Fall ball reports ?

[ManitouDan]

Things are kinda dead right now with not much going on , any reports from local travel ball teams ? Crush , Buckeye Elite ?? Maybe players playing out of the area ? OCT is a hot time for recruiting those 15 and 16 year olds . Anyone playing lately ?

[ManitouDan]

must be TONS going on .. lol .

[Browns30]

I just don't think local teams are competitive.

[Gopher]

I just don't think local teams are competitive.

That's pretty harsh.

It really has nothing to do with competitiveness, but I think more about local travel teams not doing as much in the fall. This is probably because players are involved in other sports. Thats the reason they are local travel teams and not national travel teams.

[Browns30]

It wasn't meant to be harsh. I was just saying that you don't hear anything about the local teams because they don't compete with the bigger name travel ball organizations. The talent is here, but for such a small area, there are tons of travel softball teams. The talent pool has become diluted.

[Ironman92]

I just don't think local teams are competitive.

This part of the state isn't really competitive with most other parts of the states across the sports.

[Gopher]

I would agree with the diluted statement, but that is not only in SE Ohio it is statewide. I would also agree that the talent is here. However if you look at the thread on 2015 commits, you will see that most either play for a travel team based north of I-70 or west of the state line. You have to go there to find the organizations that are pipelines for playing at the next level. And you have to go to them (college coaches), they certainly are not going to come to southern ohio to find the players.

[chsballn]

NO FEEDBACK ON FALL TRAVEL SOFTBALL ?

I followed a few tournaments and friendly’s this past fall in softball & baseball. Of course more softball than baseball and that is because it is the football season, leaving a low amount of young men for teams. Most travel teams during this time of year have to use guest players or below level players, and this is because of fall high school sports being played. So teams will only play in one or two tournaments during the fall with a few friendly’s on Sunday afternoons. Girls who play high school volleyball or fall track, sometimes play school sports on Saturdays taking away from travel fall ball. Also open gym’s for basketball is going on, Add cheerleading & band in there along with other school activities and it all puts a punch in the belly of fall ball.

As far as teams in SEO ? Just more kids to pick from up North. Also some SEO girls do go to high profile teams up north to play in showcase tournaments. Only a few teams in SEO play in mostly high profile showcase tournaments, others play in maybe one showcase tournament and a World Series, the other tournaments are smaller tournaments where they have a chance to win some hardware. The option for a parent is do they want to see trophies on the wall or have a chance to see a college coach see her play for a inning or two.

The SEO area have more travel teams popping up every year so you have girls jumping from team to team. This makes it hard to field a team and that is why some team’s do not have the overall talent to really compete in showcase tournaments.

As far as play this fall, Waverly had a nice package of friendly games every Sunday at no cost to the teams. Teams from the Cincinnati area and the Columbus area made the trip to play along with some local teams.

Athens Swat put on a nice tournament in Athens this fall as well as playing in a fall league in Middleport/Pomroy. Athens had some decent teams in the tournament . Portsmouth was to have a tournament, but I’m not sure if that ever got off the ground. If it did no one reported it. Winter ball indoor tournament s and leagues will be starting soon as well high school coming up in March.

You know it could be that most SEO teams are not doing very well and they just don’t post the scores or they are just paying more attention on what they have and really not concerned with scores. Or they just find this a dull forum.

I guess we will just have to sit around the old stove this winter and wait until they say PLAY BALL.

[TheRoc3]

The Buckeye Elite 03 (11/12U) team just finished up playing Sunday friendlies in Waverly. We played four Sundays and came out with a 6-2 record. We had two other tournaments scheduled for this fall, but one was cancelled due to low turnout and the other cancelled due to weather. We are planning on playing in another tournament on October 25th-26th. We have a few girls playing soccer right now and a couple 12 year old players that we picked up this year that play junior high volleyball. So we have scheduled around those players schedules as well, which has limited our tournament schedule. But as a team we expected and planned for that to happen with the personnel we have playing for us. We have been practicing as a team once through the week and when not playing on Sunday we have practiced on the weekend (minus an off weekend here and there). We also run a strength and conditioning program through the off-season for girls that can attend. We are moving up into the 12u division and being a predominately 11u team we know there will be some growing pains along the way. But, we are extremely excited about the level of commitment with the players (and parents) we do have and we are looking to keep a core group together for years to come. DTLT2WIN Coach Perry.

[Noquit]

My 14 year old daughter is a travel softball pitcher. She played for a team in Waverly last year. The team didn't perform well so she wanted to get on a more competitive team. When we looked I saw very few options locally. Gene Collins has a pretty good USSSA Pride team but they are 13u. The Crush, from what I hear, are down. For some reason I didn't realize Buckeye Elite had a team for her age group until it was too late. So she joined Ohio Glory out of Lancaster. That leaves us driving close to 1.5 hours to go to practice. It's a good team and she loves it. They 1st and 2nd in the 2 tournaments they've played in. However, I would've much preferred to stay local.

[chsballn]

Ohio Glory is a very good organization ! Holbrook is one of the better coaches around. 1.5 hr. drive will be worth the trip with them. They play in mostly showcase tournaments. Did you play in the Athens Tournament a few weeks ago ? I know Glory had 3 teams there 12U, 14U & 16U. I believe the 00 team finished 2nd in the 14U if I remember correctly. Is your daughter playing High School this coming spring ?

[Noquit]

Ohio Glory is a very good organization ! Holbrook is one of the better coaches around. 1.5 hr. drive will be worth the trip with them. They play in mostly showcase tournaments. Did you play in the Athens Tournament a few weeks ago ? I know Glory had 3 teams there 12U, 14U & 16U. I believe the 00 team finished 2nd in the 14U if I remember correctly. Is your daughter playing High School this coming spring ?

Hi...yes, we were at Athens. Glory 14U lost in the championship game to a team they beat earlier in the day. They won the Lancaster "Pitch for a Cure" last weekend. I'm not sure if she will play High School. I tell her she needs to. She probably will. She really likes Holbrook and the girls on the Glory team. The drive hasn't bothered us too much yet.

[chsballn]

Ohio Glory is a very good organization ! Holbrook is one of the better coaches around. 1.5 hr. drive will be worth the trip with them. They play in mostly showcase tournaments. Did you play in the Athens Tournament a few weeks ago ? I know Glory had 3 teams there 12U, 14U & 16U. I believe the 00 team finished 2nd in the 14U if I remember correctly. Is your daughter playing High School this coming spring ?

Hi...yes, we were at Athens. Glory 14U lost in the championship game to a team they beat earlier in the day. They won the Lancaster "Pitch for a Cure" last weekend. I'm not sure if she will play High School. I tell her she needs to. She probably will. She really likes Holbrook and the girls on the Glory team. The drive hasn't bothered us too much yet.

I was there watching a couple of the 16U games, didn't get a chance to watch any 14U. Athens won the 16U division.

Good Luck with travel ball and high school if your daughter goes out for it. Pitching is hard to come by these days, with so many back to back game days in high school you need a few good pitchers.

[qbmangler8]

Heard Waverly had a pitcher commiting to bandits .Not sure what age group, or what travel team she play's for

[ManitouDan]

beverly bandits ?

[qbmangler8]

Yes. Parents were discussing it at Jr high volleyball game. Could be younger age group. 13u or14u .think they commit in January for following year.

[ManitouDan]

interesting , waverly had a solid Jr high pitcher last season but I think they finished no better than middle of the pack in the Jr high league .

[dawg catcher]

Beverly Bandits or Ohio Bandits? Checked Beverly Bandits site and didn't see anyone from Waverly or that area on the roster. Hope there is that quality of kid coming up because that is always good for our area.

[qbmangler8]

Not sure on which bandits team. I think it's gonna be for following year I heard they commit in January where most do in August.Not really sure if she played jr high last year. Yes it would be nice to have girls out of this region to get to play at that level. Alot of talented players in the area that get overlooked

[Gopher]

There are a lot of talented players in SEO, it just depends on what THEIR goals are, not Mom and Dad's. That's why you have so many choices at the level of play. You can play Rec. level for $40-50.00 all the way up to Bandits level at $2000.00 + a summer or anywhere in between. But you have to be smart with your money. If your kid does not want to play at the collegiate level, why waste 2 grand plus expenses a summer?