rank the softball hotbeds in the U.S.

[Rocketech1]

I would be more specific, ground zero for U.S. girls fastpitch is Orange County, CA. Hands down. I would guess that the greatest concentration of Top 25 D1 players in the nation went to high schools within 30 miles of OC. That's the definition of "hot bed".

 

[SoCal_Dad]

I would be more specific, ground zero for U.S. girls fastpitch is Orange County, CA. Hands down. I would guess that the greatest concentration of Top 25 D1 players in the nation went to high schools within 30 miles of OC. That's the definition of "hot bed".

The +30 miles is a very important addition because a lot of top players come out of the neighboring Inland Empire area. The Big VIII league is arguably the strongest in SoCal.

 

[slingnit]

However, none of the 10 OK girls started a WCWS game. With 8 of the 10 primary players being from CA, the 2013 National Champs were really the Cal Sooners of OK. The other 2 are from NM and Australia.

The remarkable thing about Bama winning the title in 2012 is they did it without any CA players.

Hang on there, did I say how many started??? The question is where are the hotbeds? Do you really think Gasso makes a habit out of brining in girls just because they are Okies??? Or does she think they can play a little? Never before has Gasso recruited the number of in state girls as she has the last 2 years. Now half the team is in state girls with 3 more coming in the fall. And why in the world would there be any comparrison at all of CA and OK. With Cali having 10x's more people(not counting illegals), the volume of kids and SoCal having playable weather year round gives them an advantage over every state. But now west coast teams(most notably the #1 team in the country) are reaching to the east(Oklahoma included) to bring in players in, not going for just the SoCal and AZ kids. And why so amazing for Bama to win with ZERO SoCal girls? Why in the world would Bama need to go to Cali for players??? Sitting in the middle of FL and TX there is as much talent as they need, but they are all over the country with recruits. Granted CA is the largest population of softball talent, but the game does not begin and end there! Gasso on the other hand is a SoCal girl and has ties to that region. So she did what she knew, i suspect.

 

[coachbob]

I would be more specific, ground zero for U.S. girls fastpitch is Orange County, CA. Hands down. I would guess that the greatest concentration of Top 25 D1 players in the nation went to high schools within 30 miles of OC. That's the definition of "hot bed".

Four of the top six 18u gold teams in the country are in/adjacent OC. D1 rosters are littered with girls from those four teams.

 

[coach james]

Honestly about anywhere in the US that can play outdoor ball nearly 12 months out of the year could be deemed a hotbed. In the Midwest we only get about 8 months a year of outdoor time

 

[Rocketech1]

Hang on there, did I say how many started??? The question is where are the hotbeds? Do you really think Gasso makes a habit out of brining in girls just because they are Okies??? Or does she think they can play a little? Never before has Gasso recruited the number of in state girls as she has the last 2 years. Now half the team is in state girls with 3 more coming in the fall. And why in the world would there be any comparrison at all of CA and OK. With Cali having 10x's more people(not counting illegals), the volume of kids and SoCal having playable weather year round gives them an advantage over every state. But now west coast teams(most notably the #1 team in the country) are reaching to the east(Oklahoma included) to bring in players in, not going for just the SoCal and AZ kids. And why so amazing for Bama to win with ZERO SoCal girls? Why in the world would Bama need to go to Cali for players??? Sitting in the middle of FL and TX there is as much talent as they need, but they are all over the country with recruits. Granted CA is the largest population of softball talent, but the game does not begin and end there! Gasso on the other hand is a SoCal girl and has ties to that region. So she did what she knew, i suspect.

If you look at the rosters for the current Top 10 D1 teams in the country, there are no state of Oklahoma players on the roster. If that state was really a hot bed for softball talent, the best teams in the country would be pursuing them big-time. For example, Mike White (#1 Oregon) has done a fabulous job of recruiting players from CA/AZ over the past 5 years. Is it possible that Gasso has had a hard time recruiting the top players and has to take the next best available players which might be coming from her state?

 

[JJsqueeze]

Hang on there, did I say how many started??? The question is where are the hotbeds? Do you really think Gasso makes a habit out of brining in girls just because they are Okies??? Or does she think they can play a little? Never before has Gasso recruited the number of in state girls as she has the last 2 years. Now half the team is in state girls with 3 more coming in the fall. And why in the world would there be any comparrison at all of CA and OK. With Cali having 10x's more people(not counting illegals), the volume of kids and SoCal having playable weather year round gives them an advantage over every state. But now west coast teams(most notably the #1 team in the country) are reaching to the east(Oklahoma included) to bring in players in, not going for just the SoCal and AZ kids. And why so amazing for Bama to win with ZERO SoCal girls? Why in the world would Bama need to go to Cali for players??? Sitting in the middle of FL and TX there is as much talent as they need, but they are all over the country with recruits. Granted CA is the largest population of softball talent, but the game does not begin and end there! Gasso on the other hand is a SoCal girl and has ties to that region. So she did what she knew, i suspect.

someone's jealous...

 

[SoCal_Dad]

... (wah, wah, wah) ...

Reality is coaches fill out their rosters with in-state players because they can get them cheap. They're low-risk signees and hopefully a few of them will pan out.

In OU's case, Gasso had her scholarships tied up with the primary players and didn't have anything left to offer others. Only 8 of the 10 OK girls returned this year and the addition of 2 more again puts them at 10. I expect at least 2 more will fall out after this year.

It's embarassing that neither OK pitcher nor the TX pitcher have been able to fill Gascoigne's void and Gasso is now relying on position players, Casey and Pendley, to do the job. I hope Gasso has another transfer like Stevens for next year.

 

[slingnit]

someone's jealous...

Jealous, no. PROUD, yes. I know half the girls on the team. Watched them grow up playing. So having 10 state kids on a national championship team is awesome. I bet Gasso could have found "filler" players from CA.

 

[slingnit]

Reality is coaches fill out their rosters with in-state players because they can get them cheap. They're low-risk signees and hopefully a few of them will pan out.

In OU's case, Gasso had her scholarships tied up with the primary players and didn't have anything left to offer others. Only 8 of the 10 OK girls returned this year and the addition of 2 more again puts them at 10. I expect at least 2 more will fall out after this year.

It's embarassing that neither OK pitcher nor the TX pitcher have been able to fill Gascoigne's void and Gasso is now relying on position players, Casey and Pendley, to do the job. I hope Gasso has another transfer like Stevens for next year.

Reality? Maybe. Gasso has been there since 94-95, so why now to start using in state players???? We're not talking about filling the Oregon St roster, we're talking about filling the roster for a team that has been to WCWS the last 3 years. And maybe 50% of recruits work out regardless of where they are from. Miller and Townsend are still hopefuls while Self and Ellis are doing their thing. So about right. But what is embarrassing is the that the "Mecca" of softball(socal) has had ONE team win the WCWS in 10 years. Talk about a let down.