I can see your arguement as it pertains to someone like Hudon who is the exception rather then the rule. He has been physically mature since he was 11 or 12. Now as a 14U player he can probably hold his own and then some, with 18yr old players due to his early physical maturation. It wasn't until this past season though that he was able to harness his ability especially on the mound (due to winter workouts for AAU??). He always threw extremely hard but was wild, more wild then a normal hard throwing lefty usually is. So I can see your point for him this season as he had the opportunity to be a contributor as a freshman on Merrimack's Varsity team.
A kid from Nashua rarely ever gets the chance to play varsity ball as a freshman. The odds of that player making one of the three Senior Babe Ruth teams in Nashua are slim. Especially when there are 3 Class L high schools (BG, North & South) feeding those programs. So playing 14U AAU and/or Babe Ruth is the best route for playing after the school season is complete. For the smaller towns where kids get a chance to play varsity as Freshman I think it is to their advantage to play Legion or Senior Babe Ruth as the pool of players for those teams is smaller and the quality of play is obviously at a higher level.
I still contend though that the truly exceptional players should be playing for 17U select teams that travel down south for the big tournaments so that they can face the best kids their age and to be seen by the big college programs and many scouts. They also get winter work in as well. Unfortunately there are not many of those teams in New England at all and they can be quite costly to boot.