But if you went and saw true high level A ball, with most players destined for WCWS schools, you would know it. It's a far cry from most HS softball and even quite a jump from slightly lower A ball, i.e. PGF Premier vs Platinum, Tier 1 vs Tier 2 Alliance.
100%. My DD's 18U team is what I would consider mid-level. They played PGF Platinum last year, and did respectably well, but not outstanding. Every girl on the team plays on her HS varsity team, and has the ability to play at the college level, if she wants to, including a couple that would be successful at the D1 level (but probably not on a top-25 team). The week before PGF, the team played in TC Nationals, which was an invite-only event that included the top teams of the big orgs in So Cal (Batbusters, Firecrackers, Corona Angels, etc.) . Those top teams are deep with girls committed to top-25 D1 schools. My DD's team got curb-stomped. It was brutal...but they went into PGF a little more prepared.