12U Preseason Fan Rankings

[luvhaters]

Well...Let's just say I know who you are, you think you know who I am, I know who you think I am and I'm not him lol. I also see your assistant browsing after you made your post LMAO. However I am only one person and I have my own opinions. This has turned into a game of Clue lol.

[lookingIN]

Do I have to get Inspector gadget kit. And your not allowed to have an opinion on here and thats the bottom line. ( stone cold voice )lol

[1st to 3rd]

Ok I will take a stab at it based on seeing a few 12U friendlies. Of course its still early and its not how you start but how you finish!

1.) RR Gold - Miller: Best pitching staff, best athletes, best lineup 1-12. Best hitting team in NorCal hands down! In a class of their own but they are definately beatable. Will they play 14U all season and only drop down for the Fresno, Memorial, Association tourneys and Nationals? Heard they will be focused on attending ASA Nationals in Illinois.

2.) Mizuno - Garcia: 1 stud pitcher with solid support staff, solid defense, good lineup. Just not the WOW factor like RR Gold. Heard they will be focused on attending ASA Nationals in Illinois.

3.) Team Extreme: Good line up, good defense, good baserunning. Catcher and SS are studs. But this team still some work to do. Not sure they have enough pitching to make it deep into big tournaments. Heard they will be focused on attending ASA Nationals in Illinois.

4.) SJ Sting: Good Defense, good hitting. Have only seen them play twice but both performances were solid. Heard they will be focused on attending Premier Nationals in SoCal.

5.) Grapettes - Norwood: As always Norwood aggressive baserunning. Average pitching at best will make it challenging to compete deep into Sundays. Not sure about championship play plans.

6.) Grapettes - Kappmeyer: Good and deep pitching, good catcher, good hitting, good small ball. Still lots of work to do on defense to compete deep into sundays but put together a solid team on short notice. Not sure about championship play plans.

7.) CC Dirtdogs - Mancha: Big hitters, good catcher. Still lots of work to do. Not sure about championship play plans.

8.) Roseville Heat - LaGabed: Pitching?, Solid defense, average offense. Coach kids most out of his kids. Not sure about championship play plans.

9.) KG Hitters - Tracy: Best 00' team in norcal. Will compete in every tournament and surprise/upset some people. Capable of beating any of the above mentioned teams. Heard they will be focused on ASA western Nats in Roseville.

10.) Mizuno AA - Stone: Average team, lots of work to do.

Have fun with this...

[knee saver]

I think I for the most part I agree with 1st to 3rd. However you missed out on some teams with good pitching Team Extreme has a good pitcher and a good under used off speed pitcher. Also if you saw the same games I did you would have noticed that Mizuno is stacked with pitching. I think people over look those girls that don't have crazy speed. Movement on the ball can top speed when your playing big hitting teams. Also you must be crazy if you think Extreme has the only stud catcher I guess you didn't see RR's catchers and Garcia's those girls have guns.With RR beating Mizuno 4-0 on Saturday then Mizuno beating them 6-2 on Sunday I would say these two teams are gonna have fun playing each other all season.

[neighborsherry]

It was good to get out yesterday in the spring-like weather and watch some early season 12u ball. I was only able to catch two RR games. It looked like RR and Mizuno were working on their games. The catchers did look good for both teams. Also looked liked both teams worked their entire pitching staffs. Mizuno's pitching looked good as usual. Thought maybe they were all working on some new pitchs also which is good to see this time of year. RR has the big bats in their lineup and that was obvious. in both games I watched. Only mizuno was able to keep them from puting up a big score. The teams on the other field looked similar to the 12u teams I watched in the fall. Not much there.
Sacramento State is playing some great ball early in the season also. Please come out and support the lady hornets if you can. They appreciate all the support they can get for home games.

[1st to 3rd]

I think I for the most part I agree with 1st to 3rd. However you missed out on some teams with good pitching Team Extreme has a good pitcher and a good under used off speed pitcher. Also if you saw the same games I did you would have noticed that Mizuno is stacked with pitching. I think people over look those girls that don't have crazy speed. Movement on the ball can top speed when your playing big hitting teams. Also you must be crazy if you think Extreme has the only stud catcher I guess you didn't see RR's catchers and Garcia's those girls have guns.With RR beating Mizuno 4-0 on Saturday then Mizuno beating them 6-2 on Sunday I would say these two teams are gonna have fun playing each other all season.

I commented on extremes pitching and quite frankly don't think its deep enough to take them late in to Sundays in the big tourneys that matter (Fresno, Memorial, Association, Nationals). There #1 has an average fastball and no junk, the #2's are offspeeders that may be good for 1 time through the line up.

Also commented on Mizuno's pitching "1 stud pitcher with solid support staff" what more would you like me to say?

Catchers: Agreed, RR's #1 catcher is great, Mizuno catchers are good but not stellar! A great arm is a small part of the catching equation! Can they frame? Block? Throw of blocks? Read batters tendancies? Are they vocal/leaders when on the field? Oh yeah and can they hit? I'm being a bit sarcastic but seriously its pretty obvious your a Mizuno catchers parent! No offense, its all good.

I do agree that RR Gold Mizuno Garcia will produce some great games this year. That is IF they run into each other in a 12U tourney as RR will probably be playing 14U in the valley a majority of the time and Mizuno seems to stay in Sacramento.

I also think that with some quality coaching and practice that extreme, sting, both grapettes teams and Dirtdogs could upset the top 2 teams on any given sunday. Extreme seems to be finding there way but have tremendous potential. The Sting and Grapes - Kappmeyer have shown flashes of greatness in a few games I have watched. Both are well coached and have great athletes that play hard. Grapes - Norwood will cause teams problems. She has some athletes that will give teams problems with her agressive style of play. Pitching is suspect.
The Dirtdogs have some big girls who can hit and seem to always put a competitive team on the field.

[onlooker]

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[neighborsherry]

The scores are meaningless regardless of who pitched. It's a friendly in February. The only ones that care about the scores in February friendly's are coaches that don't understand their responsibilities and parents that want to feel good about the team their DD plays for. Those who understand the game (particularly at 12u) realize that a friendly in February is about everything else other than the score. February, March, April and most of May are about developing the athletes and improving the teams level of play. Check your ego's at the gate gentlemen.

[onlooker]

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[neighborsherry]

February...... Meaningless!