Little League Softball World Series on ESPN

[AnotherSoftballDad]

I saw this was coming up in my program guide. Does anyone have a clue what level it is? Would the winner have a chance in the local USSSA A level tournament? No one around my area does it.

Watched some of this with my kid.

It was well done by ESPN. The commentary was good and made it fun to watch.

Pitchers were pretty good if ESPN wasn't lying about speed. 13 year olds throwing 60mph.

Defense and hitting was B level. I saw a lot of mistakes that would have got my kid benched.

 

[_MIA_]

Pitchers were pretty good if ESPN wasn't lying about speed. 13 year olds throwing 60mph.

What team(s)?

 

[AnotherSoftballDad]

What team(s)?

Can't remember.

Yellow vs. Maroon.

I think one was from Louisiana.

I watched 1/2 the game.

I had serious doubts about the radar because some of those kids had ugly swings and they were hitting the ball.

 

[_MIA_]

Can't remember.

Yellow vs. Maroon.

I think one was from Louisiana.

I watched 1/2 the game.

I had serious doubts about the radar because some of those kids had ugly swings and they were hitting the ball.

I haven't seen anybody who looked more than mid 50's maybe.

 

[AnotherSoftballDad]

I haven't seen anybody who looked more than mid 50's maybe.

The Hosts were talking about it "last season the pitcher's goal was to hit 60 and she just did with that pitch!"

Otherwise I would not have noticed.

My thought was "These girls aren't that good but the pitchers are throwing 60??"

 

[canyonjoe]

It could give the uniformed the impression that the LLSBWS is the highest level of girls softball. Like many have pointed out it’s B level at best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So what? It's important to the kids and they are out there playing. You can take that attitude about all levels of play until you reach the top.

 

[Spin it]

If you are an "A" level travel player and are playing little league all stars you and your parents should be ashamed! You are missing a host of national tournaments and leaving your travel teams holding the empty bucket while you chase the dream of getting on TV in a league that once was. High level of play left those leagues years ago, its unfortunate in a way, but the leagues are still good for the girls who want to learn and enjoy the game at a lower level. Its a shame that people try to put together a super team in these leagues, but people always try and take advantage of a situation....

 

[rjgarcia76]

What's up with the elitist viewpoints sprinkled through this thread??? How many players are truly "too good" to take part in an experience like this??? Why bash kids/parents for wanting to go out, have some fun and compete on a national stage? I truly doubt there are many kids (if any) participating in this who have left their travel ball teams high and dry to do so...

 

[_MIA_]

What's up with the elitist viewpoints sprinkled through this thread??? How many players are truly "too good" to take part in an experience like this??? Why bash kids/parents for wanting to go out, have some fun and compete on a national stage? I truly doubt there are many kids (if any) participating in this who have left their travel ball teams high and dry to do so...

Well I think the problem is in many States there are a lot of LL programs so they are limited to having an All Star team from a single town or maybe two towns because of boundary rules. On the other hand, some states don't really have a functioning LL program (and hence the kids don't play LL at all during the year) and hence can basically pick TB kids from all over the state to be on their team the way the boundary rules work.

 

[rjgarcia76]

Well I think the problem is in many States there are a lot of LL programs so they are limited to having an All Star team from a single town or maybe two towns because of boundary rules. On the other hand, some states don't really have a functioning LL program (and hence the kids don't play LL at all during the year) and hence can basically pick TB kids from all over the state to be on their team the way the boundary rules work.

So by that rationale, travel ball teams based in areas with huge populations who have enormous player pools to choose from should never compete on the same stage as teams based in smaller areas with smaller player pools? And again, why should a kid not be able to have an experience like this just because there aren't as many LL programs in their home state? Having quality players participating does nothing but bring up the overall quality of the games being played. Isn't that the whole point? Who wants to watch the rec-level world series on ESPN???

And the kids that are there participating did have to play in a set number of sanctioned LL games throughout the year in order to qualify...