It seems there is a distinct shortage of 18u summer teams in comparison with other age groups. Is there a reason for this? Where do all the kids go in the summer?
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My son is on an 18U team, although I think he's really 16U (based on the original LL April cutoff) and is a rising senior. I imagine, he'll just play legion ball next year to get his work in before college. Once committed, I'm not sure why I would pay the money and travel all around.
My buddy's son basically plays on a college committed 18U team and has said if he were to do it all again, he would have gone the legion route.
The kid played on a 18U team last year before he left for summer classes. I bet 4-5 position players didn't show up because either they were going to early classes or their coach didn't want them playing because of risk of injury. Pitchers were even worse Coaches didn't want them throwing over the summer Got to the point where it was hard to finish a tournament. In fact I see the coach decided not to have a team this year. Which is really a shame because he was great to play for. Some of the best summer ball he's played the kid would tell you
My son played and plays (well, not much this summer due to hiking accident) on an adult wood bat team after he graduated HS. He's a catcher and they love having fresh legs; but batting like .350 helped. In his case, he was trying to stay in shape for his college's club team (that's another story). His team has won their league championship 4 times in a row and play some pretty high-level ball. Not all of their opponents do though. However, they always have a few "about to go to college ball" players and current college players on the team for the summer season.
Seems like a fine option.
18u is typically summer after senior year. If a kid is committed to college ball he’s either playing 20u or playing Legion for the short schedule and focusing on physical conditioning.