? the need to travel around the country for tourneys

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punchout,

A few come to mind at the younger ages, that still have a chance to shine at the 16u-18u level, and beyond. No names out of respect. A few were extremely tough early, and a few maybe not but have the horsepower to get there potentially still (upside).

What do you think about Simpson at Miami, and Sito at CSU? Think either of them have a chance to take their teams and carry them strongly into post-season?

Not sure about Simpson, although VERY good. Sito is intriguing as athletic and competitive as she is .... not sure what either has around them in support though??

Good luck to the softball Bucks, from a passionate Alum!!
 
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Ohio has always had very good pitching at the 12u-16u ages. We have several dominate pitchers who played in the summer.
Chain, Leary, Baker, Maynard, PrunerSimpson etc. The list goes on. But only Chain in the last 10 years could have pitched on a top level team (she beat several top 10 teams in her career.
Location and movement wins games at the younger levels. Speed can also be a factor, as always.
My observations of Ohio pitching is this; There are definately more "better" pitchers than ever 5 years ago, but I do not see any higher numbers of "very good" pitchers than ohio has had in the last 10 years.
There is a good crop who just left high school. They are very good pitchers. Are they great pitchers like Osterman, Fernandez Hollowell,Finch? Not in my opinion, time will tell. I hope Ohio does have some super stars coming up. and evetually we will have at least one. I think what we see at younger ages is some girls who have matured early, and dominate, but for some reason they dont get to that next level.

Is there a difference in the way kids are treated out west when they get to a certain age to get to that next level? meaning workout routine, amount of workouts, more advanced pitching coach? I cant speak for pitching. What does the mid west have to do to get to that next level?...... just a bigger population? ship our kids that are serious out west or down south for the wnter months ( which by the way dad is all in favor of) If pitching is like hitting I think I know part of the problem.......... Coaching......... besides a very few, there are no elite hitting or pitching coaches and very few kids that can either afford to pay for or travel to them to get that knowledge. we have coaches that do a great job here in ohio, and our kids go to college but if theres a reason our kids arnt making it to the the top ( meaning top 20 D1 schools) colleges the problem lies in their training and that training comes from coaches. now before you bash my head against a rock and yell about how good ohio coaches are, im not saying anything negative about them, I just think if were missing something in ohio its the instruction, all the way around, offense defense and pitching, and the mind set that goes along with it
 
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I know it's all about pitching but what about hitting and D? Where do Ohio girls need to be as hitters to move to the next level?
500, 600 B.A.? Bomb every other game? Every other at bat?
Does a slappy have to have pin point control?
Do teams see enough top pitching in Ohio to get the cred as hitters?
 
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Spend some time and go to the Athletic site of the SEC and the Pac 10 and look at the bios of the kids that play at that level.......... every single one has a High School pedigree that is eye opening.. all state, all confrence, all district all everything. If our kids cant match the best of the western and southern states then Ohio girls will contuie to play for the most part mid major D1 at best ( Mac, Horizon) If you want a jump to the teams that play in the NCAA tournament every year, you had better be the best in your area, only 1 % of hs players go on to play college........ think about the % of kids that go on to play at the top 20 schools, about the same amount of kids that get a full ride. one half of one percent ..... we have a long way to go in this state to reach that level of play on a consistant basis.... now let the bashing begin lol

Tim
 
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theres a place for every kid, but not every place is for every kid

I have had two college coaches from D1 schools give me great stats and advice

One is every kid can play college ball just have to find the skill set that matches the programs need.

Next is there are UNDER 300 D1 schools and each only need about 3-4 kids per year, with all the kids playing you do the math.

And most importantly the school has to offer the field of study the player wants to spend the rest of thier life making a true living at after the ball games are over.
 
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All I have to says is what I said before. When you start to combine the best west coast kids, you get teams like UCLA, Arizona Stanford Cal etc.

UCLA has 11 CWS championships
Arizona 7 championships
Fresno St. Cal, Cal St Fullerton all have 0ne championship
Texas A&M has 3 from the eighties
Oklahoma has one and Washington has one
Michigan has one.
Arizona St. has one.


Of @ 28 championships, one has been east of the Mississippi by the best team in the Big Ten(UM) most years.

If you think our pitching is as good as theirs you have not been paying attention. Lisa Fernandez, Seldon, Finch,Abbott, Hollowell,Granger, Osterman(Texas), the list goes on and is impressive.
Sure we may have a few teams who can beat some west coast teams, but their best teams , generally speaking, are better than our teams. History of National championships at EVERY level proves my point.
I guess you did the research every girl on the rosters of those teams came from out west. Not one single girl from the midwest not one. You people with big wallets ought to just move out there. The opportunity is so much better. I guarantee that fastpitch tourneys around here will go just fine. Wonder why teams from out that way don't take the time to travel out here and see how they stand on turf. I am not trying to get a personal thing started with any one but the way you people down these girls around here is sad and that is just what you are doing.
 
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I guess you did the research every girl on the rosters of those teams came from out west. Not one single girl from the midwest not one. You people with big wallets ought to just move out there. The opportunity is so much better. I guarantee that fastpitch tourneys around here will go just fine. Wonder why teams from out that way don't take the time to travel out here and see how they stand on turf. I am not trying to get a personal thing started with any one but the way you people down these girls around here is sad and that is just what you are doing.
I know reality is tough for some people to face. But nothing changes if people keep believing in a fantacy.
The midwest kids are getting better, but the west coast has a huge head start on us. There ARE a few Ohio kids who can compete at the high levels, but normally not right out of high school.
Some of us here have the experience to back up our opinions. One of my examples is from OSU. I see some of Ohio`s finest players go thru there, only to sit behind west coast kids who can already hit at the college level as freshmen. No doubt the Ohio kids do catch up, but it is obvious just how advanced the kids are out west coming out of high school.
 
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Wonder why teams from out that way don't take the time to travel out here and see how they stand on turf.

They DO take the time in the case of open ASA/USA Nationals qualifiers. We see West coast teams who haven't yet qualified come out. The last such event I personally saw, JoeA's then-16U team prevailed. But these were West coast teams that were a notch below the best of the best out there. That's why they were looking for other places to qualify.

Look, I'd be the last one to gratuitously denigrate our Ohio players. I LOVE our players and will go above and beyond to see them be successful. But I also have to be realistic. The original question raised by this thread is whether a player who has the money needs to join a national travel team to attain that player's peak performance and I still say the answer is yes.
 
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punchout,

A few come to mind at the younger ages, that still have a chance to shine at the 16u-18u level, and beyond. No names out of respect. A few were extremely tough early, and a few maybe not but have the horsepower to get there potentially still (upside).

What do you think about Simpson at Miami, and Sito at CSU? Think either of them have a chance to take their teams and carry them strongly into post-season?

Not sure about Simpson, although VERY good. Sito is intriguing as athletic and competitive as she is .... not sure what either has around them in support though??

Good luck to the softball Bucks, from a passionate Alum!!

I think Simpson and Sito are VERY good pitchers Are they in the same catagory as the Finches, and Ostermans?. I don`t think so(not many are) Personally I think both of them are playing in conferences below their talent level. The MAC plays good softball with its top teams. The horizon League is somewhat below the MAC. I think either kid could have played at least in the Big Ten. I am sure they have their reasons for attending the schools they did. Life is not all about softball, being happy and getting the education of your choice needs to be first. Some kids find both at very competitive sports schools, and others are more comfortable getting their education at smaller schools.
You are right about the athletes surrounding pitchers. A pitcher can only hide a teams weaknesses for so long. Both pitchers instantly gave their teams a better chance at being successful.I know Simpson has another really good pitcher to help her from the Columbus area.
Having a kid who pitched in the Big Ten, I know the difference between a very good pitcher and a great pitcher. My kid was very good in summer and high school as a player. She was not as good as the best pitchers in the Big Ten (All but one was from the west coast) She got hurt before getting to her potential as a pitcher (although she did shut down a few top ten teams)but hitting wise she caught up to the west coast kids as she moved to center field.
I have seen great hitters like Vanderink come to Ohio St, not really ready for college pitching. But she and other Ohio girls developed to be excellent hitters. Vanderink becoming an All American is case in point.
Katie Chain is one of the best pitchers to come out of Ohio. She set all the Ohio St pitching records. Those records have since been broken by, you guessed it, two west coast kids (Juarez and Reeder) Juarez should have been an All american and Reeder did become an All american.
I have no doubt if our Ohio kids had the same advantages as the west coast kids with the proper training, the great competition to play against constantly, and the weather to play in year round, they would be more ready come their freshman year in college.
 
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Originally Posted by KR
Wonder why teams from out that way don't take the time to travel out here and see how they stand on turf.

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Why should they, when they can play in better tournaments right around the corner. We in Ohio are at the disadvantage of having to travel thousands of miles to find great competition and exposure, not them.
 
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I guess you did the research every girl on the rosters of those teams came from out west. Not one single girl from the midwest not one. You people with big wallets ought to just move out there. The opportunity is so much better. I guarantee that fastpitch tourneys around here will go just fine. Wonder why teams from out that way don't take the time to travel out here and see how they stand on turf. I am not trying to get a personal thing started with any one but the way you people down these girls around here is sad and that is just what you are doing.
Here you go.....Here are the current rosters of the two most successful college softball programs ever. YOU tell me if you see ANY midwest kids on either roster


http://www.arizonawildcats.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/ariz-w-softbl-mtt.html


http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/ucla-w-softbl-mtt.html

Here is Cal, they have one kid from Jersey and one from Maui


http://www.calbears.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/cal-w-softbl-mtt.html


How about Cal St. Fullerton, they have been national Champs and are a very good mid major. They beat OSU 3 years ago in the regional finals at OSU


http://www.fullertontitans.com/sports/w-softbl/mtt/csfu-w-softbl-mtt.html

Hopefully I made my point

They combine their best players and get UCLA, Arizona etc...We combine our best players and we have Kent St. , Bowling Green and Miami.
 
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People ought to go live there. I just like it how you don't care about the girls that read these threads. I though this was called Ohio fastpitch connection. Not I think you guys want to call it Ohio Fastpitch players can't hang Connection. This thread need to go away.
 
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fastpitchlvr:

Who died and made you the censor for a legitimate discussion about the relative merits of staying in Ohio to play vs. joining a national travel team? punchout and I aren't saying that our best Ohio players are not as athletic as west coast girls. We ARE saying that for a variety of reasons, including weather and census numbers, Ohio girls who stay inside Ohio to play travel ball before college are not going to be as developed as girls who play in more tournaments (read year round) that are more consistently populated by nationally recognized travel teams. Nothing in that argument is a knock on the innate talents of our Ohio players.

Nothing we have said is snide, in contrast to your snide comment "I just like it how you don't care about the girls that read these threads." That's right, I don't care about Ohio girls. That's why I spend nearly all my disposable income and a very high number of hours each week trying both to become a better coach and to get our players college opportunities. Sheesh.
 
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fastpitchlvr:

Who died and made you the censor for a legitimate discussion about the relative merits of staying in Ohio to play vs. joining a national travel team? punchout and I aren't saying that our best Ohio players are not as athletic as west coast girls. We ARE saying that for a variety of reasons, including weather and census numbers, Ohio girls who stay inside Ohio to play travel ball before college are not going to be as developed as girls who play in more tournaments (read year round) that are more consistently populated by nationally recognized travel teams. Nothing in that argument is a knock on the innate talents of our Ohio players.

Nothing we have said is snide, in contrast to your snide comment "I just like it how you don't care about the girls that read these threads." That's right, I don't care about Ohio girls. That's why I spend nearly all my disposable income and a very high number of hours each week trying both to become a better coach and to get our players college opportunities. Sheesh.


I couldn't agree more. Some people just don't get what you are saying and insist that you are knocking someone. If you haven't experienced California ball players, which most haven't, then they just don't understand the point we are making. I would love to have our kids at that level, but until we lose our Ohio weather it won't happen. They just have more opportunities than our kids. It stinks, but it is reality.
 
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I couldn't agree more. Some people just don't get what you are saying and insist that you are knocking someone. If you haven't experienced California ball players, which most haven't, then they just don't understand the point we are making. I would love to have our kids at that level, but until we lose our Ohio weather it won't happen. They just have more opportunities than our kids. It stinks, but it is reality.

Amen!
 

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