My daughter is in her sixth season of travel ball, and after five seasons of playing for .500 teams, she now plays for a team that has been very dominant. It's a new experience. They've won 7 of their last 8 tournaments. Some would say (myself included, to some extent) that they need to find tougher tournaments, but they do play up in age division about half the time, and it is what it is.
But in any event, they are certainly a good team within the context of the level they are choosing play.
So my question is this - What makes the good teams good?
Is it pitching? Hitting? Does it change w/ age level? My memory of 10U was that it's usually the team with the best pitcher because there aren't many 10U lineups that are going to be deep with good hitters.
For my daughter's current team, which is 14U, the key seems to be the lack of weaknesses. The best 3-4 players are very good obviously, but they're not superstars. It's 5-10 where the team separates itself. There are no easy outs. The fielders don't often make a play that makes you go WOW!, but they just don't make many errors. Almost never make a throwing error to 1B. Balls that should be caught in the OF are caught. Our pitchers are hit-able, but they don't beat themselves. It's just an air-tight team. It seems like every team we play has a handful of girls who could make our team, but they don't have 9 of them.
Is that the blueprint for winning at any level, or
But in any event, they are certainly a good team within the context of the level they are choosing play.
So my question is this - What makes the good teams good?
Is it pitching? Hitting? Does it change w/ age level? My memory of 10U was that it's usually the team with the best pitcher because there aren't many 10U lineups that are going to be deep with good hitters.
For my daughter's current team, which is 14U, the key seems to be the lack of weaknesses. The best 3-4 players are very good obviously, but they're not superstars. It's 5-10 where the team separates itself. There are no easy outs. The fielders don't often make a play that makes you go WOW!, but they just don't make many errors. Almost never make a throwing error to 1B. Balls that should be caught in the OF are caught. Our pitchers are hit-able, but they don't beat themselves. It's just an air-tight team. It seems like every team we play has a handful of girls who could make our team, but they don't have 9 of them.
Is that the blueprint for winning at any level, or
