Select Baseball

[jer_james]

it will be Saturday and Sunday if the rain holds off.

the Edge play at 230 and 4 on Saturday...

http://www.nations-baseball.com/gameSchedule/11606/118953

the 10u teams we played last weekend pitched pretty well I thought, but I know it would be different if one of our 8u kids had to pitch. even at the 10u level there were plenty of wild pitches though, a good catcher can be a game changer.

Luckily our league doesn't do the drop 3, and can only steal to 3rd.

That Catcher is still huge for us.

You think the little guy will get more kid pitch action going?

[TXJIM]

There seems to be a trend in other sports where high school athletes with next level potential are skipping high school ball to play club ball for what they consider higher profile club teams with better exposure and resources. This has been going on in Soccer, volllyball, tennis and other sports for years. It's a trend that seems to be spreading into baseball, starting with pitchers who want to avoid the wear and tear of carrying a highschool team for 3 or 4 seasons that won't impact that pitcher's future prospect in any positive way. Anyone else seeing this trend grow?

[gofish24]

8U select here and playiing in plano this weekend.

As jshouse said the edge is an amazing team to watch. i have a buddy who coaches a local select team that they have gotten several players from. I dont like that part of it, but understand thats how it works.

[jshouse]

Luckily our league doesn't do the drop 3, and can only steal to 3rd.

That Catcher is still huge for us.

You think the little guy will get more kid pitch action going?

I like those rules. and I was surprised at the inability of the catchers we saw to throw the ball, didn't see one in 4 games that could throw it to 2nd on a line.

yeah, I know the coach of the 9u team we played with last weekend and he has a couple of injured players right now so I think we may be helping them out some more around our 8u schedule. and I assume our 8u coach will start entering some 9u tournaments in the next couple of months to get our feet wet.

[jshouse]

8U select here and playiing in plano this weekend.

As jshouse said the edge is an amazing team to watch. i have a buddy who coaches a local select team that they have gotten several players from. I dont like that part of it, but understand thats how it works.

it sounds funny heaping praise like that on a 8u team but its deserved lol, they never have a blow up inning on defense and every kid hits the ball hard. I don't know what the secret is but those coaches have those boys locked in every game.

[jer_james]

it sounds funny heaping praise like that on a 8u team but its deserved lol, they never have a blow up inning on defense and every kid hits the ball hard. I don't know what the secret is but those coaches have those boys locked in every game.

Are they juicing ? lol

[ArcheryAddict]

Select Ball is a VERY EXPENSIVE deal, depending on what you actually attend.

Our son has done it since he was 9. Turns 16 this July. He is in HS Baseball right now, then a Summer Showcase Team that plays a few Perfect Game events and also Texas College Showcases where there are actually college scouts attending, then also plays for Team Maxbat (wood bat manufacturer up around IL somewhere) on their national team.

So when school is out, we will go to around 5 TX Colleges, the Perfect Game in GA, and then Maxbat events as follows: Oct-IL (May skip this one), Thanksgiving Weekend in Vegas, Dec-one event in Houston and one in Scottsdale, AZ, Jan-New Mexico.

And none of this counts invitation only events he gets offers from or any of the private lessons.

Between baseball, dog boarding, travel expenses, and of course hunting, it costs a fortune. BUT, if it gets him a scholarship, it will still save us more than we are spending on this stuff.

Don't take this the wrong way, he is not the next Derek Jeter or whatever, but he can hold his own and then some. Like all athletes, there are still things he needs to work on to continue to improve.

We jokingly call him our 401K plan.

Overall it is expensive for what we specifically are doing, but he loves it and so far we can swing it. So until something happens to where he does not want to pursue any longer (which I would probably have mixed emotions about) we will continue.

You just have to be careful with what you allow your sons (or daughters) to attend. Some are just money grabs. The ones we attend are the ones we can verify that there are going to be college scouts in attendance.

Best of luck to all of your kids and their chosen sport(s).

[jshouse]

Are they juicing ? lol

man, that spitfire team we played a few weeks ago may have been lol, they hit 4 over the fence on us and from what I heard didn't hit less than 3 in any game that weekend. their roster had a kid that played 9u majors and 10uAAA, another 9u majors player and several others on 9uAAA teams. that organization has tons of teams and is known for its, uh, recruiting

the edge didn't play that weekend but it would've been fun to watch.

[jshouse]

There seems to be a trend in other sports where high school athletes with next level potential are skipping high school ball to play club ball for what they consider higher profile club teams with better exposure and resources. This has been going on in Soccer, volllyball, tennis and other sports for years. It's a trend that seems to be spreading into baseball, starting with pitchers who want to avoid the wear and tear of carrying a highschool team for 3 or 4 seasons that won't impact that pitcher's future prospect in any positive way. Anyone else seeing this trend grow?

Ive just started following our HS team the last few years so I am not sure what all the boys do during the off season, id hate to see that happen though.

[ArcheryAddict]

There seems to be a trend in other sports where high school athletes with next level potential are skipping high school ball to play club ball for what they consider higher profile club teams with better exposure and resources. This has been going on in Soccer, volllyball, tennis and other sports for years. It's a trend that seems to be spreading into baseball, starting with pitchers who want to avoid the wear and tear of carrying a highschool team for 3 or 4 seasons that won't impact that pitcher's future prospect in any positive way. Anyone else seeing this trend grow?

Yes sir. I just read something about it on some sports page last week with football. There were examples of kids leaving TEXAS (WTHeck) to go play for some team in Florida. I mean FL? They don't know anything about Friday Night Lights.

[STONE]

ArcheryAddict you must be referring to the IMG Academy, google it and check it out.. It's crazy.

[gofish24]

man, that spitfire team we played a few weeks ago may have been lol, they hit 4 over the fence on us and from what I heard didn't hit less than 3 in any game that weekend. their roster had a kid that played 9u majors and 10uAAA, another 9u majors player and several others on 9uAAA teams. that organization has tons of teams and is known for its, uh, recruiting

the edge didn't play that weekend but it would've been fun to watch.

Spitfire used to be or be part of the Bombers. They recruit and have some solid kids playing. I have an employee and friend who have boys on the team and neither need a lot of coaching, they are natural athletes.

[ArcheryAddict]

ArcheryAddict you must be referring to the IMG Academy, google it and check it out.. It's crazy.

That sounds like it, not sure. Haven't looked it up yet though.

[gingib]

Sad the way kids sports is nowadays!!

I played baseball for 20 years of my life and its a shame to be honest.

$$$$$$$$$$ and that's the #1 problem

We are ranking 7-12 year old teams....come on man

[Lefty5]

Just keep it up and he won't see his junior year of college ball at the rate of nonstop playing. Look at the pros they take time off because the body parts do wear out and yes surgery can fix them but not back to its original state I know I was young and dumb and thought I could play forever but guess what my body played out.. Young sought after left handed picther with a future ahead of me but ... You guessed it ... Blew out a shoulder and yep it was non repairable junior year in college. Do I regret it HELL YES that's my thoughts on select baseball and has been for the 40 yrs just ask my son