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bmoser
1633 Posts |
 Posted - 02/12/2010 : 20:02:35
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Anyone following what's going on down in the Sunshine State?
Tomorrow morning, MBA Pride plays the Pembroke Lakes Bulldogs in a clash of titans.
Tamiami Blaze has already beaten the West Pines Cobras and South Florida Sandlot. Take a look who these teams have beaten so far this season to put those 2 W's into perspective.
Let's watch how the 11u Team USA Boltz do in the Tampa tourney vs the 12U's this weekend. Should give us a peak into the Bandits next few weeks to come. Very similar comparison.
There are a lot of Elite 11U teams in Florida. Georgia has maybe 3, and hopefully more will emerge this season, but Florida has:
MBA Pride, Tamiami Blaze, South Florida Sandlot, West Pines Cobras, Team USA Boltz, Pembroke Lakes Bulldogs, and Bay Bombers.
PaPa, I know you'll get your back up on this one, but I don't see Georgia going 6 deep with Elite teams this season.
Maybe 10BB can chime in on this.
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Edited by - bmoser on 02/12/2010 20:55:20 |
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10 BB
264 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2010 : 22:23:05
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moser; truth is, out of all the teams you listed as elite I only count 3 of them as being that. I'll explain
I feel like MBA is an elite team. They have some good pitching, good defense and some very heavy bats. Not to mention coached by one of the best coaches I've ever seen (a D1 coach).
I feel like Pembroke Lake is an elite team. They have some great defense with some good bats and some above average pitching. Not to mention they are coached by ex Florida Marlin pitcher Alex Fernandez.
Even though the Bandits have walked away victorious in each encounter we've had I do feel as if the Bombers are an elite team. We have some good sticks, good defense and what I think to be one of the best pitchers in youth baseball. The Bombers head coach was drafted to the Red Sox organization but never pursued it.
Now I wouldn't want any of you to think that these other teams aren't good because they are and have even beaten some of these elite teams. I am basing what I think on what I've seen and have not seen the Cobras or the Blaze. The Boltz have a knock out pitcher that if put against you can beat almost any team (he is the pitcher that beat the Bandits in Atl. last year for the Glory) but they don't have a pitching staff to help him out. This is why I feel the Boltz fall short of this so called elite status.
The Tamiami Blaze may be alot like most teams from that area that think that there area has the best baseball in the country and tend to stay down there and play. You want see much of them playing teams from all over the country.
Hope this helps you out but truely Im just a dad with an opinion that could be completely wrong!
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Edited by - 10 BB on 02/13/2010 09:59:00 |
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baseballpapa
1520 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2010 : 22:24:08
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I agree with you fully on the Georgia teams and we have both talked a lot about how each of these States build their teams. Florida builds with more of a regional area and Georgia tends to stay more community built although Georgia is beginning to step out and pull their talent from a wider range. If we don't start looking to a larger area we will never catch up.
I disagree that Florida has 6 as some that you mentioned in my mind are not any better than the Georgia majors. Some of the teams you mentioned can be handled by many of the Georgia teams on any given game although I agree over the long haul Florida would probably pull away.
Bandits have been very fortunate in the State of Florida and always look forward to playing them as in my opinion if you can win there you can win anywhere in the United States. A lot has been said about which State is the toughest and of all that the States that the Bandits have played in the 11U division Florida would win my vote hands down. |
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baseballpapa
1520 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2010 : 21:25:46
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I think something that all 3 of us has failed to mention is what we feel makes an elite team elite.
10bb mentions pitching, defense, and hitting in his assessment of what he thinks might be elite teams. Moser just mentioned names and did not mention any criteria.
I think that I agree with 10bb that there are a lot of really good teams that can beat even the elite teams in any given game and that leads in to what I believe separates the elite team from the really good major team. That separation comes from depth and depth is what takes the really good major team into the elite world. Some of the Florida teams mentioned by Moser lack depth which means that they can beat anybody with their best pitcher going but then they might not have anything left for the next challenge. If there is any one thing that helps a team make the jump from major to elite it is depth. |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2010 : 08:15:48
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Elite teams beat just about every other team, except on occasion other Elite teams, and can play up and win too. You'll find them on page 1 of USSSA's National power rankings for the Major class(so long as they've played 5+ in-class USSSA games) A National power rating of 1000 is a decent guideline too.
Elite teams are roughly the top 10% of the Major class. They make the final 4 in S-NIT's and are often seen at the Elite 32. They win the State Championships for multiple tourney promoting orgs. They are usually Nationally recognized. Most achieve this level year after year.
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2010 : 08:28:21
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10BB
11U Team USA Boltz beat FLA's #7 rated 12u Major team (Tampa Venom) yesterday. They must have used their knock out pitcher. Impressive.
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10 BB
264 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2010 : 09:24:38
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papa; with that said thank goodness we are eight pitchers deep. We have found ourselves in a bad situation by starting one of the pitchers down around our number 6 or 7 spot and falling behind early with the inability of catching up. I think the best cure for this is scouting and thats why I mention the coaches in my previous post. Scouting is one of the biggest tools in a teams arsenal and thats not just limited to the field at any given time, I feel that it must be done away from the field also. I'll tell you what I mean
My son played with MBA Pride at the Fall Nationals in St Augustine this year and they faced a team called Mizuno Edge. This team had scouted MBA and knew that they could hit just about any of there top pitchers that threw the gas but when it came to the slow stuff the Pride couldn't set back with their aggressive bats. The Edge pitched a kid that may have hit 45mph with his fastball and the ending score was 4 to 2. MBA was the much better team in all aspects of the game but because of scouting and knowing there faults the Edge almost pulled off the upset.
The bottom line to me is there are many factors that go into the makeup of an "ELITE" team. One important characteristic of such a team is "pitching depth" as you stated but defense, offense and a good coaching/scouting staff play into the success of a team or the elevation of this so called "ELITE" status |
Edited by - 10 BB on 02/14/2010 14:20:09 |
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bturner
231 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2010 : 19:40:39
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It looks like the Venom came back and got the them 10-2 in bracket play today.quote:
Originally posted by bmoser
10BB
11U Team USA Boltz beat FLA's #7 rated 12u Major team (Tampa Venom) yesterday. They must have used their knock out pitcher. Impressive.
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baseballpapa
1520 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2010 : 08:39:15
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| Does anyone have links to the Florida tournaments. Papa would like to scout the results. Since the Super NIT in Orange Beach was cancelled would it be possible to get in when they reschedule or is the schedule locked in with the teams originally entered. |
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bturner
231 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2010 : 09:48:53
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Papa
I just went through the USSSA of ga site and went to Fl under tournaments.quote:
Originally posted by baseballpapa
Does anyone have links to the Florida tournaments. Papa would like to scout the results. Since the Super NIT in Orange Beach was cancelled would it be possible to get in when they reschedule or is the schedule locked in with the teams originally entered.
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10 BB
264 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2010 : 10:05:39
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| Papa; Teams can get in the rescheduled tournament, as a matter of fact the 11u bracket has new teams already signed up. So bring those Bandits south, the date is April 9th and we would love to have you in this one. |
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Frydaddy
80 Posts |
Posted - 02/15/2010 : 10:12:32
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quote:
Originally posted by baseballpapa
Does anyone have links to the Florida tournaments. Papa would like to scout the results. Since the Super NIT in Orange Beach was cancelled would it be possible to get in when they reschedule or is the schedule locked in with the teams originally entered.
I would say they will be happy to take any of your money in April...
Here is the link...
Go to Florida South 12Major or 11Major
http://www.gausssabaseball.com/sa.cfm?TPID=115
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bulldogbaseball100
59 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2010 : 13:34:36
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| Looks like MBA Pride dominated - Judging by team photo on Tournament web-site it looks like they have a lot of big, athletic kids. It will be fun to see them play the Ga elite teams later in the season. |
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baseballpapa
1520 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2010 : 09:31:06
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| Papa has played or least seen almost every player of this MBA Pride team and they are scary. The Bandits look forward to playing them but we probably wish that we would play them later versus sooner as we are not near ready and they appear to be close to their peak. From what I have read they are playing very well. If the past is a window into the future then just about the time the Georgia teams start to peak, some of the Florida teams will be experiencing a burn out or let down. The Florida teams are the toughest in the country and filled with athletes and a lot depends on where you are with your game and where they are with their game when you meet up with them. |
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bmoser
1633 Posts |
Posted - 02/17/2010 : 15:20:42
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I'd like to see Team USA Boltz (Tampa based team) join them in the ATL S-NIT. Tampa isn't that bad a drive to our Southern burbs. I cant see any of the Miami teams making the trip.
quote:
Originally posted by bulldogbaseball100
Looks like MBA Pride dominated - Judging by team photo on Tournament web-site it looks like they have a lot of big, athletic kids. It will be fun to see them play the Ga elite teams later in the season.
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