USSSA Eastern World Series in Salisbury, MD - seeking info

[Gudystash24]

So we are participating in the 12U eastern world series in a couple of weeks in maryland - have any of you been and what do i need to know that I will not find on the coaches info packets? I know that I will not get my schedule until I attend the managers meeting but wondered if any of you had info that would be helpful to me.

Thanks

 

[Jquick823]

I have been the last 3 years. You get your schedule as soon as you check in which is before the managers meeting. Below are some things for your awareness.

1. Practice on a baseball infield prior to attending. There is a huge chance you will play on a baseball infield. Some of the parks are only setup for baseball and even include a nice bump in the circle. yeah I know you paid all this money and that's the crap field you're going to get. $1500 for a baseball infield. But if you practice on it first you won't get bunted on as much.
2. Pin Trading-If you haven't looked into this yet do so now. 12 pins per girl and a lanyard or team towel for each girl to attach their pins to.
3. Opening ceremonies is fun. If it's at the shorebirds stadium they have a bunch of activities to do for the girls after the team announcements. If it's in the wicamico civic center it's a concert which I would skip after the team intro.
4. Make hotel reservations that you can cancel and make them soon. You can go home on day 2 of the tournament which is a Thursday so that's a lot of days to be stuck with a $150 room.
5. Make a team trip to Ocean City. It's right down route 50 from Salisbury. Stay out of the water there has been several hammerhead shark sightings. But there is a board walk, restaurants and games for the girls to play along with a few rides at the pier.
6. If you have parents that bring RV's they should stay at Fort Whaley or Frontier Town. They are good, clean parks and you get free entry to the water park at Frontier Town even if you stay at Fort Whaley.
7. Order your tournament shirts in advanced.
8. Be prepared to move parks mid day and definitely the following day
9. All fields should have temp fences or be 200'. They do well with that part. Never played on a 300' field during world series that didn't have a temp fence up.
10. Prepare your team to hear every cheer known to softball. The annoying ones that they girls do about to low you almost hit her shoe and if you do we're coming after you and your whole team too. Yep you will hear it the entire tournament. So if you don't like it, get used to it because there is no rule against it and the umps are hot and tired.
11. Stay hydrated. It has reached well into the 100 degrees with lots of humidity during WS week.
12. Enjoy it, if you're not from that area it's a nice regional WS for the girls. Consider going to Orlando the following year as it will be cheaper for the parents in regards to hotels.

 

[corlay]

There is a huge chance you will play on a baseball infield. Some of the parks are only setup for baseball and even include a nice bump in the circle. yeah I know you paid all this money and that's the crap field you're going to get. $1500 for a baseball infield. But if you practice on it first you won't get bunted on as much.

wow.
I am glad we decided to decline our berth.

Thanks for the insider info.

 

[Jquick823]

Yeah it's definitely sad but it's happened to my team to include one year I helped with 18U A. So many teams they have to do it. I think the park is Fairland and I know Field 1 there is definitely a baseball field.

 

[CoogansBluff]

I have been the last 3 years. You get your schedule as soon as you check in which is before the managers meeting. Below are some things for your awareness.

How do you like the area? Salisbury and Delmarva in general? I know it's not a resort, but curious. Univ. of Salisbury has a first-rate softball team.

 

[CoogansBluff]

wow.
I am glad we decided to decline our berth.

Thanks for the insider info.

The USSSA world series in Orlando also is played on converted baseball fields, for the most part.

 

[Jquick823]

How do you like the area? Salisbury and Delmarva in general? I know it's not a resort, but curious. Univ. of Salisbury has a first-rate softball team.

I live about an hour away. The area isn't too bad, crime after dark is an issue in certain areas. Delmarva is nice, the summer time is great. Lots of softball and close to everything. Ocean City is a real good time for kids and adults. They have everything a resort type town has. My kids like the go karts and mini golf options. I'm pretty sure I've played every course in Ocean City.

Salisbury does have a very good team. I'm blessed to live close enough to walk to watch some D1 Softball. But I do plan on getting down to Salisbury next season if the travel schedule allows it.

 

[murphdog]

We've played there twice and have always played on real softball fields never on a baseball field, maybe we got lucky both times? We played at different field complexes and all of them had multiple softball fields, I honeslty don't remember seeing a baseball field at any of the ones we played at.

 

[Jquick823]

We've played there twice and have always played on real softball fields never on a baseball field, maybe we got lucky both times? We played at different field complexes and all of them had multiple softball fields, I honeslty don't remember seeing a baseball field at any of the ones we played at.

Depends a lot on age group also. 10u/12u and occasionally 14U will play at Fairland and they have baseball fields. It's not all complexes but there are baseball fields that you may end up on.

 

[murphdog]

Depends a lot on age group also. 10u/12u and occasionally 14U will play at Fairland and they have baseball fields. It's not all complexes but there are baseball fields that you may end up on.

Like I said I guess we got lucky because we played there for 12s and 14s. Going this year as 16s also