Poll : HS vs TB-A

[GOINGDEEP]

The thing I am trying to learn/reveal:
Some folks could be in a hs district that pulls from multiple excellent TB-A teams, dilluted enough, that the hs team IS actually better than the areas TB-A teams (again,.. as a result of the dilluting of tb with the growing number of TB-A teams - from my perspective). Results in a hs team that is a "TB-A all-star team".

I just curious to what DFP folks see when they look at their region/states hs vs tb scenarios from where they are sitting.

I'll take it one step further. Without a shadow of a doubt, our HS team would run rule my DD's college team and probably beat most of the college teams I've seen so far ( live and in person ) at various levels. ( of course not large D1 programs, I'm not crazy )

Once you get to the sub state and state level in the playoffs ( the top school classifications ), you'll notice those teams have at least 50% of their roster that play A level TB.

 

[iMlearning]

Tb a

TB A... Not even close.

 

[ScottyDont]

The only thing that would keep a HS team in a game against a true TB A team is a TB A level pitcher. That's it. Otherwise, it's a blowout. There's not a HS team in our area that would beat a good TB A team, and most would lose badly.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Generally, TB-A.

We have a number of HS teams that are loaded with major D-1 commits that could compete with TB-A teams. Most don't have the pitching depth necessary to contend in a compressed TB tourney, although Pacifica certainly does with 3 major D-1 commits (NC, Stanford and OH St).

HS ball can be very challenging for freshmen to play against strong HS teams. HS ball was more challenging than TB-A for my DD when she was a freshman and 4 of the other 6 teams in our league were ranked in ESPN's Fab 50.

 

[Cannonball]

SoCal_Dad, I can think of many schools in our area as well that will field 6,7,8 D-I players each year. There are two schools in our area that will again, have 2 or 3 D-I pitchers and I'm talking mid major and not lower D-I teams. I am so glad that I don't live in the area some of you live in.

Of course, the trick is getting the pitching and the position player mix right so that a team can compete for a championship.

My dd's senior year team:

3 pitchers D-II and one is at Top 10 D-II in country.
1B and RF at Top Ten NAIA School
2B - D-I
SS - D-I
3B - Is not playing - Had scholarship but didn't play.
LF - D-I
CF - D-II Top 10 (My kids)

So, not a bad HS team. We won over 20 games, beat the #4 and #6 ranked teams in the highest class in the state, Lost to the state runner up by one run. I won't go as far as to say that they would beat any college team. They were spread out over 2 graduating classes and did not have any depth after that.

 

[riseball]

TB-A

Although this is kind of an apples to oranges comparison.

The majority of the folks that think that their HS team could do well at Nationals have not seen a good ASA Gold team. I find it ironic that many of those bragging about their HS team quickly point out how many are TB players. Great HS teams are a direct result of the TB teams that provide their players. Where do they think these players developed their skills? HS teams live and die based on their TB pitchers. I want to see the HS team that develops a dominant pitcher working with her only 3 - 4 months out of the year. If your DD is a TB player all you can do is hope that the HS coaches are just glad to have her and don't try to muck with their mechanics.

 

[RichK]

In the Chicago area there are a handful of large high schools in prime travel ball areas that would do fine entered into an ASA or PGF tournament, especially those that have top pitchers. People in the area love to slag high school ball but it's mostly bad feelings/politics...the level of play in the larger conferences is decent. In fact, I knew a girl at a very large area school that earned a D1 scholarship as a pitcher before she pitched an inning at varsity level ... the high school pitching roster was that deep.

 

[softball88]

I said tb-a. We have 3 tb- a pitchers (I would call them b+ pitchers) throwing to rec catcher, rec cf and rec lf. We would compete against tb-a but in the end...I don't think we win. If an a player gets on 1b...it's really a triple. Our rec catcher won't throw them out. Great kid...but Ave arm. The 3 rec players would be 3 outs for a true tb-a pitcher.

The 3 pitchers play for 18u A, 16u A and 14u A. Each one has flaws but our state diluted the tb-a side with b+ teams. You win a tournament your an a team.

It would be a fun yr if we go. 500 in hs.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

the college teams I've seen so far ( live and in person ) at various levels.

So GD - what would you say is the anomaly or "stand-out" here?

Is your HS just that amazingly stellar-good or are these college teams you are seeing just that challenged? Are you seeing “less-than” play up to mid-level D1’s ???

 

[RubberBiscuit]

HS ball can be very challenging for freshmen to play against strong HS teams. HS ball was more challenging than TB-A for my DD when she was a freshman and 4 of the other 6 teams in our league were ranked in ESPN's Fab 50.

So what proportion of your mentioned "challenge" here is mental versus "skills" based?

I can see more that TB-A 12U girls might have a bigger gap to close coming into HS Varsity - for a lot of reasons