WHO ARE THE BEST 12U TEAMS IN THE OC, LA , SF , SB, RS, CALI

[Clean_up]

They played good games 3-1, 2-1, against the '95 Angels and Anderson Heat right before Nationals and lost 2-0 against OC Impact at States,
Currently, they have 2 players on the DL, including one of their top 3 pitchers, and 2 more with muscle issues getting worked on, so they are no where near 100%. They played their first 14u friendly yesterday and did okay, two ties and one win. They came out slow, but finished strong against Halos up 11-5 with no outs when the game time limit was called and score reverted back to end in a tie.

"Other than the shooting Mr Lincoln, how did you like the play?"
In other words, a loss is a loss, and a win is a win, regardless of the circumstances.
CA96 is a very strong team, let their play do the talking.
No need to analyze away any loss, or thump your chest for any win.
A friendly in September is not going to make or break their season.
If they deserve it, others will spread the word for them, which will give the team more credibility.
JMO...

Okay, point taken... I wasn't analyzing any losses or thumping my chest -- just giving an update on the team and how they did their first weekend out.. And you are right, as I said before nothing really matters until next year anyways..

[myallstarz]

This is awesome! I have a quick question for all of you who can tell how good a team is after a couple of friendlies in September:

My DD's team played a friendly DH on Sunday. They won Game #1, then tied #2.

Are they one of the better teams in the division?
Will we qualify at States, or should we plan a May trip to qualify in Timbuktu?
Or better yet, should I just go ahead and book our flights and hotels to Nationals?
I'm just sayin'...

Loosen up. These opinions are just that - OPINIONS. A guess based on how some of us project that a team might perform based on last years success, lost players, added players, and how they are performing early. You may have seen this concept in action before, say in some college settings . I hope there are teams that we totally miss, that end up contending in 2009 or winning the whole thing. If that happens, it would be awesome. The teams that I've mentioned, I think are early favorites, but they still have to play the games. I wouldn't make any travel plans based on these very loose projections. It will be fun for me to see if these projections hold up, they may not. But sometimes and old dog like me gets lucky. I'm just sayin... (P.S - If your DD's team didn't make the list, it does'nt mean that her team is'nt awesome - they may be just flying under the radar, for now. If they're winning games - we'll find them and we'll put them on the radar. Ya gotta start somewhere.)

[SSdad]

Well until ASA rosters are set in Jan/Feb. it doesn't really matter. Team Likestoeatpaste might lose quality players to Team Pasteisgross and all their wins before Jan. really don't add up to nothing.

I'm just saying

[anonlooker]

This is awesome! I have a quick question for all of you who can tell how good a team is after a couple of friendlies in September:

My DD's team played a friendly DH on Sunday. They won Game #1, then tied #2.

Are they one of the better teams in the division?
Will we qualify at States, or should we plan a May trip to qualify in Timbuktu?
Or better yet, should I just go ahead and book our flights and hotels to Nationals?
I'm just sayin'...

(P.S - If your DD's team didn't make the list, it does'nt mean that her team is'nt awesome - they may be just flying under the radar, for now. If they're winning games - we'll find them and we'll put them on the radar. Ya gotta start somewhere.)

If my DD's team makes the list of Best 12's, we are in an aromatic heap of doggy crap!
Considering she plays 14's.

[myallstarz]

Well until ASA rosters are set in Jan/Feb. it doesn't really matter. Team Likestoeatpaste might lose quality players to Team Pasteisgross and all their wins before Jan. really don't add up to nothing.

I'm just saying

Wow. Maybe this is too complicated. If Team Likestoeatpaste loses players to Team Pasteisgross and now Pasteisgross begins winning games, then they would naturally move up in anyones BS rankings. Like the BCS rankings, this would have to be a fluid process. I just agreed with a prior post and thought this would be a good way to identify some of the POSSIBLE teams to beat in 12u.
Why is this a sore topic? It's just coaches, players, umpires, parents, and fans identifying teams that they think are good (based on PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS). And sure, the rankings may change from observer to observer, and the teams that are at the top now may not be the same teams there in August. Wouldn't it be nice to see some team that was unknown at the beginning of the season move up the BS rankings. Maybe it's just me... I'm just sayin...

[gonefishing]

Ladies and gentlemen, I love the BCS , but keep in mind that all of these teams a very good against pretty good fastpitching. We are forgetting about all of these new teams that have formed and are giving some very good teams a hard time due ,to the fact that they are pitching very slow or developing players. I believe that there are more brand new travel teams this year than before, because they are tired of little league and winter ball leagues due to the competition. Also we might have some teams avoid each other for what ever reason.
MYALLSTARZ, and everybody out there, This is great, the BCS for softball, I glad that you guys do not take it to anal. I really appreciate all the input, opinions, and smarta-- remarks. Let's try to post all scores of any friendlies that are in the near future. Everybodies opinion counts. You may not like some of the teams but lets, keep it clean. I know there is a couple of teams out there recruiting players from other teams. Thats the way business goes , if your DD isn't getting enough playing time or you are not happy, you should move on.
see ya got to work...

[SSdad]

Well until ASA rosters are set in Jan/Feb. it doesn't really matter. Team Likestoeatpaste might lose quality players to Team Pasteisgross and all their wins before Jan. really don't add up to nothing.

I'm just saying

Wow. Maybe this is too complicated. If Team Likestoeatpaste loses players to Team Pasteisgross and now Pasteisgross begins winning games, then they would naturally move up in anyones BS rankings. Like the BCS rankings, this would have to be a fluid process. I just agreed with a prior post and thought this would be a good way to identify some of the POSSIBLE teams to beat in 12u.
Why is this a sore topic? It's just coaches, players, umpires, parents, and fans identifying teams that they think are good (based on PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS). And sure, the rankings may change from observer to observer, and the teams that are at the top now may not be the same teams there in August. Wouldn't it be nice to see some team that was unknown at the beginning of the season move up the BS rankings. Maybe it's just me... I'm just sayin...

I was just stating that this time of year, things are different then say in Feb when rosters are set and the team is actually the team that will be there at the end of the season. This is sort of like pre season. How much weight do you give a team like the Rams/Raiders/Dolphins etc. if they went 4-0 in preseason, would they be the team to beat at the end of the year because they went undefeated? No. Maybe they used their starters more, or didn't try to work on things in the fall, etc.

Your idea is a sound one, and I'm not knocking the pemise of it. Just this time of year isn't the same as in Feb. So maybe this could be a prelude to January, and base your predictions off of that. But i would say that changes WILL happen, and there will be some flip flopping going on.

But all things said, you know i will be looking at your rankings and seeing where everyone stacks up.

BTW, BCS rankings suck. Strength of schedule, if you lose early or late in the year, whether it was sunny or cloudy out, too many variables.

[myallstarz]

Well until ASA rosters are set in Jan/Feb. it doesn't really matter. Team Likestoeatpaste might lose quality players to Team Pasteisgross and all their wins before Jan. really don't add up to nothing.

I'm just saying

Wow. Maybe this is too complicated. If Team Likestoeatpaste loses players to Team Pasteisgross and now Pasteisgross begins winning games, then they would naturally move up in anyones BS rankings. Like the BCS rankings, this would have to be a fluid process. I just agreed with a prior post and thought this would be a good way to identify some of the POSSIBLE teams to beat in 12u.
Why is this a sore topic? It's just coaches, players, umpires, parents, and fans identifying teams that they think are good (based on PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS). And sure, the rankings may change from observer to observer, and the teams that are at the top now may not be the same teams there in August. Wouldn't it be nice to see some team that was unknown at the beginning of the season move up the BS rankings. Maybe it's just me... I'm just sayin...

I was just stating that this time of year, things are different then say in Feb when rosters are set and the team is actually the team that will be there at the end of the season. This is sort of like pre season. How much weight do you give a team like the Rams/Raiders/Dolphins etc. if they went 4-0 in preseason, would they be the team to beat at the end of the year because they went undefeated? No. Maybe they used their starters more, or didn't try to work on things in the fall, etc.

Your idea is a sound one, and I'm not knocking the pemise of it. Just this time of year isn't the same as in Feb. So maybe this could be a prelude to January, and base your predictions off of that. But i would say that changes WILL happen, and there will be some flip flopping going on.

But all things said, you know i will be looking at your rankings and seeing where everyone stacks up.

BTW, BCS rankings suck. Strength of schedule, if you lose early or late in the year, whether it was sunny or cloudy out, too many variables.

Point well taken SSdad. I think you're right. Everyone should understand that these early predictions are a big stretch, winterball (travel) is just like pre-season and will not be an accurate indicator of how good or bad a team might be come January (after player commitments have been signed). And, I think that your idea of using these early predictions as a jumping off point for a more informed January/February ranking might just be the ticket. If there is interest, I'll continue to offer my (worthless) 2 cents (this will only be even a little bit useful if we get regular opinions from varied sources - I think our leader "gonefishing" is going to organize the results), if there is no real interest in this, then I'll move on and go back to complaining about how dumb the college ranking systems are...

Signed: Searching for Nirvana (sp)

[SSdad]

Point well taken SSdad. I think you're right. Everyone should understand that these early predictions are a big stretch, winterball (travel) is just like pre-season and will not be an accurate indicator of how good or bad a team might be come January (after player commitments have been signed). And, I think that your idea of using these early predictions as a jumping off point for a more informed January/February ranking might just be the ticket. If there is interest, I'll continue to offer my (worthless) 2 cents (this will only be even a little bit useful if we get regular opinions from varied sources - I think our leader "gonefishing" is going to organize the results), if there is no real interest in this, then I'll move on and go back to complaining about how dumb the college ranking systems are...

Signed: Searching for Nirvana (sp)

Think that they came from Seatlle, with the rest of the grunge bands, but after Cobain died, not sure where they are now.

[Skarp]

Point well taken SSdad. I think you're right. Everyone should understand that these early predictions are a big stretch, winterball (travel) is just like pre-season and will not be an accurate indicator of how good or bad a team might be come January (after player commitments have been signed). And, I think that your idea of using these early predictions as a jumping off point for a more informed January/February ranking might just be the ticket. If there is interest, I'll continue to offer my (worthless) 2 cents (this will only be even a little bit useful if we get regular opinions from varied sources - I think our leader "gonefishing" is going to organize the results), if there is no real interest in this, then I'll move on and go back to complaining about how dumb the college ranking systems are...

Signed: Searching for Nirvana (sp)

Think that they came from Seatlle, with the rest of the grunge bands, but after Cobain died, not sure where they are now.

Dave Grohl (drummer) is front man for the Foo Fighters. Krist Novocelic (bass) is some sort of political activist.