TB teams to watch this summer

Diamond Crushers

Man what a team.... This is a first year 14U team and are doing so well. They really need to thank the score keeper from the tournament in Huntersville for the mistake with the wrong last out. Way to go TS

 

16U Wildcats

No question that the east is very short on talent (probably subject for discussion on another thread at some point) but Jeff McPhail has put together an excellent group players.

 

No doubt about that group!! Some of my favorite players are on that team!

But don't overlook some of the other teams from the east!

By the way, what's your definition of east? Anything east of Winston-Salem maybe?

 

Jeff McPhail and Mack Page are two of the best coaches in not just the east but the entire state of NC. They just go out and coach because they enjoy the game of softball and are both class acts. They always have fielded top notch teams who will not give you an easy game and will always show great sportsmanship.

 

Agree!!!

Jeff and Mack are great guys, tough competitors and I'm proud to call them my friends!

 

A Little Clarification

I just want to clarify something here regarding how many college players the Cardinals brought back the summer we won the 18U ASA Nationals. It wasn't anything close to the comment that was made "Ray Chandler would bring back a whole starting lineup of college players". The truth is, we only had ONE player on that team who had just completed her freshman year in college. All the other player were either going to college as freshmen that fall or were still in high school.

The ASA rules do allow for teams to bring college players in just as long as they are of eligible age. But the comment made here was very misinformed. Below is a listing of our roster from that summer. Plus, I don't see how any team could justify bring in a "starting line up" of college players for 1 or 2 tournaments resulting in the players who had been sweating it out all summer being pushed to the bench.

I would also add another great accomplishment of that summer was carrying 18 players on the roster that and working out the playing time. The playing time was always fair, not necessarily equal, as it should be. But as you can see all the young ladies were given plenty of opportunities to be seen by college coaches and won a National Championship as well!

Carolina Cardinals 2006 ASA National Championship Roster

Gina Allen - entered UNCC as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the 2006
National Championship.

Brythe Blankenship - entered Furman as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the
2006 National Championship.

Jessica Boni - was a JUNIOR in HIGH SCHOOL the year AFTER the Cardinals won the
2006 National Championship. Now playing at Emory.

Chasity Covington - was a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL the year AFTER the Cardinals won
the 2006 National Championship. Now playing at UNCG
.
Destiny Covington - entered Va. Tech as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the
2006 National Championship.

Jenna Eatmon - was a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL the year AFTER the Cardinals won the
2006 National Championship. Now playing at Liberty University.

Krystal Hawkins - entered NC State as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the
2006 National Championship.

Jessica McFadden - was a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL the year AFTER the Cardinals won
the 2006 National Championship.

Brittany McKinney - was a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL the year AFTER the Cardinals won
the 2006 National Championship. Now playing at UNC

Stephanie Murad - entered UNC as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the 2006
National Championship.

Anna Roberts - entered UNC as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the 2006
National Championship.

Brittany Robinson - was a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL the year after the Cardinals won
the 2006 National Championship. Now playing at UNC.

Ellen Scott - entered Princeton as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the 2006
National Championship.

Faith Sutton - Was a Senior in high school AFTER the Cardinals won the 2006
National Championship. Went to UNC, now at ECU.

Eryn Teague - entered Villanova as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the 2006
National Championship.

Amber Walker - entered Roanoke College as a freshman AFTER the Cardinals won the
2006 National Championship. Now at Va Tech.

Whitney Williams - was a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL the year after the Cardinals won
the 2006 National Championship. Now playing at UNC Charlotte.

We picked up only Mendy McKenzie for the 2006 National Tournament. Mendy was
the ONLY Cardinals player at the 2006 National Tournament who had played a year
in college.

 

Carolina Curve Girls

Congrats to all the players on the Carolina Curve, this team will make an impact on N.C. softball this year !!

All – Conference
Lindsey
Mellena
Casey
Jessica
Kendall
Katie
Kelsey

All-District
Lindsey
Kayla
Casey
Rebekah
Katie

All-State
Katie

State Games Participate
Rebekah

 

Just Curious how many came back and played in 2007 in the NC States ????

 

From the entire 06 roster, we had 7 players who returned in 07, (Boni, C.Covington, Eatmon, McKinney, Robinson, Sutton, and Williams) Boni was a rising hs senior and the others had just finished their HS senior season. Murad and Roberts played the state tournament and had played their freshman year at UNC.

The remainder of the roster was made up of all new players who were still in high school. We won the State and finished 5th (I think) in the 07 Nationals in College Station TX.

I would also like to add in the 07 Nationals several NC teams did extremely well with very young teams. The Blues, Cobras and Triangle Lightning all finished in the top 15 out of more than 120 teams from across the nation.

 

I would like to add that bringing "back" college players is not that unusual and is in fact quite common among national type organizations. The Shamrocks for one do this every year. This is really a red herring non issue IMO. These kids arent playing ahead of kids in showcase scenarios.

There needs to to be the perception of excellence among coaches for you organization. Such a perception only helps those kids who are on the roster.

You can't compete with teams at nationals or at Gold level at OKC if you are playing bracket games against teams with kids from UCLA, AZ etc.

As has been stated the Cardinals had only one college player. it wouldnt have mattered if they had nine... that win did more for softball in NC than anything had up to that point. It was huge for the perception of FP in our state nationally.