Top North Texas teams to watch in '08

[aka7]

To bad for the Monarchs, they looked to really be taken shape in the fall. Who knows may have been pickup players. Maybe the addition at pitcher for the Travelers will be what they needed. They are a scrappy team and always fun to watch. Should be strong this Spring.

Hey Lori, good job on the research. Seems to me the Big 3 basically are following the same pattern good or bad. Some top notch teams in each organizations, some developing teams in the younger age groups, and a few teams in each organization that stuggle to reach the expectations for some reason. Probably the age groups being watered down, due to excessive teams in each age division. But as I am sure you know this is not only a problem within the Organizations. Everytime you look at the VTD you see a new team (all age divisions) looking for players. That is a whole new topic in itself.

[3Bsnag]

OMG, the Monarchs just had tryouts last Saturday! That's kinda sad. They were a no-name team that came out strong and had nice coaches.

If the Travelers did pick up their pitchers, they are good enough to give 95 Glory a run for their money as king of 12U. They also just got one of Sha-bangs pitchers and already had Sambo.

Here's what the Monarchs page says:

PURPOSE: To advance each player’s skills in fastpitch to the highest level of the game, and to provide young women the opportunity to develop traits needed to be responsible adults.

It was a great time. ~Ray Lozano

View the Monarchs VTD page.

There's nothing on the Monarch VTD page now.

[dallasfungo]

Whatever happened, it must have happened very quickly. I think they had already posted for another tryout on the 27th. 3bsnag, you are right about the pitcher from Sha-bang. She used to be with Monarchs but must have left some time in the fall and I missed it. So Travelers got 1 from Monarchs and 1 from Sha-bang. Both are solid at the plate and can play defense also. Nice moves by Travelers, brings them a lot closer to 95 Glory. Now they (like everyone else) has to figure out how to hit Glory's #1 pitcher to score a couple of runs...

[Flash4]

I know one of the Monarchs pitchers, Kelsey, is now showing up on 94 Glory's website.

[Flash4]

Hey, I just looked at the Travelers website and saw that the pitcher they picked up actually played for them last spring but obviously left this fall to try something else; I guess she found out that she was better off back with the Travelers. If the Travelers did pick up all these dominating pitchers then all I can say is..... that sure makes for alot of unhappy parents. Good luck.

[dallasfungo]

Not sure I agree, Flash. 3 pitchers on a roster of 11 players sounds pretty balanced to me. On a normal tournament weekend each should get at least two games on the rubber. If 1 gets sore, sick, has some conflict, or simply has an off day, then you still have 2 solid pitchers without having to look for a pick up who won't be around at nationals. Down the road, taking only two pitchers into championship play seems like an invitation to a Friday evening or Saturday morning departure. Of course, my dd isn't a pitcher so perhaps I'm being too rational.

I understand that Monarchs had as many as 5 pitchers in the early fall which may have contributed to their wheels coming off. That's purely speculation, of course, I have no idea what happened.

[Texasasa25]

Sorry if we posted this in the wrong spot but we are from North East Texas and we are a 12u '95 team looking for 1 player and hopefully we will be one of the teams to watch this year.

We are now one of the zillionth 12u teams looking for a player. Our team has been together going on 8 years and we have always been competitive. Like so many other 12u teams, we will play 12u "A" and 14u tournaments to prepare for Nationals. Our team goal is to obtain one of the few berths to ASA 12u "A" in Montgomery, AL. We truly feel we have the talent to qualify for this tournament. We are looking for one more player.
We are looking for an outfielder/utility, good bat,speed and lots of confidence and the work ethics to be a champion. We practice in Tyler and play most of our ball in the DFW area and occasionally in Longview or Shreveport.
We are an age pure '95 team but will consider a strong, mature '96. Oh yeah, parents have to be cool too.
If interested or have questions, please email us or visit our website. We would love to hear from you.

Sneaky Cleats '95
Anthony Springer-coach
http://www.sneakycleats95.com
sneakycleats8u@yahoo.com
903-372-5073

[3Bsnag]

Ooohhh, you're in trouble. Hope the bucket police aren't looking.

Actually, it was a great time for you to play new guy, in the middle of a North Texas 12/14U teams thread. Just for future reference, "Players" are at the bottom of the "Fastpitch Boards". I don't think they're looked at very much over here, YET. It seems to be mostly those weird people out in someplace called Cali (JK!) The others are migrating slowly.

I can't believe I left y'all off the 12U list! Sorry, I will go back and amend. I just noticed you've made the official move to "A" ball. Congrats! I hope you find you're player, you've got a great team. Did they make you move up or just decide it was time?

[Flash4]

Well, from what you have been saying, it sounds like they may have upto four pitchers. Their no. 1 pitcher, who always sees majority of the pitching time, and now 2 from the monarchs. One who was with them for a long time, left in the fall, and is now back. One from Sha-Bang, I have no idea who she is, and another one from the Monarchs who use to pitch for 95 Glory. That's alot of pitching time to divide between some dominate pitchers. I'm not saying that it can't be done but when you have that many pitchers who are use to all the pitching time then it can eventually cause some problems between the pitchers and the parents who want to see their daughters on the mound. Let's be real, every teams sees these problems.

[Texasasa25]

Did they make you move up or just decide it was time?

Actually we started as a 12u "B" team last year but only played 1 - 12u "B" ASA tournament which was in April. The rest were 12u "open" and 14u tournaments. The PFX is mislabeled on VTD, it was an "Open" tourney not a "B". We did go to USSSA 12u B in Orlando/WDW primarily so the girls could have fun.

Overall, we had a rough year. We lost a couple of key players, 1 to soccer and 1- to other TEAMS(s).
Plus one of our bracket pitchers was in a cast for 13 weeks (broken leg).

I did not feel that my team was ready to play up in 14 "A" for fear of risking injury to my 3rd baseman or pitchers who did not have the reflexes needed to play at that level. "07 was our rebuilding year and hopefully in '08- we can play with the big dawgs again.

In the past, State teams did not use the vtd to rank their teams like the metro teams. However, due to the changes this year I think it will be used more as a tool. I know dist 25 will. We will be watching closely for teams that are placing in the top 3 and they will get bumped.

Best Regards,