Fort Myers

missing players

Tyler is supposedly the best left handed rising junior in the state and has verbally committed to ECU so he is taking the fall off and Goodwin is a star football player on the 3rd? ranked team in the state the Rocky Mt Gryphons.

 

Wins are wins, as I said, it's a good thing for these guys to get to play against good competition from around the country, but surely you realize that it is a gimmick. There are quite a few events that tout themselves as national championships, which is why there are 5 to 10 or so "national champions" in any one year. I wish they'd just call it what it is, which is a showcase tournament for some of the top teams in the country. It just feels fishy when they try to tack on the extra prestige.

 

Last Summer

the DB 07's finished 2nd and lost in the championship game to the All American Prospects at East Cobb. This same group finished in 3rd place at the Jupiter event. Now the DB 17's finish in 2nd place at the WWBA Underclass Nationals. The SC Panthers finished in 2nd place and lost in the championship game this summer at the WWBA 18u Nationals. Outstanding showings by the NC teams.

Later this month the DB's SCP's On Deck O's Hurricanes and maybe a couple of more NC teams will take the trip to Jupiter and give it another shot. Good luck to all the teams.

 

Pls feel free to share the 5 to 10 other tournaments with us as I'm sure everyone would be interested in specifics rather than generalizations.

 

Collin, I can't help you now. You're on your own on this one.

Many tourneys do call themselves Nat'l Champion events. Just not sure the other events get the concentration of talent that Ft. Myers does.

 

Showcase Teams and Team Players

I'm almost afraid to type this out of fear of the negative post that might ensue but I going out on a limb anyway because I feel this needs to be said about the Dirtbags team that was in Florida this past weekend.

Several times on this board I've read many discussions about showcase teams and their "individualistic players"..... I was in Florida this past weekend with the Dirtbags and I can assure you that this team had no individuals. They won as a team and they lost as a team. EBDEAN is who really pointed the commitment out to me. As the games went later yesterday, we had several parents on the phone trying to change flight times and or make other arrangements to get back to North Carolina. Some of those parents had kids who had pitched earlier in the day or on Sunday and knew all along it was highly unlikely they would touch the field again. Yet, they felt they were enough a part of the team, they wanted to stay and be part of whatever happened. Even as we got down in the final game, the bench continued to be an tenth player for us. Some of the parents were able to make changes in flights at a significant expense and others ended up having to throw the plane tickets away and rent cars/vans to drive home last night. But when the final out was made, we had the 18 kids who started with us standing shoulder to shoulder for their team picture.

http://www.thedirtbags.com/wwba_uc_hotel_07.htm

To summarize, there are TRUE TEAMS out there in showcase just as there are in legion, AAU, USSSA, high school, etc...

 

That's good to hear. I'm seeing the same thing in showcase and also with my son's team. You can see the commitment. It's more than I thought it would be and more than I had been led to believe. It's been fun.

Congrats on a great weekend. I heard good things about your son. The Ragsdale community has been asking about him and is proud of him. Ragsdale needs your son. He helps our chances.

 

Congratulations again as its a great accomplishment! The only thing I think you'll hear is from those who have seen on older showcase teams players not show up after they have their 'ship. These guys are still too young for that although a couple have already signed.

 

OK Collin,
I'm trying to decide what to do with you. I know our regular posters are waiting on pins and needles to see what your sentence shall be. First of all I am going to refrain from calling you names. I want to make it perfectly clear that I will not refer to you as a dunderhead, bonehead or baffoon.

Now then, please listen carefully. The World Wood Bat Assoc. (WWBA) in conjunction with Perfect Game IS IT! There are not 10 other showcase companies out there that can lay claim to being the premier event(s) in the country! It can't be stated any plainer than that!

Those respectable groups that offer more regional and/or local events are not likely to make comparisons to the BIG DADDY (WWBA). I think the request that you SPECIFY which National Championship events you are referring to is very appropriate. Which ones are they?

Stop what appears to be jealousy and believe the 300+ scouts that make the WWBA/Perfect Game events a "must attend" do it for a reason. Are they missing a few players from here and there (and Greenville).......maybe. But given their budget and time constraints Ft. Myers is where you will find them!

I hope you will be enlighted by this post. As I tell One Putt and D'Backs all the time, I'm here to serve!

 

Make the trip

Collin....make the trip to Jupiter then see if you have the same opinion.

As aguyyouknow said....there may be a player or two left out, but pound for pound you will find the top talent in Jupiter from across the country. There is no way to describe the number of scouts there and the atmosphere until you experience it yourself.