Sports at the Beach vs. Aberdeen Ripken Complex

Keep in mind, once you move up to a 90' diamond there are limited fields for Ripken. You only play one game in Ripken Stadium - if you're lucky. The other fields are Aberdeen High and Harford Community College. That's not the case at SATB. You stay within their complex. Again, that only applies if you're playing on a 90' diamond. Both have decent competition. If I had to choose, I'd pick SATB. Just my opinion though.

Another great place to play is the Virginia Sports Complex down in Ruthers Glen, Virginia near Ashland. The fields are as nice as any you'll play on anywhere all year round. They also do a very nice job of putting on a tournament. We used to go down for Triple Crown fall tournaments. I loved it.

I will second VSC, plus you can stay down there for a fraction of what it costs at the beach or aberdeen.

Having been to all three, Sports at the Beach is the best complex, has more teams per tournament and gives you more value for your dollar.

It's been 3 years since I was at Sports at the Beach, but the facilities there were not acceptable at that time. They had been in bankruptcy court, the restrooms were unfinished, the mounds were not solid (got horribly pitted during games), and the ocean breeze blew stiffly most of the time. Some balls got blown out, while on other fields facing the opposite directions, potential HR's got knocked down. There weren't many hotels in the area so you had to stay a ways away and drive quite a bit back & forth throughout the tourney.

I have never been to Aberdeen, but from reports I would say it's not a close contest.

SATB had all kinds of problems. I used to hear horror stories. All I've heard is good stuff the past couple of years.

MidloDad,

Your experience 3 years ago may be correct but a new group bought SATB , re-sodded and rebuilt the fields (17 now) plus the dorms , Olympic Swimming pool have made it even better. You are also incorrect as there was never a banruptcy with the orginal owners. As for the wind, that is part of baseball and I am sure the wind blows at other parks. While you do have the stadium at Aberdeen which is very nice, SAB is a far better facility over-all.

What I didn't care for with SATB was the way the complex was laid out. The main portion of the complex (the part off to the right) was nicely thought out with the concession stand and restrooms centrally located. I also like that they have bullpens along the sides of the fields. But the part that was added later (the left side of the road) was really a mess. The way the fences were done prohibits movement between several of the fields and the quality of the fields leaves MUCH to be desired compared to the other side of the road. There's also a severe lack of restroom facilities on the whole campus. I'd also like to see more grass infields on the 90' fields. Too many of them are skinned. That's okay for Little League, but not for older players.

Although it's still growing, and they're still making improvements to the complex, I personally like the fields at the Va Sports Complex better than SATB. I also believe that they have better umpires as well - generally speaking.

Never been to Ripken for a tournament, but with just one field (90'), you really can't compare.

For 12U and under, Ripken is very good but it falls short when it is comes to boys in the older age brackets. Sure you get a one game in Ripken’s minor league ballpark but then you spend time on the local community college field and Aberdeen High school’s baseball diamond. The problem is that if you have 2 games in a row you have to drive like a bat out of hell to get your team to the other facility while convincing your team to feed them and be ready for the next game. The road between the community college field and the high school field is congested and with many lights. The team waiting for the other team to arrive has a clear advantage. At least at SAB, the fields are in the same complex.

SATB is now making some renovations to the "left side" of their complex. However, I don't believe it will entail adding any restroom facilities. They are now making some of those diamonds 54/80. That will now be what the U13s play on. Also, next year all games for U15 and up is wood bats only. While I prefer the wooden bats others may not.

One of the advantages of Ripken is that it does prepare you for the BML. Ripken does not dumb down the 13U teams by forcing them to do 54/80 like ECTB in Reading and SATB.
I know there is a time limit of 2 hours but it forces pitchers to adjust to the real diamond dimensions faster than the others.