Nor - Cal 12U Spring Summer Rankings

[notme]

Thank God you got on here and helped us out Junkie,now go take your medication. It must be a real thrill to try and express an opinion on whatever team you are connected with, my guess one of the two teams you mentioned.

By the way, "Travel Ball" means more than travel from your house to Arnez every week.

notme
I couldn't agree with you more that Travel Ball means more then your house to Arnez every week... Now that we agree on that shouldn't you be in So Cal every weekend playing so these teams playing up in a few Local tourneys between So Cal trips should not effect you right???

Only reason I highlighted these 2 teams is they are playing in So Cal. (No kid on the team but we have seen them in So Cal while down with my oldest DD who coaches 12s So Cal.) These teams have already headed South more then a few times and from talking with their coaches will be going more as the season continues.

I think a few are missing the point as why they are playing 14s. If there is no 99 or 00 team who can compete with you in 12s locally you might as well play in 14s to play some 98s. You learn nothing by pounding teams and playing half speed.

Blue the way I read the comment about making it to the semis was that it shows they can compete with the teams they played. Nor do I think these teams feel they could play with the 97 14s teams when they start in June. You are someone who has been around a long time, honest question.... If your were in the situation these teams are 12yrs old and killing everyone you played wouldn't you play up to play better teams when you played local.

Junkie, I enjoyed reading this post a lot more than the last one. Thanks for not referring to people as "dumb" and "idiots", it makes for and easier read.
I think what makes us have different views on playing up is the fact, I think, you are associated with 12U's and I with 14U's. So from your perspective you want to use 14U tournaments to better your teams, can't blame you there, but from my perspective, with the exception of a couple of top 12U teams, there will not be much competition for the 14U teams that want to get better like your team. So this gets back to rankings, how do you handle that if there are 12U teams that want to play you to move up but you're team is always playing up??
On your next point about the two highlighted teams, I assume your talking about RR Miller and Garcia. I agree two very good teams with little competition in the area even though they can be beat. You say you have seen them in SoCal...when?
Last point, "if I were in this situation", I think getting out of town, not necessarily SoCal, playing in your age group and getting your teams reputation and name out there will serve the girls good if they are thinking about college. Staying at Arnez week after week and using "playing up" as a way to get noticed will not do as well. JMO
By the way, the 14U team my girl plays on, travels and picks tournaments in our age group where the best teams play, not necessarily SoCal either.
OK Junkie, have at it, tear me up.

[Sbstuby]

My daughter is not on Miller or Garcia. I think if your team needs to play up sometimes to get a little different and stiffer comp . I would never brag or cut another team. Should not have to go to so cal and spend the big bucks every weekend anyways. Not all 12 teams are the same age as the 14 teams.Win or lose I want my daughter to play the toughest comp. Next thing I'm going to hear is a girl has to play JV instead of varsity as a freshman because that would not be fair to a junoir or senior...

[Sftball Junkie]

Notme

I do understand your point. Yes I do have a daughter who plays in 12s however she is just starting the transition into what I call Comp ball. I to feel there is a big difference between Travel Ball and playing local "Comp Ball". This is my third time thru this traveling circuit. My youngest is an 00 and on a 12s B ball team Playing alot of NSA IFA and DF if she decides she wants to stop her other sports and play softball only we will move over to an A team and start the travel again.

Ok Life story over... The only 2 teams I would think should be playing up at this point would be Garcia and Miller because they can compete. If the others can't compete in 14s then they have no business being there. I think Garcia and Miller should do just fine with you guys.

As for the play in So Cal My oldest daughters team (Coaching not Playing) played at the same set of fields as Garcia earlier this year Feb 25 26 they also played in a tourney they were in during the Fall season (Maybe Surf City?? They become a blur) . We saw them in Vegas at the St Patty's Day tourney as well. I am pretty sure we played Millers team in a friendly as well already if wrong I am sorry. So to my knowledge Miller has been down only once..

See that no tear up at all

[notme]

My daughter is not on Miller or Garcia. I think if your team needs to play up sometimes to get a little different and stiffer comp . I would never brag or cut another team. Should not have to go to so cal and spend the big bucks every weekend anyways. Not all 12 teams are the same age as the 14 teams.Win or lose I want my daughter to play the toughest comp. Next thing I'm going to hear is a girl has to play JV instead of varsity as a freshman because that would not be fair to a junoir or senior...

Sbstuby, no one said, at least I didn't, that you have to go to SoCal every week....who can afford that?? But if you want your daughter to play the toughest possible then you have to go to SoCal every now and then or enter tournaments where the SoCal teams are playing. Playing up here is OK for local knowledge but to get your name out there and play the best, SoCal and AZ teams are the people to play. Just saying.....

[notme]

Notme

I do understand your point. Yes I do have a daughter who plays in 12s however she is just starting the transition into what I call Comp ball. I to feel there is a big difference between Travel Ball and playing local "Comp Ball". This is my third time thru this traveling circuit. My youngest is an 00 and on a 12s B ball team Playing alot of NSA IFA and DF if she decides she wants to stop her other sports and play softball only we will move over to an A team and start the travel again.

Ok Life story over... The only 2 teams I would think should be playing up at this point would be Garcia and Miller because they can compete. If the others can't compete in 14s then they have no business being there. I think Garcia and Miller should do just fine with you guys.

As for the play in So Cal My oldest daughters team (Coaching not Playing) played at the same set of fields as Garcia earlier this year Feb 25 26 they also played in a tourney they were in during the Fall season (Maybe Surf City?? They become a blur) . We saw them in Vegas at the St Patty's Day tourney as well. I am pretty sure we played Millers team in a friendly as well already if wrong I am sorry. So to my knowledge Miller has been down only once..

See that no tear up at all

Good luck to your daughters, I agree with Garcia going to Vegas, didn't know about the SoCal trip. Miller is a different story, They are pretty much home bodies at this point. I do see both of them at Fresno.
Thanks Junkie.....good luck

[linedrivelouie]

Thought it was time to get back to rankings since 1st to 3rd has given up. I have no affiliation with a team currently in the rankings and sad to say yes I am on the bucket DAILY!! I have chose to post under a new name because many of you know who I am by my user name and I don't want you asking me why this that and the other at the next tourney

Just one persons opinions don't go shooting him for saying what he thinks. As you can see this is all positive please don't bash a bunch of 11 and 12 year old's who love what they do every weekend.

1.) RR Gold - Miller: Very Strong pitching staff, Very athletic, Very Strong with the bats all the way thru. Right now the top team 99 team with out a doubt. The season is long and there is at least one team right on their heals. Will they play a lot of14U all season and friendlies against only a select few top 12u teams. From what I gather Playing 12s in So Cal PGF as well as Fresno, Memorial, Association tourneys and Nationals? (Foot Note: Noticed I called them a 99 team. RR Miller is listed as a 14u team on there website. If it was not for the fact that the do plan on qualifying for 12u Nat’s or PGF Nat’s I would probably not have them on this list, Yet at the end of the year they probably will ruin someone’s chances of playing in August.)

2.)Mizuno - Garcia: Their #1 and #2 pitchers are very solid and the 3 or so behind are not to bad as well. this team plays great defense and is very smart at the plate. They will keep you close and find a way to manufacture runs, A team doesn’t have to hit it over the fence every at bat to have a great line up. Have been to So Cal and Vegas already with I am sure more travel dates on the Calendar. This team has pounded most 12u teams they have played and seem to compete well with the young 14s as they should. This team looks like they wil play more 12s then 14s during the year.

3.) Grapettes - Norwood: Has played descent in So Cal struggled in Vegas but I think this team has played well enough to be in the top of the heap. Would be nice to see they play Garcia soon and see where they stack up. Descent pitching, Some good bats in the lineup, Not sure if the Defense and Hitting is strong enough to go deep on Trophy day in the big tourney but holding their own at home.

4.) Grapettes - Kappmeyer: Top 2 pitchers very Good with the 3rd just barely behind. Likes to play small ball as a result in the few games I have seen not sure if they have the big bats to compliment that yet. Very aggressive base running, Again I am not sure if the Defense is strong enough to go deep but the season is young and the talent is there

5.) SJ Sting: This team has played out of the area a lot to this point. I do not know a lot about them however I have heard enough good things to keep them in the Top 5.

6.) Roseville Heat - LaGabed: Had to bump a team into the top 5 who I haven’t really seen play over these guys because I think they are going to need to add a few to stay up in the top 10. As a whole I think they are doing a lot more with less right now. I honestly think this is a pretty average 99 team however they keep finding a way to go deep on Sunday and there is a lot to be said about that.

7.) CC Dirtdogs - Mancha: Even though I look at this team as a Cen Cal team I throw this team in because they do play in Nor Cal enough. Hard to get a good gauge on where they are at this point but this program has always been strong, A couple solid bats on the team, The pitching I saw seems to be enough to get thru games on Sunday. Still putting the pieces of the puzzle together on Defense but I think this team will be a top 10 Nor Cal team all season if they play enough up here.

8.) Mizuno – Stone: This team is getting better every week. They have picked up one of the pitchers From Extreme which was a good addition to an already pretty good team. Concern with this team for me is they seem to be a JEKEL and HYDE team. They played Garcia close deep in innings more then once at this point yet at the same time seem maybe play down when playing others, If this team has a good foundation this will change as the season continues.

9 - 10.) USA Elite and MSC Tigers: Both of these teams are off the radar of many however watching them play I think they deserve a spot in the top ten. I would like to see these teams search out some tourneys with stronger teams as the season goes on but USA Elite won the tourney in Lincoln this last weekend beating a few teams above on this list. Like I have read in other rankings I to am a body of work guy and winning one is a start. Keep it up and you will move up.

11.) KG Hitters - Tracy: Only reason I have this team in 11 at this point is I have not been able to see them play this spring. I caught the last few at bats of one game. (Damn rain keeps screwing up our softball.) I do think this is the Best 00' team in norcal. That said you will probably not see me put a 00 team in the top 10 unless they can really prove their body of work is strong. This team will compete in every tournament as they did in Fall and I am sure as time goes they will move up the list. This team is capable of beating most of the 99 teams list I just want to see the consistency first.

12.) Team Exteme: This is probably the biggest surprises to me. This team had great talent. Some times that just leads to one to many Alpha’s in the Dog house. This team will compete with a lot of these top 10 teams however I do not think they have the pitching or the lineup to go deep in strong tournaments anymore. Not sure why the girls left and it really doesn’t matter for rankings but it is amazing what happens when a few great players leave a pretty good team. With the catcher and #2 pitcher leaving that is going to really hurt.

[Journey17]

I agree, for the most part, with the rankings. Would like to see Norwood and Kappmeyer play against Heat, Stone or Sting to get a better idea of how the teams compare. Thanks for stepping in and putting up a ranking! Don't know what happened to the first guy?!?

[PitchersDad99]

My 2 cents.

While it is nice to see the MSC Tigers on the list. We played the KG Hitters this weekend and I think they should be above us. They have good hitters for most of their lineup, pitching is good, and defense is steady.

BTW, No way are they a 00' team. We have four 00's on our team, but I wouldn't say we are a 00' team.

[99NorCal]

Thanks for providing something to talk about. I think the rankings should be a snapshot in a moment in time, so teams can be added or dropped based on a performance after the latest tourney. If #1 loses to #2, #2 gets to be #1 until they play again.

So, no arrows, darts, or anything negative intended with my comments. Thanks for putting together a list. Won't use lots of comments because you already provided.

1. RR Gold Miller
2. Mizuno Garcia
3. CC Dirts Dogs - beat Sting at PGF
4. Grapettes Norwood
5. KG Hitters - as said, not a true 00 team; enough 99s to make them compete very well
6. Team Xtreme - lost a couple but should still match up well against those rated lower
7. SJ Sting
8. USA Elite - beating Heat 99 in champ game is a good enough reason to go ahead
9. Heat LaGabed
10. Mizuno Stone
11. Grapettes Kappmeyer
12. MSC Tigers - Would like to see MSC Tigers enter tourneys with some of these teams so we can see them match up. USA Elite did that and had a great showing.

Like has been said, nothing against any teams or any players listed or not listed. Just a ranking of teams playing against each other.

[noncrazynorcal]

Does Xtreme have any healthy pitchers left? This is not a request for gossip about player parents parting ways with certain coaches, because we still see and talk with everyone out at the tournaments. I am only questioning them holding onto a high ranking with the pitching situation.