few and then hopefully all of us can give these girls a much needed break and get ready for the real season.

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone!

Ok, ok, ok the Firecrackers should be number #1 and ranked ahead of PowerSurge 96 – because they won the head-to-head battle (i.e., the same logic that keeps the Jynx ranked ahead of the OC BB-M) ……. But still 2 out of 3 pollsters still voted PS96 #1….. As the head of this poll I should have put the Firecrackers at #1….but if the Firecrackers are ranked #1 (and are off this weekend) we kill the buzz at this weeks tourney. The poll gives people a reason to go out to the park and watch the games… I counted at least 5 people on heybucket who said they went to watch the Friday pool play games because of the team ranking (OC BB #6 v FC96#3 and BB vs. #1 PS96) and even 14u coaches and players come over saying “so this is suppose to be the #1 team in 12u – when PS96 played BB). The coaches, parents and even players talk about the rankings …. With some of the girls taking extra pride in beating the “favorites”….. so yes the Firecrackers will be back at #1 next week (barring the CA Rebels going undefeated) and all will be right in the world.

Only the few people who exactly read the column know the difference ….. but for the next 4 days we have 19 teams and 228 girls who are dieing to prove that PS96 is not #1 and I don't see anything wrong with that this early in the season!

PS. Next week’s poll will be the final poll of fall, and we’re looking for 4 to 6 additional pollsters to help with the poll (i.e., rank the top 12-20 teams every other week). As a pollster you are not allowed to rank your own team and purposely down grade other teams. And yes like the BCS you can still believe that Oklahoma is better then Texas... even though Texas beat them head to head!

[CharlieHough]

PS. Next week’s poll will be the final poll of fall, and we’re looking for 4 to 6 additional pollsters to help with the poll (i.e., rank the top 12-20 teams every other week). As a pollster you are not allowed to rank your own team and purposely down grade other teams. And yes like the BCS you can still believe that Oklahoma is better then Texas... even though Texas beat them head to head!

as the "great" Matt Leinart said after losing to Texas..."whatever....I think we are a better football team...they just made the plays in the end"

A classic...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jy9pKva ... re=related

[sball14]

okay bracket, using your format for ranking and grading here is my take.

1 firecrackers (a)
2 ca rebels (a)
3 ps 96 (b+)
3 jynx (b+)
3 ocbb marq. (b+)
6 ca knighten(b)
6 oc wildcats (b)
8 ocbb '96 snow (?)
9 ca '96 lockman (?) it's tough to grade the '97s

this is based only on the teams i've seen play.

[Clean_up]

okay bracket, using your format for ranking and grading here is my take.

1 firecrackers (a)
2 ca rebels (a)
3 ps 96 (b+)
3 jynx (b+)
3 ocbb marq. (b+)
6 ca knighten(b)
6 oc wildcats (b)
8 ocbb '96 snow (?)
9 ca '96 lockman (?) it's tough to grade the '97s

this is based only on the teams i've seen play.

Funny, CA-Knighten beat OC BB Marquez AND PowerSurge this past weekend and they are a B player with 5 Home runs hit over the fence? GEEZ, what's it going to take to earn a little respect now and again? LOL...

[Luv_SC]

I dont think sball 14 was actually at the field this weekend or maybe too much red cup drinking. Hopefully the pollsters will be a little smarter and objective than he or she is.

[JustWondering]

Why is No Fear 96 and Cal Thunder Ranked in the top 20? Is winning weaker tourneys more important then competing with top teams? Both teams seem to be dodging really competitive tourneys.

[Clean_up]

Just a dad on the bucket.....

Chino Hills 12U Highs and Lows

Highs

1. OCBB –Jesse Pool Play Victories over PS and FC
2. OCBB –Jesse – Home run vs. PS96. That was a bomb
3. Firecrackers in Bracket play: 36-3 - 10-1 over Sting, 9-1 Over CA-Lockman, 6-1 over Power Surge 96, 11-0 over OCBB-Snow in Championship
4. The fields and facility – Hemet…don’t get me started.
5. OCBB- Snow great tourney for a 97 team
6. 60 + teams in all divisions and tons of great softball all weekend.
7. Analyzing rankings of teams in December

Low’s

1. OCBB –Jesse last inning vs. JYNX
2. JYNX Parent having to be escorted off the field
3. OCBB-Snow dugout coach yelling at the umpire (who was walking up the stairs) after the championship game about a called 3rd strike 2 batters earlier (His kid perhaps?). While the girls are lining up to high five.
4. CA – K tie with Nemesis
5. Firecrackers in pool play
6. The fields– No FENCES make the games different.
7. Rumors of 95 players on any teams
8. Constant chatter about teams not performing because of injuries – when does a team not have injuries? The just wait till they are healthy chat is funny to me.
9. Analyzing rankings of teams in December

I think considering the team's injuries is totally viable when evaluating teams. Losing your #3 and #4 in line up .400+ hitters who also happen to be your starting stud catcher and a strong pitcher in your rotation due to inury has a bigger impact than losing your #12 player/utility. That's like not considering the DL and when a player will return to the field when rating teams in any major sport. You have to compare apples to apples and if an A team is competing with injured top players and still doing well against the other A and B+ teams, then that should rate them higher when they are 100% healthy.

[YellowBalls]

So, where are the new ratings from this past weekend? I saw some pretty good softball being played in Laguna and would like to see what others thought, especially about the Rebels who were previously rated as a B+ team and CA96 rated down to a B..??!! I saw some huge hits by CA96 vs good teams, a little inconsistent still and pitching wasn't on. Rebels pitcher does a gread job, defense needs work, PowerSurge fell completely flat when faced with a REALLY REALLY slow pitcher from CA96, Batbuster pitchers did well against Rebels and failed completely against CA96. CA97 couldn't hold out against Corona Express who also played a pretty good game against the Rebels, Nemesis needs a lot of re-building. It just goes back and forth...

Personally, I think PowerSurge, Rebels, Firecrackers, BB96 and CA 96 and even Jynx are all A players, each have their strengths and issues. Wildcats, working up to an A player, hit the tar out of the ball and with another pitcher, well just saying they looked pretty solid.. I am interested to see which players make a move and how the teams really stack up come mid-Spring... Gonna be fun to watch.

[Luv_SC]

Humm Mr. Yellow Balls we like to call her a junk baller cause slow pitcher offends her. Great games and awesome softball from some 11 and 12 year olds and then some not so great moments but overall a great weekend. Gonna be an exciting year I can feel it and it will be interesting to see where the merry go round of girls stops and what teams end up with who.

[YellowBalls]

Humm Mr. Yellow Balls we like to call her a junk baller cause slow pitcher offends her. Great games and awesome softball from some 11 and 12 year olds and then some not so great moments but overall a great weekend. Gonna be an exciting year I can feel it and it will be interesting to see where the merry go round of girls stops and what teams end up with who.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend She did a great job, kudos to the CA96 "Junk Baller" who shut down PowerSurge on Sunday quarter-final game...