PG WWBA Georgia

Summary:

QuadAAA must have found a consolation game I could not find because I calculated Virginia-based teams went 35-23-2 in pool play, 1-3 in championship play and 4-2-1 in consolation play for an overall record of 40-28-3.

Canes Baseball, 5-0 in pool play, seeded #3 after pool play which earned them a first round bye in the championship bracket. Upset in their first round championship bracket game by Utah Baseball, seeded #27, giving up 5 runs in the top of the 7th to lose 6-4. Overall record 5-1.

Canes Prospects, 3-1-1, did not advance to the championship bracket, won their consolation game, 4-3. Overall record 4-1-1.

Orioles Scout Team, 3-2 in pool play, did not advance to championship bracket, tied 2-2 in their consolation game with All Star Baseball Academy. Overall record 3-2-1.

Patriots of Nova, 3-2 in pool play. Defeated RBI Hawks, 9-4 in their consolation game. Overall record 4-2.

Patriots National 17u, 5-0, in pool play, seeded #15 after pool play which earned them a first round bye. Lost to #18 East Cobb Astros 16U (which made it to the quarter finals), 5-4. Sounds like it was an exciting game. East Cobb scored 1 run in the top of each of the 1st and 2nd innings and carried a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th. Patriots scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th, to tie and force extra innings. East Cobb scored 3 in the top of the 9th and the Patriots scored only 2 in the bottom. Overall record 5-1.

Prospects Stars 17U Blue, 1-4 in pool play. Overall record 1-4.

RBA West, 3-2 in pool play, lost to 4-2 to the Tampa Bay Warriors in the consolation game. Overall record 3-3.

Richmond Braves 17u, 2-3 in pool play. Defeated Lefty’s Lightning, 6-0 in their consolation game. Overall record 3-3.

Richmond Braves National 2012, 3-2 in pool play, lost their consolation game 11-3 to the Florida Hardballers. Overall record 3-3.

Richmond Braves National 2013, 1-3-1 in pool play, defeated Team TPX, 7-3, in their consolation game. Overall record 2-3-1.

Virginia Cardinals, 4-1 in pool play, advanced to the championship bracket as a #40 seed. Defeated the #26 seed, Farrah Builders, but lost to #7 Kentucky Baseball Club in the round of 16, 6-1. Overall record 5-2.

Virginia Diamonds 17u, 2-3 in pool play. Overall record 2-3.

Eleven Virginia teams are in the 16U WWBA this upcoming week include the Canes Green, Canes White, Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U, Prospect Stars 2013 Blue, RBA West 16, Richmond Braves 16U, Richmond Braves 2013 American, Richmond Braves 2013 National, Stars 16U National, Tidewater Drillers and the Virginia Titans. Good luck to all of them.

WB Reporter and QuadAAAA,

Thanks for updating us back home on PG WWBA. It is truly a unique experience. If a Virginia team wins, it will be the fourth year in a row a Virginia team won the 16U event. Best of luck to all!

When you realize that VA had 3 teams in the final 32 at the 17u event, that's saying something for the caliber of baseball around these parts.

Good luck to the 16u teams this week!

Is anyone sticking around do give highlights of the 16U, i fully enjoyed reading about all the teams that were involved with some highlights, IT WAS GREATLY APPRECIATED FELLA'S....

Went to watch a Virginia team today (canes white) and noticed that only 4 of the 22 players on the roster were from virginia. What's up with that?

quote:

Originally posted by eraser:
Went to watch a Virginia team today (canes white) and noticed that only 4 of the 22 players on the roster were from virginia. What's up with that?

4 players on the roster are from VA. What's the problem with that?

The Canes program has players mostly from Virginia and North Carolina and with the addition of the Mid Atlantic Canes, now Maryland. Some Canes teams are made of up entirely of kids from one state with a few representing a couple other states. For example, the North Canes 2013 team has 14 kids from Virginia and then 1 from each of the following North Carolina, Delaware, and Tennessee.

Day one of the 16U WWBA had mixed results with a 5-5-1 record.

Wins went to the Canes Green, Canes White, Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U, Richmond Braves 2013 National and Stars 16U National.

Losses for the Prospect Starts 2013 Blue, RBA West 16, Richmond Braves 16U, Tidewater Drillers and Virginia Titans.

Richmond Braves 2013 American tied.

Mid-Atlantic Canes are all Pennsylvania kids. The DelMarVa program consists of the majority of Maryland, and Delaware kids with a smattering of Virginia kids.

Day 2 update from the 16U WWBA:
Virginia teams went 7-4 for a cummulative record of 12-9-1. In alphabetical order;
1-1 Canes Green
2-0 Canes White
2-0 Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U
1-1 Prospect Stars 2013 Blue
0-2 RBA West 16
1-1 Richmond Braves 16U
0-1-1 Richmond Braves 2013 American
2-0 Richmond Braves 2013 National
2-0 Stars 16U National
1-1 Tidewater Drillers
0-2 Virginia Titans

On Sunday, Richmond Braves National 16u defeated the winners of the age group last year - 643 DP. It was a 3 to 1 game anchored by a stellar pitching performance by Ryan Lauria. Both teams played very well - it was a great game to watch. BTW - the other team was from GA and the game was on their home field.

To put the VA programs' performance in some perspective, here's a fun factoid:

The Virginia Cardinals pitched 4 shutouts in their 7 games at the 17u tournament.

Only one other team in the entire 216-team tourney did that (DBAT McCabe). No one else had more than 3.

We also had a fifth game in which we allowed only one, unearned run.

Congrats to the pitchers who made it happen, including:

# 1 -- Kit Scheetz and Tyler Carrico, 5 and 2 innings respectively;

# 2 -- Daniel Bridgeman, who in fact gave up his only hit with 2 outs in the 7th before finishing a complete game one-hitter;

# 3 -- Daniel Byrd and Tanner Phillips, 4 and 2 innings of a rule-shortened game; and

# 4 -- Kit Scheetz again, all 6 innings of a rule-shortened game.

Also, in that other game, Joe Manion went 4 1/3 with only one unearned run, and Mack Krupp finished the last 1 2/3 of that rule-shortened game.

guess those pitchers love that wooden bat format!

Some more than others! There were some high scoring games at the tourney, too.

Day 3 of the 16U tournament was very successful for Virginia Teams as they went 9-2 for a cummulative record of 21-11-1. Teams records to date are:
2-1 Canes Green
3-0 Canes White
3-0 Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U
1-2 Prospect Stars 2013 Blue
1-2 RBA West 16
2-1 Richmond Braves 16U
0-2-1 Richmond Braves 2013 American
3-0 Richmond Braves 2013 National
3-0 Stars 16U National
2-1 Tidewater Drillers
1-2 Virginia Titans

According to weather reports, there is heavy rain predicted for the ATL area from Wed. - Sun. Anyone have experience with the playoff portion of the tournament being rained out? How would they determine a winner? I can't find anything in the rules on this.

They will do everything in their power to finish the playoffs. If field slots run short, consolation games will be the first casualty. There have been instances of them crowning "co-champions" when rain has made it impossible to finish the championship game. But unless it pours pretty much all day Friday, I wouldn't expect that to happen.

On day 4 of the 16U WWBA, Virginia Teams went 6-3-2 for a cummulative record of 27-14-3. Individual team results in alphabetical order are:
2-2 Canes Green
4-0 Canes White
3-0-1 Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U
2-2 Prospect Stars 2013 Blue
2-2 RBA West 16
2-1-1 Richmond Braves 16U
0-3-1 Richmond Braves 2013 American
4-0 Richmond Braves 2013 National
4-0 Stars 16U National
3-1 Tidewater Drillers
1-3 Virginia Titans

Pool play ends tomorrow at 7:00.

Those are some outstanding numbers.

Every year, we prove that Virginia is more of a hotbed of baseball talent than many give us credit for.

how many teams from Virginia made the championship bracket?

On the last day of pool play, Virginia Teams went 6-2-2, with one game postponed due to weather. The cummulative records of Virginia Teams in alphabetical order are:
2-2 Canes Green *
5-0 Canes White
4-0-1 Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U
3-2 Prospect Stars 2013 Blue
2-3 RBA West 16
2-1-2 Richmond Braves 16U
0-3-2 Richmond Braves 2013 American
5-0 Richmond Braves 2013 National
5-0 Stars 16U National
4-1 Tidewater Drillers
1-4 Virginia Titans

Five teams made the playoffs which begin tomorrow morning due to weather delays Wed. evening. 3 VA teams got first round byes.
Playoffs with a first round bye: Canes White, Stars 16U National and Richmond Braves 2013 National
Playoffs: Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U and the Tidewater Drillers

* 5th pool game postponed due to weather

QuadAAAA do you know who is doing well for the Patriots of Northern Virginia team? or the Canes white? thanks

Zeus,
Here is what I can tell from the box scores listed by PG. (I did not look up all of their first names or high schools).

Patriots of NOVA batting:
L.Farrar: 8 for 16, 6 runs scored
J.Agnus: 4 for 11, 5 rbis
D.Forgacs: 4 for 10, 4 runs scored
B.Pittman: 5 for 15, 5 rbis

Patriots of NOVA pitching:
C.Bhatti: 7.2 ip, 7h, 2er, 13k
N.Brown: 9.2 ip, 6h, 3er 7k
C.Steber 5.2 ip, 1h, 1er, 5k
D.Edwards: 6 ip, 4h, 1er, 3k

The Canes played fewer innings due to some mercy rule games and scored more runs so their batting stats were greater and their pitching stats were less.

Canes Batting:
A.McGuire: 7 for 14, 6 runs
A.Braswell: 6 for 11, 5 rbis
J.Fraley: 6 for 9, 6 runs, 7 rbis
J.Jarmon: 6 for 10, 5 runs, 8 rbis
J.Roberts: 6 for 9, 11 rbis

Canes Pitching (no one seemed to have over 4+ ip)
E.Philips: 3.2 ip, 2h, 0er, 5k
J.Callahan: 3 ip, 1h, 0er, 5k
K.Trader: 3 ip, 1h, 0er, 6k
C.Jones: 2 ip, 0 h, 0er, 2k
C.Cropper: 2 ip, 1 h, 0 er, 3k

Stars 16u and Richmond Braves National 2013 advance to round of 16. Games at 5:30 today (Thursday) - storm delay from 4:30.

Virginia Teams on Thursday in consolation and playoff games went 5-7-1 for a cummulative total of 38-23-6. In alphabetical order, the team results are:
2-3 Canes Green *
5-1 Canes White
4-1-1 Patriots of Northern Virginia 16U
4-2 Prospect Stars 2013 Blue
2-4 RBA West 16
2-2-2 Richmond Braves 16U
0-3-3 Richmond Braves 2013 American
6-0 Richmond Braves 2013 National
6-1 Stars 16U National
5-2 Tidewater Drillers
2-4 Virginia Titans

The Richmond Braves 2013 National are the only VA team still in the playoffs. Good luck.

* Only played 5 games due to weather.

Richmond Braves 2013 just lost to the Orlando Scorpions Purple 6-4. Braves had one bad inning - thats baseball! Great job by the VA teams!

Thanks for all the info greatly appreciated and glad the teams represented well.

Some random thoughts. I have lived in VA (shen valley) maryland (frederick) nc (raleigh) ga (near marietta) Kids are the same everywhere. Each time i moved i feared my kid would not be good enough. The biggest difference is the amount of competition the further south. I used to be thrilled if enough teams would enter a tourney for a round robin. Now as i get futher south there are at least about 24 teams in each age group at all tourneys. Dont get fooled into thinking all the teams in the wwba are great teams. Most use this as the year end event for their season if they live in that area. ALSO most travel coaches are in it to make money and take teams to places so they can pretend they are getting them scouted. However i will say my kid played against 1 of the top ranked 17u teams in the country and one of the top 16u pitchers at an event so scouts had to notice anyone who did well in that game. I also overheard several recruiters saying they hate this time of year as low man on totem pole gets sent away from their family for a few weeks to have to look at kids they will either never sign or will not want after they see them. Its hard work for recruiters and very nerve wreaking for kids and parents. Enjoy it and let go and enjoy the season and maybe great things will happen for you.

I'm sorry you've had such poor encounters, but they do not match my own. Or, are you just talking about the 15u/16u events?

Typically PG examines teams to have some bar set as to who gets in to the tournament. Since the 17u and 18u tourney fields are now 216 teams each, obviously some teams are not as strong as others, but there is an effort made to project team strength, seed teams and thereby balance the pools. If you are not a stud team, in all likelihood you will face at least 2 in your pool.

There are a number of Atlanta area teams in the tourney, but between the East Cobb program and teams like the Atlanta Blue Jays, very few of them are weaker sisters. By far the overwhelming majority of the tourney field comes quite a distance to play, and for good reason.

I'm sure there are bad travel coaches, but I don't think they are as cynical, in the main, as you suggest. If you don't have a lot of talent on your squad to draw scouts, it can get frustrating, but most teams at East Cobb -- at least in the 17u and 18u events -- are good enough that they are being followed at least by their home state schools.

The idea that the scouts are just the "low man on the totem pole" is hogwash. Again, unless you're talking about the younger events. At the 17u and 18u events, you will typically see programs send more than one guy because of the sheer number of games and venues to cover. If a scout is there just hoping to latch onto a kid for the first time and land him, I shan't wonder that he would struggle to hook any big fish. But that's not how anyone I know works and it's not an approach calculated to succeed.

Most of the scouts at our games are guys who follow us all the time and who want to see how our guys perform against top level competition and in pressure situations. And, it offers the chance to see many guys in a compressed period so you can maybe weigh options while all are fresh in your mind. I know it's a stressful time for the scouts but they get a lot done in a week's time, so it's a fair tradeoff for their schedules.

But we do also see a few schools who have very narrow criteria for players and who get really only this one week to see certain guys. The service academies and the Ivies in particular.

For the 15u and 16u events, to me the main reasons for a player to be there are to compete with your team, and to get used to the venue and the whole setup. That helps pave the way for better performances at the more heavily scouted events that lay down the road, in particular at the 17u and 18u events. I haven't been at the younger events in quite some time. When I was there last, there was very little scouting going on except by PG's people. I should think there has been an uptick at the 16u in recent years, since you see so many early commitments these days, but I can't imagine it's like the older age events.

Midlo i have not had poor encounters my 15yr old enjoyed playing in the 18u top 16 finish and playing in the 16u as well. I have attended these in various forms for years. trust me i dont want to name names but there are a lot of weak teams. Anyone from GA knows east cobb has about 2 very good teams and the rest are between good and very bad. Look at records from even local events much less national. It is not hard to get in the tourney. Also many places enter several teams say a a/b/c team. And yes i was at 18u and 17 talking to recruiters and if you think they would rather be there than at home a lot of times your wrong. Of course its a job for them and a summer job. Its also how they climb the ranks to move on to bigger and better jobs. My experiences have never been bad i am just realistic about what i see,hear and know. How often do you see teams go to events to "be scouted and then sent to a school where no one is at" I am all for these tournaments and going to them when my kids are or are not playing. But i know what to expect. I am also going to a few showcase tryout type events but i also know the downside of camps and showcase events. The below link sort of gives the alternate view..not one i entirely believe in but a lot is true. Coaches, scouts and most everyone is doing it as a job not just for the love of the game.
http://ericcressey.com/basebal...oney-and-get-injured

I'm sure it is a long, hot and stressful week for the scouts. But it beats driving all over a multi-state area chasing one prospect at a time, only to be disappointed with some frequency. And while we can all commiserate over a job that is low pay and long hours, often taken with the hope of advancing on to a better station in life, don't mistake that kind of water cooler chatter for a lack of seriousness in their undertaking the tasks presently at hand. After all, no one gets promoted without building a reputation for doing the job currently in front of them well.

As for going to get scouted and then being at a school with no one there -- if people go to these tournaments thinking folks are just going to be hanging out waiting for them to appear, then they are going to be disappointed. We push our players to identify target schools and then, knowing that they are going to have representatives at this event, to ask the scouts to make time for their games and come see them play. Regular contact by the players is critical.

The scouts are not going to just hang around hoping to notice someone out of thousands of players going through there, and then try to sell them on their school. When someone expresses interest, it suggests the player already knows the school and thus, a lot of the recruiter's sales job is already done; what remains is for the scout to determine if the kid can play at his program's level.

In the 17u just past, we did have a game out at Cartersville which is quite a haul from the main complex and I think there were only 2 scouts there. The main problem was that our pitcher that day was already committed and we were headed to the East Cobb complex the very next day, with an uncommitted pitcher slated, so scouts apparently decided they could more easily wait to see us the next day instead of driving 30 minutes each way. You also never know who else they need to see and where/when they might be playing.

In our pool, we played a couple of nationally known teams, a couple of solid regional teams, and one team that you might categorize as a local entry who was a bit short on arms and maybe in over their heads. (Though they did win a game in pool play, so they were not by any means hapless.) We then got into playoff rounds where our opponents were well known and respected programs. In at least 5 of our 7 games, our guys benefited not only from the scouts they asked to come see them (and who did, in fact, come), but also from the scouts the opposition brought by doing the same thing on the other side.

So there is indeed a chance to be "discovered" and then be surprised by someone's interest in you. But for the most part, this week is about grinding it out day after day, playing hard against competition that is a few cuts above what you might typically see, and allowing people to see you efficiently and on a time table that fits the recruiting cycle quite well.

I don't expect miracles for kids who don't play well. But as the saying goes, the problem with exposure baseball is that you can get exposure, or perhaps just be exposed. Players (and parents) who expect the baseball world to get swept away by the wonder and glory of themselves are destined to come away disappointed.

On the other hand, we went to this event with several players already committed. We left it with another player firmly committed and another of our uncommitted 2012's having been invited for a visit with a strong expression of interest by a program/school that he had not previously been in contact with, but that is right in his wheelhouse in terms of academics and baseball both. A few more of our uncommitted 2012's showed quite well and advanced themselves in the eyes of programs that are following them. Some of our 2013's were followed closely with an eye towards "junior days" invitations in the fall.

It was well worth the trip for us. I'm sorry if some don't seem to understand the role this event plays in the whole recruiting cycle or how to take maximum advantage of it, but I suppose in a field of 216 teams, some are going to have their acts together more so than others.

Well said MidloDad.

Having attended the 16u and 17u weeks the last two years - it is clear that scouts come to see certain players and teams. With that said - they do "find" players that they continue to pursue. If you are a solid player that on a team of highly recruited players it can be a great benefit to you.
We played all over creation this year and during the 16u week there were multiple scouts at every game - some games had 15 or more.
My only "beef" with the tournament itself is that PG let the winners of last year's 15u - a local team - play all their pool games on their home field and also their only post pool game. If they had won this year it would have been a story - as they did not I guess no one will care.

Here is another thing that was pretty cool..One game my son was playing the umpire was a college coach working for the summer and another the grounds keeper was a local scout just helping out. It is not always the guys in the logo shirts who will see you. Also many college coaches coach travel teams, we had one third base coach clocking all our players running home to first, catcher throw downs etc. he then asked the coach of our team about 3 of the kids after the game. OF course you quite often hear the dreaded "we would like you to walk on " statements. We could do a whole thread on the chess game between recruiters and players.

Regarding home games..Yes i too hate that many teams get to play all their games at their home fields but that is part of the negotiation. Most teams or schools get 2k for use of field. I guess they work their entry into that. I can name at least 8 teams who out of state teams would never know are playing at their home fields. Not sure it gives them a big advantage other than travel is easy for them.

I would imagine people seldom bother to scroll all the way down on these pages. If this were to include college commitments it would be at least 10 times longer. At the very bottom of each link are the college commitments by each year of the tournament.

Just those I had contact with this year in Georgia included... 8 MLB Scouting Directors, 4 front office execs, 1 MLB President. The Head Coach or recruiting coordinator of pretty much all the top college programs were there. I do not see these bottom of the totem pole types at this event. It just doesn't make sense to send the bottom guys to a place that has this much talent in one area.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of these links and everything will be self explanatory.

NOTE: Please allow time for the link to load completely. It's very large, so the first time you scroll to the bottom you might not get it all. Scroll slowly! You want to get to the long list of drafted players with links at the bottom to college commitments.

18U WWBA Championship

17U WWBA Championship

16U WWBA Championship

quote:

My only "beef" with the tournament itself is that PG let the winners of last year's 15u - a local team - play all their pool games on their home field and also their only post pool game. If they had won this year it would have been a story - as they did not I guess no one will care.

Actually these home field teams have won the tournament before. So it has been a story for quite awhile.

There is a very good reason why this takes place. As most people know, rain is always a possibility and the fields need to be prepared for every game. In some cases certain teams are responsible for taking care of that field for the entire day. In order to accomplish this they need to be there all day including their own games. (It is NOT many teams) In fact, it is very few teams, three or four!

I suppose it could be considered a slight advantage, but we don't hear many complaints about that these days. Years ago the biggest complaint was the umpires being homers. That caused a change that resulted in umpires coming in from all over the country to work the event.

This will all change in the future as the new 16 field, all turf, all lighted, complex gets built off of I75. This will not only be great for teams, colleges and MLB scouts, but it will allow us to control things better.

All that said... Anyone looking for perfection, will never find it at anything we do.

Thanks for the explanation PG - looking forward to the new complex.

quote:

This will all change in the future as the new 16 field, all turf, all lighted, complex gets built off of I75. This will not only be great for teams, colleges and MLB scouts, but it will allow us to control things better.

Hey Jerry, how's that all coming along? Will we be there next year? 2013?

Spring of 2013 is the schedule. Ground breaking should take place next month.

Here is a link with some info.

PG Complex at Lake Point