14U ASA/USA nationals in Normal, IL

[29dad]

Just a tremendous experience. I got to meet 3 other DFPers and watched some great ball games. The folks in Normal were exceptional hosts. There were a lot of neat touches like having an announcer for every game and also website updates for all the games every 15 minutes or so. As for the ball, DD's team finished tied for 9th out of 124 teams. it was a pretty special run. in 8 games, DD went 15 for 27 (.556) and hit two homers. One set of fields had permanent fences at 225 feet (very high fences too) and DD had a double that hit the top of the 225 fence in center field. For the first time a college coach actually asked our coach about her and wants DD to attend a future camp or set up a visit or something like that. It's all so new and a little bit exciting.

It was really cool meeting fellow DFPers tghorley, JAD and tommyrobertson. Nice folks! The interesting thing about meeting Tommy is that it was the beginning of our first bracket game. I was sitting in a chair and noticed a "presence" to my left. I looked his way and he pointed to the girl on deck, wearing number 29, and asked if I knew her. Well, yes. Yes I do. So tommy introduced himself. We chatted for about 30 seconds and then we watched DD hit a two run homer. I know, Shameless brag post, but it was pretty cool. Tommy gave me and my wife warm "high fives" and just seemed so genuinely happy for us. It was a moment I won't soom forget.

JAD's team made a nice run. We watched them for an inning or two and realized that one of JAD's players was actually a teammate of my DD at 10U nationals 4 years ago when we lived in Ohio. Such a small world. Tghorley's granddaughter's team went VERY deep, and his granddaughter caught every inning of every game. The poor kid had bruises on top of bruises but she toughed it out, showing tremendous courage. As I mentioned in another post, my guess is that grandpa inspired her.

Hard to believe that the season is over, and even harder to believe that 2014 tryouts are tonight.

 

[dropball1]

Sounds like some great memories made and many more to come! Congrats!

 

[maksoftball]

Sounds like an awesome time! Did ya'll, by any chance, play any teams from Texas? The team that won practices out of a field 5 minutes from our house. They seemed to have a pretty good run this year.

 

[tghorley]

Great meeting and talking to you this weekend. You should not be surprised at college coaches asking about your DD, she is a great player offensely and defencesly.


As a 99 team, I did not know what to expect. They went 5-2 and finished tied for 13th. Oh, by the way, thanks for putting us out of the tournament.

I was really proud of my DGDs as they stepped up to the plate.

Very excited to see my DGD play so hard. She hustled the whole time she was there. She caught a total of 9 games and was bruised up pretty good, especially her left arm from foul tips. I believe she could have hit a little better, but the umpires, through the course of the tournament, conficated 4 bats that she was using (Xenos). I think she slept the whole 11 hour trip home.

Our season is not over yet as we are playing a big 16u showcase tournament (5 games) this weekend and then we start the fall season.

What a great experience, loved every minute of it!

 

[Jillsdad]

Am I correct that this and the other ASA national tournaments are double elimination with no pool games? Seems like a lot of teams traveled across the country to play two games and go home.

 

[29dad]

Am I correct that this and the other ASA national tournaments are double elimination with no pool games? Seems like a lot of teams traveled across the country to play two games and go home.

No. That's not correct. Two pool play games followed by double elimination bracket, a 4 game guarantee.

 

[Jillsdad]

That sounds better thanks!

 

[JAD]

It was a great experience and one my DD and I will always cherish. Her team did not play as well as we would have liked at times, but it seems like most games we played or watched could have been won by either team. There were a lot of late inning comebacks, which I attribute to the 7 inning games - no time limits in bracket play. A lot of runs scored in most games, so the pitching was not as dominate as I thought it would have been.

 

[JAD]

Am I correct that this and the other ASA national tournaments are double elimination with no pool games? Seems like a lot of teams traveled across the country to play two games and go home.

Most teams arrived on Saturday and ASA set up scrimmage games on Sunday for teams who were interested (we played two games). Monday started pool play and the teams are divided into 4 team "pools". These four team pools play a mini "tournament" that seeds them 1-2-3-4. Tuesday night the coaches "draw" their slot in bracket play. There are four buckets 1, 2, 3, and 4 and the team draws from the bucket that corresponds to their order of finish in pool play. In first round bracket play a #1 seed will play a #4 and #2 plays #3. ASA "protects" teams from playing another team in their region for one round (I believe it was 2 rounds in the past), so some teams had to redraw their bracket slot.

If you include the scrimmage games, it was basically a 6 game guarantee - 2 scrimmage, 2 pool, and 2 bracket.

 

[29dad]

A lot of runs scored in most games, so the pitching was not as dominate as I thought it would have been.

We played in the 14U ASA nationals last year and it seemed like there were a lot more 1-0 and 2-1 games in that tournament. I remembered the pitching being more dominant and then it hit me - I think the change to 43 feet at 14U in ASA this year really made a huge difference.