SWB

Vidor Pinto up 12-5 top 5th. Campbell for Vidor hit home run over left field fence. Keep it up guys!!!!

Like it or not select is here to stay. And for leagues to survive, and to do well in All Stars, they have to get on board.Houston area leagues for years, have combined their leagues with select , here in SETX we need to do the same. Some are and are reaping the benefits. The BC 12 s that just ran through district, all select players. The Lake Charles LL team that went all the way to LL WS last year, all select players. You cant convince me that playing more games against better competition doesn't make your players better. Baseball isn't just about athletic ability , it also takes a lot of hard work to get to the next level. And for my son and my players that is what we are doing, working to get to the next level. We have no pipe dreams, but would like to see our boys play high school ball and compete at that level. And if your not playing some select tournaments ,your boys are behind the eight ball. Yes anything done in excess can cause cause burn out and damage some arms , but in moderation and control, select ball is a great thing.

I manage a 12 U select team , we played most of our games at Ford Park. We elected to play in one of the USSSA WS , so we didn't play in the Nations state tourney. Last night I received an email from Nations, stating that my team has been awarded a pass down berth to a Nations national event . So, I don't think its a " Gladiator" thing. Nations is just attempting to get as many teams as possible to play in a National tourney. And in years past if a team couldn't make the state tourney due to league or whatever , they could usually get a pass from the state director, but no refund of coarse.

Vidor Had Mustang All Stars in 2006 - and Bronco All Stars in 2007 -

I know in coach pitch its hard to give up an inning of offense. But on the other hand if you put one of your good batters at the end ,he may only get 1 or 2 AB s, some games. I feel , your best hitters should get the most AB s. Its not fair to the kid that works hard and is a good hitter to hit 12. just my opinion.

Yes , we would play. Another local option would be a good thing. I would post some tournaments soon, as many teams are planning their entire spring / summer schedules. I will leave some weekends open if this is for real. I manage a 12u team.

Yes I agree , the antler restrictions are great. It's been in effect in San Augustine county for a few years now , allows the deer get some age on them. Number 10 is not a good idea, got to let us bow hunters have this time, before all the shooting starts.And yes it will be taken advantage of. I can see it now Billy Bob will have all his and his sisters kids in camp, all with extra tags for him. Horrible rule!!!!

I feel the low fall turn out at Ford Park had a lot to do with Ike. Not only Ike but many people evacuated for Gustav, which the two storms put a huge financial strain on the area. Another factor; Louisana has not switched to Nations ,they are still USSSA .Therefor, Ford Park lost the usual Louisana teams that come over from Lakecharles area. Hopefully spring will be a different story, it is very nice to play locally most of the time.

Off shore was good sat ,but had to get almost 50 miles out to get to blue water, I'm guessing due to storm. Caught snapper limit for 5 in about 45 min , drifting over some structure near a rig in 70 ft water , snapper were suspended at about 40 ft. ,good size to them, and could have kept going.Big Kings weren't hard to find slow trolling ribbon fish, actually caught the biggest one on a free lined squid.Ran across some really nice ling but had hard time getting them to take anything , hooked up with one nice ling but spit hook. Overall good day on water , pretty long run though.

The web site is KatyPonyBaseball.org , They have weekends off for league , they register their league teams with USSSA , AA or A ball. They host some USSSA tournaments at their fields. I think one of the CY Fair leagues register es all of their league teams USSSA , A ball. If the league would combine w USSSA you could pull back some of the select players and maybe keep some for ALL Stars. And the local leagues could get together and each host some USSSA tournaments which should be better revenue for the league than PONY tournaments. Still host your usual allstar and directors tournaments w PONY. The leagues could increase revenue this way and may be able to back some select teams of kids who may not be able to afford a straight select team, with all the travel etc. Our area is lucky to have Ford Park they hosted tournaments all most every weekend this spring so travel, if you play primarily in Beaumont; is not an issue for our area.

LOL - you've heard that speech before.That's great about the Shetland team !!!! I would be there to watch and cheer , but we are headed out of town this weekend. Good luck to Vidor Shetland ,Pinto,Mustang and Bronco All stars. Benn Sanford

You both make great points , and I wasn't trying to take anything away from this years Vidor Bronco team. But I do believe there is a need for select and league. I wish more local leagues would learn to intergrate league and select. Make it easier for select kids to play league with their friends, and still be able to compete at a higher level. Just check out Katy PONY web site , it is a very good example of a league that has combined with select. Instead of leagues getting upset when kids leave for select they should be reaching out to them ,and figure out ways to intergrate .They are just kids who want to take it to the next level. You are right, I think the kids playing league in Vidor Bronco will step it up , and I hope they do well.

The Vidor Bronco division has lost about 15 players to select this year. Just about all of them, were regulars on the All Star teams.Except for one, the top pitchers at that age, are all playing select.Although, I wish them well, don't think they will be near as strong as last years Bronco team.

Thanks for all the responses, will be a big help!!

Getting together a 8U team, all experience has been with USSSA baseball. Have none with softball. Any feedback would be appreciated. Are there local tournaments for 8U , if so, what are the organizations we need to register with , USSSA , etc .... ?? Are there any web sites to find tournaments?

Been to many camps with my son and for the price and location the Lamar camp is just fine, not the general camp unless your child is 5-7. But the Hitting/Pitching camp the final week is , in my opinion worth the time and money. Low ratio of kids to coach and many quality reps and some in site from one of the best pitching coaches in the country.

Smart League!!!! Wish ours would wise up and do the same and pull some select players back to league.

Yes , Spring is the best time of year!!! Basketball is something to do while its cold and rainy out. Baseball is the game of skill and intelligence. There is nothing more difficult in sports than to learn to hit a fastball. It takes years to develop the skills needed to compete at a high level in baseball. There is no way a child who has never played baseball to start playing at 11 or 12 and be able to compete with the boys who have been playing since t ball. On the other hand basketball is a more pure athletic game , skills can be picked up easily.I know a very athletic child who had never picked up a basket ball until 11yo and has developed into 2nd best player on his team in one season. NO WAY THATS HAPPENING IN BASEBALL, no matter how athletic the child is.So Baseball is the sport for the highly skilled , intelligent and athletic child , whereas in basketball you can get by with just the athletic part.

PONY at age 9 - 10 gives the individual league the option to lead off or not.In my particular community the PONY league is much more competitive than our local LL and they choose to lead off.Their mentality is it prepares the select few for allstars.Instead of making it a positive experience for the whole group of kids. We have a lot of kids that quit baseball between the ages 10 and 11. I feel it's because at the 9-10 yo level they get beat up on by a few strong teams that just steal bases at will and run up the score. There are kids at 9 and 10 that do very well with leading off and holding runners on. But the majority of the kids do not and it becomes a field day on the base pads. Coaches run up scores by walking and stealing home.This is not how it should be done.I'm a huge PONY supporter ,and believe if done the right way is a very good program. But do agree that at the 9-10 yo should not lead off unless the more competitive teams are separated.I do think that coaches and parents are putting too much emphasis on competitiveness at 7,8,9,10 years old and when it starts to matter and the kids start actually developing they fall off because we've pushed so hard at early age.

12 U AA team looking for scrimmage -- would like to do it tue and thur next week at Ford Park. If interested -- call 791-5207. Benn Sanford

Coaching , they can come to watch their kids.

The two Coaches that left the field and the individual out side the fence , who was an older brother of two players , were banned from coaching and all coaching activities indefinitely. They do have the right to petition the board each year for reinstatement. An incident like this is inexcusable and VYBL also has zero tolerance for this kind of behavor. This was a great team ,who knows what they could have accomplished, if it weren't for the so called adults involved with this team. I hate it for the kids , and we all have to remember thats all its about the KIDS, not our pride. Congrates to the team, great job!!!