jmspears3 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Posted March 9, 2009 Hey TD they play 11u nations, I believe they are the Southeast Texas Gators , something like that. I believe there first tournament will be this weekend. Thanks, I found them. They are the SE Texas Gators. Good luck this weekend guys. If you get a chance you should go play in Baton Rouge at Cypress Mounds. It's a Cal Ripkin facility and it is really nice. We were lucky enough to play one of the first tournaments on it last year and our 9U and 10U Blue teams are going this weekend. They have 6 teams in the 9U group so far and 12 in the 10U group. We will travel this year. I was going to play in a few Lufkin tournaments, but they lump all the select teams & Elite teams into the same bracket and I do not like it, so we will be looking for a few more out of town tournaments. Do you have that Baton Rouge website? I have been coaching and managing a select team for 6 years and have played a bunch of tournaments in Lufkin and Nacogdoches. The competition up there is very, very good. And it does not matter what their classification is because they do not play enough in the larger area to get attention. This means that they fly under the radar so to speak and can be classed as a select or AA and really be very competitive in the elite or AAA. Very nice tournaments and very good people. It is always good to play some competition like this, it will only make your kids better. Yeah...I used to be on the board for LYBA when we lived up there. Judy runs a good tournament, My oldest son select team that I coached, we just had some bad experiences with the seeding of some of the tournaments.
LCM76 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Posted March 9, 2009 They need to get rid of little league and go Pony...let the kids play real baseball. Way to much politics for my liking. I guess you think there would be no politics in PONY? : Their are politics everywhere, you have to be here to understand what I am talking about. Little League needs to change their rules or pretty soon they will be obsolete. They will continue to lose kids to pony or select. There is more to the game than just standing on a base after you walk or get a hit. I disagree totally. PONY rules allow stolen bases at will for the younger players. I get sick of seeing a walk and two stolen bases(all the while the batter has the bat on his shoulder waiting until the runner gets to third.) No force outs at second, no double plays, and a pitcher who is just fighting to get the ball over the plate while all this is going on. It's a lot further from real baseball than little league. My opinion, for what's its worth. My kids played Pony baseball. With that in mind: For Mustang (9 & 10 yo in Pony), close the bases (no leads, like Little League). Its hard enough for kids learning to pitch to get the ball over the plate consistently without having to learn how to hold a runner on. For Bronco (11 & 12 yo), keep it as it is (allow leads, etc). I will acknowledge that for the more talented select teams, 9 & 10 yo can do a good job of holding runners at first. For the average league player though it can be a bit of a challenge. Just my opinion.
Guest Silsbee88 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Posted March 9, 2009 They need to get rid of little league and go Pony...let the kids play real baseball. Way to much politics for my liking. I guess you think there would be no politics in PONY? : Their are politics everywhere, you have to be here to understand what I am talking about. Little League needs to change their rules or pretty soon they will be obsolete. They will continue to lose kids to pony or select. There is more to the game than just standing on a base after you walk or get a hit. I disagree totally. PONY rules allow stolen bases at will for the younger players. I get sick of seeing a walk and two stolen bases(all the while the batter has the bat on his shoulder waiting until the runner gets to third.) No force outs at second, no double plays, and a pitcher who is just fighting to get the ball over the plate while all this is going on. It's a lot further from real baseball than little league. My opinion, for what's its worth. My kids played Pony baseball. With that in mind: For Mustang (9 & 10 yo in Pony), close the bases (no leads, like Little League). Its hard enough for kids learning to pitch to get the ball over the plate consistently without having to learn how to hold a runner on. For Bronco (11 & 12 yo), keep it as it is (allow leads, etc). I will acknowledge that for the more talented select teams, 9 & 10 yo can do a good job of holding runners at first. For the average league player though it can be a bit of a challenge. Just my opinion. IMO that is why they have league and select. If your kid is one of the more talented players, they will have no problem learning the game as a 9 yr old. If you are going to learn how to pitch you should learn to pitch with open bases.
jmspears3 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Posted March 9, 2009 They need to get rid of little league and go Pony...let the kids play real baseball. Way to much politics for my liking. I guess you think there would be no politics in PONY? : Their are politics everywhere, you have to be here to understand what I am talking about. Little League needs to change their rules or pretty soon they will be obsolete. They will continue to lose kids to pony or select. There is more to the game than just standing on a base after you walk or get a hit. I disagree totally. PONY rules allow stolen bases at will for the younger players. I get sick of seeing a walk and two stolen bases(all the while the batter has the bat on his shoulder waiting until the runner gets to third.) No force outs at second, no double plays, and a pitcher who is just fighting to get the ball over the plate while all this is going on. It's a lot further from real baseball than little league. My opinion, for what's its worth. My kids played Pony baseball. With that in mind: For Mustang (9 & 10 yo in Pony), close the bases (no leads, like Little League). Its hard enough for kids learning to pitch to get the ball over the plate consistently without having to learn how to hold a runner on. For Bronco (11 & 12 yo), keep it as it is (allow leads, etc). I will acknowledge that for the more talented select teams, 9 & 10 yo can do a good job of holding runners at first. For the average league player though it can be a bit of a challenge. Just my opinion. IMO that is why they have league and select. If your kid is one of the more talented players, they will have no problem learning the game as a 9 yr old. If you are going to learn how to pitch you should learn to pitch with open bases. I agree
td Posted March 9, 2009 Report Posted March 9, 2009 Hey TD they play 11u nations, I believe they are the Southeast Texas Gators , something like that. I believe there first tournament will be this weekend. Thanks, I found them. They are the SE Texas Gators. Good luck this weekend guys. If you get a chance you should go play in Baton Rouge at Cypress Mounds. It's a Cal Ripkin facility and it is really nice. We were lucky enough to play one of the first tournaments on it last year and our 9U and 10U Blue teams are going this weekend. They have 6 teams in the 9U group so far and 12 in the 10U group. We will travel this year. I was going to play in a few Lufkin tournaments, but they lump all the select teams & Elite teams into the same bracket and I do not like it, so we will be looking for a few more out of town tournaments. Do you have that Baton Rouge website? This is the hidden content, please Sign In or Sign Up Very nice park. I am going to play there in May, most likely Mothers Day Weekend. That ought to make all the Mothers happy ;D ;D It really is a nice park. The people are easy to work with also. We worked a pretty good deal with the Courtyard by Marriot. They actually encourage baseball teams to come and stay and understand that there will be 10-12 10 year old boys there and what that means. They have a nice restaurants on the facility where you can get an adult beverage if you would like. All of the guys running the complex are ex LSU baseball players. Good Luck.
643 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Posted March 10, 2009 There is NO comparison in LL to PONY ball >>>>NONE and that is pure and simple. Been there, done that. I took a 9y/o Allstar team to Silsbee from Buna 22yrs ago, the next yr was my last in LL and I never looked back NOR do I regret taking my youngest to PONY, the only regret I have is NOT taking my dads advice and moving both my sons ASAP. You ever had a controversy in a LL Allstar tourn ?? if not be advised you will be waiting on a return ph call from Williamsport Va, if in PONY a director is on site and can rule after the play. If you were to take a 13y/o Allstar team that came up thru LL and pr them with most any team from PONY it wouldn't take long to see the diff. BTW ask most any LLer to watch a Mustang or Bronco game and see what they would want to play, once again, its pure n simple...WW
westend1 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Posted March 10, 2009 I guess that's why the likes of Bridge City and Jasper are so weak. They have little league programs. : :
643 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Posted March 10, 2009 I'm thinking Jasper has NO choice, BC does and more than a few play BR, I had a choice and IMO it helped mine. If you do some checking LL has changed some rules to allow Allstar teams at a lower level than what they were for yrs n yrs, they couldn't stand the after season Allstar games PONY put on in all age groups...WW
Guest Silsbee88 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Posted March 10, 2009 There is NO comparison in LL to PONY ball >>>>NONE and that is pure and simple. Been there, done that. I took a 9y/o Allstar team to Silsbee from Buna 22yrs ago, the next yr was my last in LL and I never looked back NOR do I regret taking my youngest to PONY, the only regret I have is NOT taking my dads advice and moving both my sons ASAP. You ever had a controversy in a LL Allstar tourn ?? if not be advised you will be waiting on a return ph call from Williamsport Va, if in PONY a director is on site and can rule after the play. If you were to take a 13y/o Allstar team that came up thru LL and pr them with most any team from PONY it wouldn't take long to see the diff. BTW ask most any LLer to watch a Mustang or Bronco game and see what they would want to play, once again, its pure n simple...WW And now we have the rest of the story.........
jmspears3 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Posted March 10, 2009 I guess that's why the likes of Bridge City and Jasper are so weak. They have little league programs. : : Nobody said anything about BC or Jasper being weak.
td Posted March 10, 2009 Report Posted March 10, 2009 I'm thinking Jasper has NO choice, BC does and more than a few play BR, I had a choice and IMO it helped mine. If you do some checking LL has changed some rules to allow Allstar teams at a lower level than what they were for yrs n yrs, they couldn't stand the after season Allstar games PONY put on in all age groups...WW Guys, there are pros and cons for both. It really is a matter of preference.
texcoug Posted March 22, 2009 Report Posted March 22, 2009 I disagree totally. PONY rules allow stolen bases at will for the younger players. I get sick of seeing a walk and two stolen bases(all the while the batter has the bat on his shoulder waiting until the runner gets to third.) No force outs at second, no double plays, and a pitcher who is just fighting to get the ball over the plate while all this is going on. It's a lot further from real baseball than little league. If you think you get real baseball in little league well....thats funny. In Pony Pitchers have to learn how to pitch from the stretch, throw over to first. Runners have to learn how to lead-off. Coaches actually have to know a little something about the game in Pony or select. I have coached both Pony and little league for over 10 yrs and there is no comparison. Interesting discussion. I am in a PONY league and have to agree with both. I think that the local leagues should not allow stealing in Mustang until mid-season (because of the issue raised by westend -- he is right, that is not helping anyone to see the walking triple -- happens ALL the time, especially early in the season). On the other hand, the kids need to learn to hold a runner. I just think in league play that they should wait until the middle of the year -- like, allow leading off base, but no stealing until May 1. That way the P could learn to hold the runner without getting made a fool (I have seen poor Ps break down on the mound watching the base runners literally nanny-nanny-boo-boo the P who has no clue what to do). The problem is that the one league will not do it if it feels like it will put their kids at a competitive disadvantage from other leagues they compete with in tournaments. If all of the PONY leagues would adopt something along those lines, it would be good (IMO).
Recommended Posts