The Bigtrain's a rollin'

what impressed me the most when i saw the slammers play 14 at willoughby last year and 18 at north ridgeville last weekend is how aggressive they are and how hard they play and how hard they hit the ball for little kids -- they run into some outs, but create a lot of runs with hard-hit balls and daring baserunning

I think you can find families and girls who could commit to a program ( not Many) but finding the coach to lead them is probably the hardest. The Slammers families may commit alot of time and money but will probably reap the rewards. BigTrain could probably make a decent buck training many girls but has dedicated this time of his life to these girls. Like him or not, Incredible respect deserved from all.

Congrats to an amazing group of players & coaches. Good luck in OKC!!!

They should have lost in the semi's to the team from PA, the PA 16 team was up 4-0 in the sixth. PA's pitcher became a little tired pitching her second game on the day, she hit two battters, and eventually in the same inning, their was a third out fly ball, mis played by the right fielder. At least four of the runs by the Slammers where unearned. The tieing run, should have been out going to third, and going to home, but both balls where dropped.

I will give them credit, they are a nice team, but should have definitely lost that game. Also, they where aggressive when they needed to be. Personally, I didn't care for their head coaches antics at third base. Their is a difference between being aggressive and being an idiot, he needs to remember he's coaching 13 year olds, not 18 year olds.

Best of luck to all the teams in the tournment, in the future. It was a very competitive weekend.

joedirt said:

They should have lost in the semi's to the team from PA, the PA 16 team was up 4-0 in the sixth. ? PA's pitcher became a little tired pitching her second game on the day, she hit two battters, and eventually in the same inning, their was a third out fly ball, mis played by the right fielder. ? At least four of the runs by the Slammers where unearned. ? The tieing run, should have been out going to third, and going to home, but both balls where dropped. ?

I will give them credit, they are a nice team, but should have definitely lost that game. ? Also, they where aggressive when they needed to be. ?Personally, I didn't care for their head coaches antics at third base. ?Their is a difference between being aggressive and being an idiot, he needs to remember he's coaching 13 year olds, not 18 year olds. ? ?

Best of luck to all the teams in the tournment, in the future. ?It was a very competitive weekend.

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Dirt
Could of, should of, would of. The fact of the matter is they beat the team hands down the day before and yes they came from behind to beat them on Sunday when it mattered. As far as the coach, the Slammers record speaks volumes.

Joedirt, that would probably be big train u are talking about at 3rd. Too much bragging coming out of him in the past on here. I don't miss it.

my love/hate relationship with "the Train" is currently on love ---absence makes the heart grow fonder . :-* But after a few threads of "my ________ is the best thing ever and far better than your ________" it just gets old.

I sure do appreciate the dedication and efforts of the guy bringing recognition to our state. Hard works always pays off. I would love for my DD to be able to compete against the Slammers. MD

Humility wasn't/isn't bigtrain's strong point, but he has a very good method of training. It will be interesting to see how many of the girls make it all the way through. Not for everyone, but for the right player it's probably the best team to be on in these parts.

And, Dan, maybe my daughter could compete against them - she plays 18U

Winning is great ... but at what cost? I wonder how many of these girls will be around in a year or two? Big Train is the quickest route to burn out.
Caveat ...... Big Train's way or No Way!!!!!

I was contacted last year by Bill Lilly about an early season scrimmage vs the Slammers. At the time, I did not have enough players released from High School (Thank god...LOL) so there was no scrimmage but we did chat for a while and I have to say he seems to have a Very, Very dedicated bunch of parents. I was told they would drive anywhere for a game against anybody anytime even with short notice.

Gotta kinda give it to him...... if for nothing else...... for getting a bunch of parents like that. GO SLAMMERS !!
jmho
:-?

Train kept a rollin'....... all night long.....

it's not travel ball, it's Billy Ball.....

I am sure he is reading this and smiling to himself. He doesn't have to brag him and his team up, we will just do it for him.... ;D

There's two ways you can approach women's fastpitch softball. Strive for the best of the best - aka known as the "Bigtrain way", or get out of the kitchen and stick to recreational softball. Strong opinion? You bet. The approach Mr. Lilly is taking is the way club, or travel softball was originally intended. It's a kind of "Sh** or get off the pot" approach. Unfortunately, travel softball has become very diluted in recent years by teams calling themselves "travel teams", but consisting of parents and coaches unwilling (or unable) to put in the work.

Due to this mindset, a lot of summer tournaments have become nothing more than all-star recreational tournaments. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, because it gives girls a place to play. But wouldn't it be a LOT easier (and cheaper) just staying close to home playing community based recreational leagues the way it used to be?

I have never met Mr. Lilly (I'm not even sure I'm spelling his name right), but I respect what he is doing for girl's fastpitch softball in Ohio - nothing more, nothing less. You can take different approaches to teams on a pedestal. You can try to knock them off, you can just sit back and respect them, or you can let jealousy eat at you. Personally, I'd rather get busy getting better.

^^^^^^ preach on Brother --I'm with ya ! ^^^^

Daughter went to his tryout several years ago as an 11u. Before anything started we received a lecture in the stands about being there with the goal of getting a D1 scholarship, or you might be at the wrong field. Well, we were at the wrong field, daughter was not ready for that type of commitment to softball, loves & excels in several other sports more than softball (GASP!! ? ) - but she played for Laser Silver that year and the next and they accomplished a few things also - but it fit our lifestyle better. Still a VERY strong commitment to winning softball, and player/team development, but in a different formula which was more appropriate for us. It's gotta be the right fit.

Bigtrain has his formula, and whether you are Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh, you are not going to succeed at the highest levels unless you are surrounded with the right people with the right commitment and common goals. Having met many of the Slammers and their parents through competition, camps, hotels on the road, scrimmages, etc., I can also attest that you will never find a more all-inclusive group of players, parents, coaches - they all buy in and they get it done. Nice people - sometimes the aura and air gets a little clouded surrounding this team, but it is made up of high quality pieces & parts, and commitment to the proven systems.

Yeah, some of those kids may burn out, who knows. I doubt it, because they all seem to genuinely love the experience and ride that they are on. My dd played 8 years of soc-cer, including 3-4 at premier level, and considered the Internationals at one point. She abruptly quit a few years ago, and now is focused on Softball and Basketball, and Volleyball to a lesser degree - some say she burned out on soc-cer, I say she took too long to figure out it wasn't for her, lol, that was 8 years she could have invested in the sports (or non-athletic activities) that are more dear to her.

Bigtrain is doing that which he loves doing and is very good, ... with others who share his vision and goals. If nothing else, they are proving what you can do when you set goals and your mind to something. There are some smaller girls on that team who can pound the ball. If not for pitcher fatigue, the Slammers had a true shot at winning the ASA national championship last fall, hosted in California, with 30+ California teams there. A great accomplishment, considering they all live within 30-45 minutes of each other in a state where you can only play softball 7-8 months out of the year on a full field. Will be interesting to see how they do down the road.

seen them in action a few times. awesome team. Overall skills are absolutely a cut above the rest when you go from top to bottom. Seen better individual players on different teams but no team as talented top to bottom. Saw them lose at Boardman and they went and practiced right after on an open field. Thats commitment. If the girls and parents are happy with the level of commitment required theres nothing wrong with that. My dd would love being in an environment like that. Traveling all over the place to play softball with a bunch of girls totally commited to getting better and winning. And with their parents 100% behind it all. They just happened to find 11 or 12 or however many girls, and sets of parents, that think that same way. That in and of itself will get it done over time. Sure the guy is a great coach and mentor though. If he wasn't, they wouldn't be as successful as they have been. Can't argue with the formula. Sounds like he doesn't care what people think of him which is fine since all that matters is what his players/parents think of him since they'll be the ones whomay benefit from all his hard work. Plus, winning, to the extremes they do, brings peace with it usually. Not that I know from experience though. Winning to that degree. Our girls just lost their first game Sunday after 24 wins in a row and 4 tournaments(if you count a winter league tourney). Pales in comparison to what that team, and a few others over the years , have done.

Goofy note. We were at 12u in Boardman a few weeks back so we of course didn't get to play them since they were 14u. Did watch a couple of games. But I had some of our coaches watch him throw the wiffles to his girls in warmups. Told our coaches we need to figure out how to do that like he does it. Fast and dead accurate. Must have been throwing those for years to get that good at doing it.

krm0503 said:

Goofy note. ?We were at 12u in Boardman a few weeks back so we of course didn't get to play them since they were 14u. ?Did watch a couple of games. But I had some of our coaches watch him throw the wiffles to his girls in warmups. ?Told our coaches we need to figure out how to do that like he does it. ?Fast and dead accurate. ?Must have been throwing those for years to get that good at doing it.

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I have it on good authority that Bigtrain gets personal lessons from former Olympic gold medal winner and UCLA standout Amanda Freed! :

My team did get the opportunity to play the Slammers last year and it was a great experience. They did beat us 14-5 but to me it was not about winning or losing, it was about whether we could compete or not. I give credit where credit is do and Bill Lilly and his coaching staff deserve as much credit as possible. The families of these girls deserve it as well. As a whole, coaching, parents and players are all very kind. They were all talkative and nothing but nice when we played them. They have the right to be proud of there accomplishments and talk a little if they like, they can back it up. As Bill says, you must want to drink the kool-aid to get where they are at. I have a DD that does drink the kool-aid but unfortunately her parents cannot afford to get her to Bill as often as he requires his players to be there. I would love for her to have that oppotunity but it is out of my hands, as with many other families. Bill Lilly deserves nothing but respect, whether you like him or not, and I wish him, his staff and most importantly the girls a wonderful year of ball and hopefully a full ride to college. I wish the Slammer ball family the best - GOODLUCK this year.

Paul
Ohio Heat Fury 14u

I have traded e-mails and also phone calls to Bill. He is more than eager to spread his wisdom and experience. As most of you can attest to, this is not for everyone just on finding parents and kids with that sort of commitment. The ones with the right commitment will not be burned out. Any player leaving the slammers will leave because they lack the full commitment necessary to compete at the level that this team aspires. It does not make that player or family bad... just not the right fit.

Sammy, you are so true. ?SB, Girls getting burned out, what about the girls in Cal, Arizona, Texas? Some girls have it in their blood to be the best and some dont. Thats not a bad thing, just not for everyone. I tell my Girls ( and son) You have to leave it on the field. 110% Whatever you do in life 110%

anybody know where are the slammers this weekend?
i'm looking forward to seeing them back at willoughby at the end of june