Thought I would start a thread for those (like me) at the 17U WWBA tournament in GA this week. My youngest is a 2020, so this is my last rodeo. I always enjoy this event--but do repeatedly find myself sitting in Atlanta metro traffic while driving an hour to get to a field and thinking "this is kind of crazy..."
Son's team won their first game. They are no threat to win the tournament, but ought to have a pretty good week. Anyone else here?
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We will be there tomorrow. Son is pitching Sunday and we are headed home.
My son (2020 RHP) just landed (was at our state's PBR games). Pitching a few innings in a game in the morning. He's staying to play in the 16U as well. I'm heading down on 7/4 and we're heading back on 7/9.
My 2020 RHP was just invited to guest on a team at this event. He'll be throwing on Wednesday. Not sure what to expect, but he's excited about the chance to be part of it.
Mine is here. Lost the opener to a team they should have handled easily. Out hit them. Struck them out 11 times. Etc. That's why you play the game. You never know. Team will have to win out to have a chance.
Agree, traffic is bad.
We live here and son’s 16u (2021) has is playing this week and also in the 16u next week.
Mine pitches Sunday. No real plans otherwise except for watching his team’s games. Braves aren’t in town this week. One-on-one time with the the boy before he leaves home is precious, even if he is on his phone for most of it.
bandera posted:Mine is here. Lost the opener to a team they should have handled easily. Out hit them. Struck them out 11 times. Etc. That's why you play the game. You never know. Team will have to win out to have a chance.
Agree, traffic is bad.
This sounds like the game we just had. Sure it was 11K and not 10K? 16:30 start?
Chico Escuela posted:Mine pitches Sunday. No real plans otherwise except for watching his team’s games. Braves aren’t in town this week. One-on-one time with the the boy before he leaves home is precious, even if he is on his phone for most of it.
Guessing our 17U team won't make it into the 4th or 5th. Going to try and make the Braves/Phillies game 7/4, otherwise it's Braves/Marlins
Welp... after a great start to the tournament on Friday, today my son's team picked a bad day to have a bad day... LOTS of scouts at the game this morning (there to see other players; my son is not at that level). Always kind of fun to see the crowds of guys in bucket hats behind the backstop.
Hoping the team returns to form tomorrow. And I hope you and your sons are all enjoying the ride. My boy is starting P for Sunday's game, so that's the big one for my family.
Chico Escuela posted:Welp... after a great start to the tournament on Friday, today my son's team picked a bad day to have a bad day... LOTS of scouts at the game this morning (there to see other players; my son is not at that level). Always kind of fun to see the crowds of guys in bucket hats behind the backstop.
Hoping the team returns to form tomorrow. And I hope you and your sons are all enjoying the ride. My boy is starting P for Sunday's game, so that's the big one for my family.
Mine was supposed to pitch 2IP in the morning game. Not a good outing 2BB, 2K, 1H, 1HBP. Were a few schools there to see him. Velo was right where it should be fir him so that's good. We are 2-0 so far right in the middle of game 3.
I’m here. Son’s swinging it pretty well. We’re 2-0 in pool. Tougher opponents are next couple of days. We’ll see what happens.
Could always use more pitching. If we make the brackets, most likely will have burnt top 3/4 pitchers.
Beat Florida Aces tonight 3-1. Well pitched game by both teams. 90’s. Lots of scouts Pro and college. Son DHd and went 1-1. He was only lefty to get a hit so he was really pleased
Son's team dropped another game today. They should have contended to win their pool, but really have not played well in just about all facets of the game this week. Hoping they can right the ship and finish with some good performances.
Son was SP today and wasn't sharp at all. When he was getting the ball over the plate, they didn't hit him (only one ground ball single); but he gave up a bunch of walks and was lifted very early.
I do think the best reason for young folks to participate in sports is to learn to handle winning and losing, since we all do both in life. Today is a good day for character building in my household, though not much fun.
Hope others' sons are playing well.
We're 3-1. Son is starter for tomorrow's game which will be against either a 3-1 team or 4-0 team.
Son is 2020 LHP. Picked up with a team at 16U WWBA in Atlanta last summer. Good time.
This year though his team is registered for the 17U WWBA West in Phoenix in a couple weeks. Anyone going to that? Hopefully there will be a similar college coach presence in Phoenix as there is in Atlanta, but I doubt it.
For those who are at the WWBA in Georgia, can you tell me about where the college coaches are? Do they all stay at Lake Point or do they make their way out to the other games on high school fields around the area? Anybody know?
Thanks
D2020 posted:For those who are at the WWBA in Georgia, can you tell me about where the college coaches are? Do they all stay at Lake Point or do they make their way out to the other games on high school fields around the area? Anybody know?
Thanks
There are always a bunch circulating at Lake Point. At other fields, you may or may not see quite a few—it depends on whether there are players in a particular game who they want to see. If your son is targeting particular schools, then he needs to let the coaches know where he will be if he hopes they will see him. (Ideally that communication should have been a week or so ago, but he could always try texting now.)
Chico Escuela, thank you. Yes, he's been in touch with a few schools in advance. I was just wondering what the chances are that they'd make the ride out, if they're interested in him.
D2020 posted:Chico Escuela, thank you. Yes, he's been in touch with a few schools in advance. I was just wondering what the chances are that they'd make the ride out, if they're interested in him.
If they are interested (and if there is not another field they want/need to be at), then they absolutely will make the drive. I have seen coaches at very far-flung fields.
D2020 posted:For those who are at the WWBA in Georgia, can you tell me about where the college coaches are? Do they all stay at Lake Point or do they make their way out to the other games on high school fields around the area? Anybody know?
Thanks
We’ve played three games at high schools so far and scouts at all 3. We had two 90+ arms facing each other yesterday and college and pros were crowding the backstop Today was hot as Hades and no shade and they were there. It depends a lot on the talent on the field More talent draws more eyes
TheRightScuff posted:Son is 2020 LHP. Picked up with a team at 16U WWBA in Atlanta last summer. Good time.
This year though his team is registered for the 17U WWBA West in Phoenix in a couple weeks. Anyone going to that? Hopefully there will be a similar college coach presence in Phoenix as there is in Atlanta, but I doubt it.
We know quite a few players who did the WWBA in Dallas last week. They said the coaches in attendance were pretty minimal.
Agree with Bandera. Coaches are mostly at Lakepoint but they will go wherever to see recruits. Yesterday we had 2-3 at our game and tonight probably had 15-20 coaches and scouts and we were 60 miles from LakePoint.
The umpiring has been ridiculous. Our game yesterday we had one ump for the first 3 innings. Tonight we had a guy behind the plate that was limiting pitchers to 2, 3 or 4 warmups because he wanted out of there. He kept rushing everyone. The batters, mound visits, the pitchers warming up, etc. If you can’t find quality umps then you need to limit the number of teams.
d-mac posted:Agree with Bandera. Coaches are mostly at Lakepoint but they will go wherever to see recruits. Yesterday we had 2-3 at our game and tonight probably had 15-20 coaches and scouts and we were 60 miles from LakePoint.
The umpiring has been ridiculous. Our game yesterday we had one ump for the first 3 innings. Tonight we had a guy behind the plate that was limiting pitchers to 2, 3 or 4 warmups because he wanted out of there. He kept rushing everyone. The batters, mound visits, the pitchers warming up, etc. If you can’t find quality umps then you need to limit the number of teams.
Sorry to hear that. The umpiring has been pretty solid for the games I have seen. The scoring for Diamondkast, on the other hand, has been worse than in years past. Doesn’t really matter in the end, but I have noticed consistent issues cropping up
With so many games, there are going to be quality problems. IMO the WWBA is kind of a madhouse because of its size, but PG does an excellent job. Most teams here are filled with good players, but have no shot at finishing near the top. If your kid is on one of the handful of teams with a chance to win the tournament, I can see how frustrations could mount. But for the vast majority of folks here, the key is just to try to enjoy the ride and hope your son has a good week. (Easy to say; hard to do sometimes...)
D2020 posted:For those who are at the WWBA in Georgia, can you tell me about where the college coaches are? Do they all stay at Lake Point or do they make their way out to the other games on high school fields around the area? Anybody know?
Thanks
So far, we have seen as few as 3 and as many as a dozen at our son's games outside of Lakepoint, but there have always been at least some at all of his games. Some of them start clearing out in the last few innings to make it to other fields before those games start, but I've been pretty impressed that they stay for at least 4 or 5 innings.
I find it interesting to watch what they do. Some stand around in clumps and catch up with each other while keeping one eye on the game. Some sit alone and write lots of notes. I've seen a few who stand off on a hill by the parking lot to watch (maybe to avoid prying parents?!).
D2020 posted:For those who are at the WWBA in Georgia, can you tell me about where the college coaches are? Do they all stay at Lake Point or do they make their way out to the other games on high school fields around the area? Anybody know?
Thanks
Mostly at LakePointe (8 fields) and East Cobb (3) ... and wherever the 90+ mph arms are throwing.
Enjoy it guys. First year in 12 years I have not been there for some age group. Almost rode up there just to watch. Son got invited to play in 18U WWBA but chose not to. To help you guys on coaches. We sent emails/texts according to how we had been communicating to coaches when and where son was pitching as soon as he knew. On scouts, they will go where they need to go. We were in Peachtree City one game which is below airport and there were 30 scouts with about 20 being SEC/ACC guys there. Two strong arms in last pool play game with aces on the mound because winner went on to bracket play. So they will go where they need to go to see the guys they want to see. Had a similar game another year and the scouts got the game moved to Lakepoint so they did not have to travel to see a great game. PG knows why they are where they are. SEC/ACC coaches and I'm sure other big schools have a say in PG mechanics. Which they should.
son got smacked around this morning. First 3 batters: HR, 1B, HR....didn't get any better....oof
Dirtbag30 posted:D2020 posted:For those who are at the WWBA in Georgia, can you tell me about where the college coaches are? Do they all stay at Lake Point or do they make their way out to the other games on high school fields around the area? Anybody know?
Thanks
Mostly at LakePointe (8 fields) and East Cobb (3) ... and wherever the 90+ mph arms are throwing.
Last year had an uncommitted stud throwing vs a top national team at some field over an hour south of Lake Point There were 20 scouts or more there 10 minutes before first pitch. I saw everything from local D2 in our area to national powers.
nycdad posted:son got smacked around this morning. First 3 batters: HR, 1B, HR....didn't get any better....oof
Sorry nyc. Just tell yourself it’s all about life lessons. (That’s what I told myself as I was lying awake mentally revisiting my boy’s bad game on the mound. Didn’t help much, but I hope you’re a better person than me. 😬)
[edited to remove emojis I accidentally inserted into quoted post]
The bad part of a bad outing at WWBA is normally you only get one chance to pitch at WWBA unless you make bracket play. The opportunity comes and goes and it is hard to move on for parent and player. But you must also know what the scouts see sometimes is not what happened to the ball but how much velocity and location. My son gave up two homeruns to same player this fall in one game. Otherwise had a great outing and player was drafted first round top 10 this year. Son said at least I gave them up to a first rounder. Maybe I will face him in pro ball and get even.
It's all good. He may get another outing in pool play. He's staying for the 16U and will get a start there as well. We never looked at WWBA as a big recruiting opportunity for him. It's all been camps, local PG events and our PBR state games last week. But still never fun to have a bad outing.
16U WWBA going a bit better. Son was scheduled to start and pitch 2 innings today at Lakepoint. Did well. Averaging 86-88, hit 89 and 90 once. A few schools he'd been in touch with were there to watch him, and a few reached out to his coach after.
