High school softball

[JayW]

Obviously, it depends where you’re at and the level of high school softball played. In central Florida, the best high school teams are stacked.

High School: With National Championship on the Line, #2 Winter Springs Tops #1 Lakewood Ranch 3-0 in Florida 8A State Title Showdown - Extra Inning Softball

The 2019 Florida 8A state title-winning Winter Springs Bears finished 31-0 and will be crowned as the Extra Inning Softball National Champions.

extrainningsoftball.com

 

[Strike2]

Obviously, it depends where you’re at and the level of high school softball played. In central Florida, the best high school teams are stacked.

High School: With National Championship on the Line, #2 Winter Springs Tops #1 Lakewood Ranch 3-0 in Florida 8A State Title Showdown - Extra Inning Softball

The 2019 Florida 8A state title-winning Winter Springs Bears finished 31-0 and will be crowned as the Extra Inning Softball National Champions.

extrainningsoftball.com

I agree. Many states have high schools that are Travel Ball all-star teams. California and Texas are two other states that come to mind. DD's HS was like that. There were some pretty good players who hardly got off the bench.

 

[Lemond]

Perhaps because high schools are tied to education (I.e., “student-athletes”), TB is not?

 

[Eric F]

I agree. Many states have high schools that are Travel Ball all-star teams. California and Texas are two other states that come to mind. DD's HS was like that. There were some pretty good players who hardly got off the bench.

The top HS teams in So Cal are stacked with players headed to D1 schools. The talent level is excellent. It is not uncommon for some of those HS coaches to also have top-level TB teams.

 

[_MIA_]

If HS doesn't matter, then why does it get such detailed attention in the biographies of some of the best players in the sport???

Because TB doesn't usually give out many awards which you can put in a Bio and look cool?

 

[HunterMO]

I’m no expert in the HS vs TB debate. However, in our little world in SW MO, I tend to lean towards the crowd that says HS stats are taken with a grain of salt as it pertains to college. My question is what’s the difference on attention paid from local colleges versus non-local. Obviously coastal D1 program isn’t going to pay attention to DD’s HS stats. But a more local college program might?

Our JH and HS squads presently are stacked locally. Made up of 99.9% TB players. Ranging from mid to high level. Our school program is one of the top three within the conference. The other two being almost equally competitive and also being made up of TB players. Outside of the top 3-4 teams….it turns into a mercy rule schedule. When our school plays programs from the larger cities (KC and STL) they tend to look middle of the pack. I’d suspect if they played top teams all season the stats would look more like TB.

Where I think school ball becomes important is it allows players to play for something larger than just the team. DD loves school ball because of this. They are competitive. Coaches are great. And she’s very close with her teammates. But she also gets to play for her town. There’s even cross town rivalries. Think Friday Night lights….but on a Wed with smaller crowds. She wears the “gear” and people talk to her about it. It’s a sense of pride for her.

 

[HunterMO]

Because TB doesn't usually give out many awards which you can put in a Bio and look cool?

First place trophy posts on Facebook don’t count?

Or is it Snapchat and TikTok now?

I swear I’m not that old yet…….

 

[Bonesaw]

That's fine, but doesn't answer the question about the importance of HS. If it doesn't matter, why mention it at all?

Who cares about someone being "All State" or being the "State Player of the Year" or anything else like that? If HS doesn't matter, why even mention it? Why put detailed HS stats by year, but give a one-line mention to the TB team?

I think listing the HS is more for fans/general public. Nobody outside of softball knows/cares who the batbusters or firecrackers are or what a sparkler or PGF means. They might be interested in where the player is from though and listing the HS lets people know this.

I dont think that they list it to tell people that they recruited the player based on HS performance.

 

[CoachJD]

Because it's really, really easy for a mid-level TB player to look like a stud in HS.
Resume padding.

Which players at Oklahoma were mid-level TB players?

 

[_MIA_]

Like I said, individual recognition is few and far between in TB. Only thing I can think of that would seem “impressive” is something like PGF/Alliance All-American. These bios are not designed to do anything but to “sell” the player to the general public..

If a kid wants to play HS and she is able to, then she should. If she doesn’t then she shouldn’t regardless of how it may or may not effect her recruiting journey.