who are the best 15u teams in Illinois? in country?

I believe 3 or 4 players form Joliet Victory Black left to play on the Illinois Reds (formally Yorkville Reds American).

Do any of these teams hold open tryouts or is it by invitation only?

I can just speak for my sons team. They have a web site you can go to and it has a spot for recommending a player. Mostly we pick up players on a need basis but with my sons team no one is ever dropped to pick up a better player, our coach is loyal to his players, he likes to coach and see improvment. Many teams from what I've seen just pickup players who already have been coached and just play them not really teaching. Tryouts are generally in the fall. You can get a good idea about teams from there web-site www.leaguelineup.com Illinois Royals Check it out. Hope this helped

My son played for Victory Black last season. 7 of the 11 kids played varsity baseball as freshman in 2009. Here is where they went for the 2009 summer:
1 to East Cobb Astros
2 to Illinois Sparks 16U (McHenry and Matyas)
2 to Illinois Sparks 15u (Henry and Trokey)
2 to Illinois Reds
1 to Weirs
1 is playing Vicotry Black 14U this year.
2 remaining are unknown.

You probably have the list of top 15U teams pretty much correct. I think DuPage Diamondbacks are pretty good this year as well. Fox Valley Royals have a real nice team as well as Top Tier.

My son also played for Victory Black past two years. That was the greatest group of young men to play. I am glad to hear all of these guys are still playing or have moved up to different levels.

The coaches also did a great job by being professional and treating the players with respect and not overusing them.

It was the best!!

Thanks for responses. My experince this year at 15U is --there are many very good 15U teams. We have played a few 16U tournaments and they have been great. I can honestly say we haven't played a easy game this year and 1 or 2 mistakes can and have cost us a few W's. But I can also say that my son has developed more as a baseball player this year more then ever. His hitting, fielding, and espically pitching (his changeup has gotten outstanding) has moved up a whole nother level. I can't thank his coaches enough for the time and for getting us in these tough tournaments so the kids can see the talent out ther and the work they must put in to compete. Thank you!

As far as National goes (In no particular order):

Nor Cal-2012
Team Alabama
Houston Banditos-Black
Dallas Tigers-Ingram
Team Rawlings Elite
East Cobb Astros
All American Prospects-Gray
Action Baseball-White
South Florida Snappers
TABU
Top Tier 15u
Arizona Firebirds 15u

Just curious how many non-club teams are competing, ones that have less than 14 players on roster, have played together for several years (say at least 75% of team), and don't pickup pitchers or players just for specific tournaments. Ones that actually develop the players over the years and not just use them to win tournaments. And has all volenteer coaches and is non-profit. I bet not many, but I could be wrong.

It will be interesting to see how many teams go to 16U. Some organizations have teams playing past 15, some like ours have the coach "kicking the tires" so to speak to carry on.

We saw a team at the Perfect Game BCS 15U Championship in Ft. Myers called the South Florida Elite Squad. Had a kid throwing 93 on a stalker gun. They had a few kids take the ball out of the Red Sox spring training stadium as well. They won the tournament beating East Cobb 8-7.

You will see teams like:

Illinois Sparks (2 teams)
Schaumburg Seminoles
Top Tier
Illinois Indians
Naperville Renegades
Fox Valley Royals

The number of teams drops off quite a bit and teams consolidate.

Here are the Perfect Game Rankings:

Perfect Game 15U Rakings

Illinois Royals #53--tough year with some injuries , have played up 16U and competed with and beaten some tough teams--looking to play well and compete in WWBC 15U next week. Have played some top 16U teams tough Illinois Indians 16U, Fox Valley Royals 16U and more.

Most good 15U teams play 16U/17U tournaments.

I'm at the 16U WWBA this week. The East Cobb fields are pretty beat up. Each field has hosted over 200 games over the past 4-5 weeks. They are re-sodding the infields next week I heard. BTW, East Cobb Astros are only playing in pool play, not playoffs since they are coming to CABA in Chicago.

i personally don't think their are any "elite" baseball teams in illinois: many try and steer you to themselves for personal gains, many try to copy east cobb but in reality can't compete; top tier, seminoles, royals, dupage, downers grove; are all selfish and look at the buck first, not one really promotes real talent; its called daddy ball with alot of politics added on; if you have the talent seek out perfect game's showcases; you'll be better off saving your money and going to a perfect game showcase!

Wow! I disagree. The Illinoise Royals now a 16U team has competed nationaly. Lost in the WWBC 14U to East Cobb Astros (Champion of tournament) 6-0. Have added 4 high quality players over last year--3 are very good left handed pitchers. This is not a club team and is a non-profit. These boys can compete with any team in the country, may not win every game ( who would?). They have great fundamentals and throw strikes. I dont know the politics of the clubs you mentioned but we have played some very good teams in Illinois. On a side note--Yes many kids and teams play up--but you can still find great competion in your own age group, I can tell you there is alot of talent in Illinois at 16U. Also agree with the showcase comment but if you can find a good summer team all the better.

yall are forgetting about Longshots Baseball out of Downers Grove. Though there record may not always reflect it, they're navy and teal 15u teams are both good and compete at the 16u level with wood bats for development. The teams only get better as they age and in my opinion their 18u team this year is the best in the midwest region.

I hate to rain on anyone's parade even though this thread is old as dirt.

But the 14U and 15U East Cobb Astro's just recently won their age groups respectfully at the WWBA National Championship at East Cobb.

Pretty Impressive.

we are interested in finding a team to play with this spring, we live in shorewood il, my son is an outstanding catcher, and also plays 3rd, 1st, and pitches, he attends minooka high school, with a 3.4 gpa, and is 5'10 @ 190 lbs and had a 500+ batting average, if anyone out there knows of a team that is looking for players of his caliper, please let us know.....708-997-6052

russo -

You may get better response opening a new topic.  This one was started in 2009 and was last posted to in 2011.

 

Most of the teams are set for 2015.  There maybe a few out there still looking for a player or two.  Also teams start to really change at the 15/16u level.  A lot of programs do not carry a team for HS kids.  I would suggest googling around and emailing the coaches of the teams...

 

Top Area Teams:

Illinois Elite

Illinois Sparks

29ers

Downers Grove Longshots

Top Tier/ESP

 

Other Teams in your area

Naperville Renegades

Schaumburg Seminols

Team DiMarini

Illinois Indians

Victory 

Wheatland Ducks

Naperville White Sox

IL Edge

Edge Elite

ESP

Frankfort Force

Fox Valley Red Bullz

Fox Valley Royals

Homer Heat

Homewood Hawks

Orland Park Magic.

 

There are many others.  When I have a few minutes I will go through the list of teams we played in the last couple of years and post them for you as well.

 

 

 

 

russo, I pulled out my score book from the last couple of years.  Here are some more teams in your area.  As I said Im not sure which of these programs run a HS program, or if they are still looking for kids.  Most of them have websites, you should be able to google them and find contact information.

 

Lincoln Way Vipers

Plainfield Steelers

IL Redbirds

Rhino Baseball

Troy Titans

Will County Warriors

 

I know there are a couple of teams out of Channahon but cant remember their names.  Also, a lot of teams out of Plainfield.  You may want to try googling for travel baseball in these areas. Also, look at http://www.wsbl.org/2015-teams and http://www.i80baseball.com/divisions.php.  These are local travel leagues for 14U and under teams but some of these programs will run a HS division as well.