summer league question

I see you are in VA. Are you in Northern VA?
While NVTBL has some teams from DC and MD, most are from NOVA. I think they go as young as 11 all the way through HS.
Good local competition, metal bats, basically HS rules. No standings or post season tournaments.

Legion - I can't speak for other areas of Va or the US in general, but I think legion ball is dying a slow death in NOVA. There have been articles in the Post over the last couple of years that the proliferation of travel teams, showcases, and other commitments of young men (work, girls, other sports, etc.) have decimated the ranks of legion ballplayers.
I know some HS guys swear by Legion ball because they say it is less intense, more enjoyable.
I can't speak for the wood bat (other than the Clark Griffith College league) or the industrial league. I have no info on them.

quote:

Originally posted by jbbaseball:
I can't speak for the wood bat (other than the Clark Griffith College league) or the industrial league. I have no info on them.

jb what can you say about Clark Griffith?

The Clark Griffith College league appears to be dying. I have heard that there is talk that the league has looked into trying to join the Valley league but they will never happen because of the travel issue.

I would explore other league before the Clark Griffith but if you have no other options, then it's a place to play. The majority of the baseball fields are not kept up during the summer except for just a couple fields.

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression the griffith league was only for:
A) college age players.
AND
B) you had to be "nominated"/"assigned" by your college coach.

JB I think you are correct on this I was just wondering what u know about the league

i really don't know that much about the league. My son (an '08) gets private instruction from a guy who also coached (assistant) the Reston team ( in the griffith league) last season.
He told me they had some pretty good players on their team. As a matter of fact, one of their stud players missed the first few weeks because he was in the CWS! (plays for U of F)
Unfortuately, I really don't know much about the history and/or current status of the league.

I made an assumption from dominik's original post that he may be a HS player looking for a summer opportunity to play and just wanted to state that if that was the case, the griffith league would not be an option for him. Again, big assumption on my part, could very well be wrong.

PS....OOPS......I guess I should have read domink's post more closely. He did say he was looking at POST-HS summer play. With that said, is legion ball an option? I thought you had to be HS age to play? I a NOT in tune with the rules on that one..............

You can play legion up to age 19. Clark Griffith is open to rising college freshmen through I think rising juniors (not sure on the upper limit). I played in it in the late '70's and it was around before that, so a 35+ year tradition. Teams are made up of a few local college players and several from out of town that stay with host families. I know a few families that have host players over the last several years and they said that it was a surprisingly good experience. The games I've seen have been well played with none of the "lax attitudes" that seem to be creeping into legion and NVTBL. There seems to be fewer DI players and more DII and DIII than I remember from years ago but the talent level was very good.

My son plays college ball and is playing out his senior year. He spent the last 2 summers in the Valley League on the Front Royal Cardinals. Some of his younger college teammates played in the Clark Griffith League.
My understanding is all players are on college rosters, have NCAA eligibility remaining and are placed by their college coaches. Teams are coached either by a college assistant coach or by a permanent local coach. There seems to be a trend toward the permanent local coach. A permanent coach provides continuity for the team owners and with the college programs providing the players. There is a tremendous amount of work done between the end of a season and the beginning of the next season. A permanent coach is around to help.

The Valley League was a wonderful experience for my son and my family as well. My son stayed with the owner of the team and was treated like a prince. The Valley of Virginia is beautiful in the summer and the folks in that area are as nice as they can be. The competition was very good and the kids thouroghly enjoyed playing. What's not to like? Sleep till 12. Eat. Lounge by the pool till 4pm. Eat some more. Go to the field and take BP and warm ups. Game at 7pm. Eat again after the game. Night life pretty slow, but they hang out as a group at someone's house till all hours of the night. Usually around Linda's pool. Repeat the same next day. I repeat...what's not to like?

He made the Valley League All Star Team both years. The All Star game is a pretty big affair with the last two being played at Winchester. Nice park and attended by perhaps 1200 people. Approximately 40 scouts in the stands. I'm sure they were pro scouts since all these kids are already on college teams.

All in all...a very good experience. I understand the experience was similar for kids in the Coastal Plain and other leagues. For those kids who need to earn some money, the teams have local business who will hire players for the summer and accomodate their game schedule.

For the past 2 summer seasons, we were a host family for players who played in the Valley League (wood bat). Like cpkebaseballdad says, you sleep in, eat, then go to the field and take bp and warmups, play ball and then do it all over again. They play about 40-50 games in about 2 months (June and July) Our guys had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it. There were scouts at games and the competition is pretty good.

I've heard that the Valley League is second only to the Cape. Like I said, I've heard this mentioned a number of times but really don't know much about any other summer leagues in the country, except the Cape is probably the best. By the way if any of you enjoy baseball as much as my family, please consider being a host family for college baseball players wanting to play summer ball.

Check out the link

http://www.valleyleaguebaseball.com/

baseballdad1

Thanks to you and all the other families who host our summer league players.

Linda treats the kids she host like they are her own. She feeds them, encourages them, reprimands them and places limitations as to what is going on away from the field. She even makes sure they get where they need to be when they need to be there(mine could sleep thru a nuclear attack). This Christmas Linda even sent my son a Christmas card and gift..and he will not be able to play for her again since his eligibility will finish after this spring. We've gotten to know some wonderful people over the years through our son's baseball. Bob and Linda Keene certainly are two of them.

The players we had were great. We had to lay down some ground rules of course but they were pretty busy playing ball anyway. One or our guys played at Jacksonville University and we actually went to see him play last spring. A scout was there to take a look at him (RHP)and would you know it, he got drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Anyway, there are several options for post high school summer ball and the Valley League is definitely a great league to play in if you are fortunate enough to get placed by your coach.

quote:

Originally posted by dominick:
Trying to find out information for post-high school summer league in the following Northern Va. leagues:

american legion
wood bat league
industrial league
NVTBL

can anyone explain the differences between these leagues. thanks.

Dominick,

Sent you a PM (nothing like waitin to the last minute, huh =)?). This might be relevent even at this late date however. I can speak to you a bit about the Industrial League. It has some recently released minor leaguers, a few that had been to the show and a host of D1 players. It is only a six team league, but some of the clubs also play teams up and down the east coast.

The League seems to be changing in that a lot of the older ballplayers have moved on to the Washington metro +35 leagues, etc. (though there are still some very good ballplayers who still work regular jobs) but college (and even a few high school) players that are ready for that kind of thing can usually get a look. It is a wood bat League and, having watched dozens of games in both, it is certainly higher than the Clark Griffith (though there isn't the educational aspect that some of the CG coaches provide). Not that the CG kids won't get better, but you usually have to factor in that half of the guys playing on Industrial League teams have been playing at this level for years.

I gotta tell you, our family feels like we lucked out in that the NVTBL team my son played for (one of the HS "franchise" teams) had brought on too many players (a great instructor but very poorly organized); he left that team and caught on with the Industrial League team we are with now. The learning curve was very steep but it made him a better ballplayer. Send me a message if you have any additional questions...

In regards to Legion ball in NV, I would venture that it is not on the decline.

I watched a game last summer between the Lorton Post and the Vienna Post where Eric Cantrell (Oakton, now at George Washington) faced off against Robinson graduate and Louisburg College pitcher Paul Clements (Paul is now playing for East Carolina) at Waters field. It was an excellent game that the Vienna team won.

I also watched the Vienna team play the Vienna Senators from the Clark Griffith League at Waters field. The Senators won 3-0, but Vienna was in the game.

The big advantage I see of Legion is that they play 9 inning games. This is a great way for kids to prepare for the next level. The Vienna team looked pretty strong, they had a bunch of Oakton kids and the competition was pretty good for the few games I saw them play. I read where they finished 3rd in the state tournament.

Legion is an option and should not be discounted. Again, looks like a great way for kids to prepare for the next level.

Don’t mean to barge in on this thread but I have read a few posts about the valley league. To me the valley league means summertime where my son wife and I go to see the New Market Rebels play. It is a true family atmosphere, where I pay $5.00/ adult and if my son wears his Little League uniform he gets in free and I feel safe with him running with the other baseball kids. Many times I sat in my seat and watch the kids play ball with a souvenir bat and an old tennis ball out in behind the bull pen in left field.

I always buy reserved seats for $3.00 right behind home plate , they even give you a free drink ticket, this year I think I may get season ticket. During the season the coach always puts on a clinic for the kids, and the last day they stretch a field tarp out and spray soapy water on it and teach sliding. After watching this for at least five years I still can’t figure out who is having more fun the college players that are helping with the clinic or the kids.

If you have a chance to come to see a valley league game you got to come to New Market field. A few years ago one of the DC papers did a write up about New Market was one of the best venues to watch a valley league game.

Sorry to bust in on your original question but I have watched my son grow up playing and watching baseball. Nothing like him asking me if he can have some money, so he can get us some popcorn or a hot dog or hamburger with those crowd pleasers fried onions.


Respectfully yours,

drill


PS my wife got a call from an old High School class mate from Florida and said her son was playing ball center field for the Luray Wranglers. They visited two or three times last summer, of course we went across the mountain to watch her son play even though New Market and Luray are big rivals. It’s funny how baseball brings people back together after years of being apart.

Valley Ball is definitely the cream of the crop for college programs in the mid-Atlantic (certainly better than the Clark). While I think it is fair to say that Legion ball has declined (at least in this area)there is still some good baseball being played. The biggest difference is, I think, that a lot of the ballplayers that are playing Legion ball have "locked in" wherever it is they are going (collegewise) and have adopted a more casual approach to baseball for the summer. They still play hard, of course, but the intensity just isn't the same.

Valley League is definitely a worthwhile wonderful experience. If anyone has specific questions, send me a PM. One son played for Woodstock for two years, younger son played for New Market last summer, and will be in Front Royal this summer.

Hokieone, you have a PM

I can comment on NVTBL and Legion as my son has played both recently.
NVTBL has a section called ODL (rising seniors) that consists of select teams that play each other when they aren't at showcase tournaments. Very good competition (#1 HS pitchers) with virtually every kid going on to play college ball. The Varsity (rising juniors and seniors) section tends to be varsity teams from NoVa high schools (minus the kids that went to select teams). Decent competition when the #2 pitcher is throwing. About 20% of these kids will play college ball.
Legion ball seems to be making a comeback. My son played this year as a rising senior and had a blast. Most of the pitchers are #2 HS pitchers and - college #3-4 pitchers. The level of play was inconsistent. The top half of the league was fun to watch as you had good pitchers and good hitters going after each other. The college players really made our HS kids step it up a notch. Most of the folks that played for the second year or had older kids that had already played there said the level of play is improving after years of sliding. I think the free (or in our case $100) participation fee is also attractive.