[carnutbill67]

Any of you guys have a daughter that plays travel softball? Mine is 11 and has been playing travel ball since 8U. I thought it would be nice to have a thread to discuss the upcoming season and maybe share some tips with each other. My daughter swings a DeMarini Insane bat in 31 drop 10. That's 31 inches long and 21 ounces in weight for those who don't know. Do any of your daughters have the Easton Ghost bat? My daughter is all about it but I think she just likes it because it's black and looks tough. She wont be getting a new bat this season because her DeMarini is a custom order and was $500. That was me that just had to order the custom bat. haha.

 

[partsguy57]

Any of you guys have a daughter that plays travel softball? Mine is 11 and has been playing travel ball since 8U. I thought it would be nice to have a thread to discuss the upcoming season and maybe share some tips with each other. My daughter swings a DeMarini Insane bat in 31 drop 10. That's 31 inches long and 21 ounces in weight for those who don't know. Do any of your daughters have the Easton Ghost bat? My daughter is all about it but I think she just likes it because it's black and looks tough. She wont be getting a new bat this season because her DeMarini is a custom order and was $500. That was me that just had to order the custom bat. haha.

Yep did it all 8u until the bitter end... fun fun... I wish. Drama drama drama some from the girls, more from the parents. ( every parent thinks their daughter is gods gift to softball) we had a good time in general, would I do again with hindsight? I'm not so sure. Daughter did have lots of smaller colleges wanting her to play ( scholarship) but daughter was done!!! Burnt out. Paying her own way along with us for college refused to play anymore. My wife pushed the softball thing hard arguing the money spent would be more then offset by college scholarships. Would have been true expect daughter was burnt and refused to play in college.. took the boys outlaw kart racing for years. Way better investment in time and money. Setup is key to winning so the fathers battle in the pits and the kids on the track. Softball or stick in ball sports in general, parent is nothing but a spectator and I've heard enough comments from the fat softball moms and dads ( especially the moms) to last a lifetime. Have fun. Cheers

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[Shmoken]

Make no mistake the Ghost is the hottest bat out there right now. The one with the blue writing that's ASA approved. The other that has all the stamps not so much!
The Easton will feel heavier than the Demarini even being that the Insane is considered end loaded. No worries if she sticks with it you will have bats everywhere..

 

[carnutbill67]

We FINALLY found a good team this year. Had enough of "daddy ball" to last forever. My wife played college ball and really helps keep the kid motivated. Luckily, shes a pretty good 3rd baseman and a great hitter. The 80-100 games a year takes it's toll for sure. the first thing I tell parents wanting to get their girl involved is choose the team based on the coaches and the parents not the kids. if the parents are dicks, their kids probably are to. If we all would just invest the money we spend on sports, the kids would have college paid for.

 

[carnutbill67]

Make no mistake the Ghost is the hottest bat out there right now. The one with the blue writing that's ASA approved. The other that has all the stamps not so much!
The Easton will feel heavier than the Demarini even being that the Insane is considered end loaded. No worries if she sticks with it you will have bats everywhere..

I heard that one was approved and one wasn't. I just didn't know which one. My wife wants her to use a Louisville since that's what she used in college. I always rag her and say "yeah but they don't make the wood ones anymore".

 

[fast89stang]

Daughter is 14 and plays 16u travel ball and just now got on our local high school team. I am a pretty proud pops because our local team is pretty "political", if you aren't someone or know someone, then you usually aren't on the team. She did well in her try outs. Kid loves it. We tell her to only play for her, but she loves the game. She gets very upset with herself when she makes mistakes. I try and provide her with the best equipment I can, I feel like if a 300 dollar bat can help her gain a scholarship, then Ive saved money in the long run. She currently has a Louisville LXT and a Easton Ghost ASA model. She loves the ghost and it does help the her get more distance. She is considered one of the top hitters on her team, even tho she is only a freshmen ,comparing her to seniors. Shes constantly striving to be better, and I think that's what makes her a great player. I do not feel like she is the best even tho shes my kid, but She is good. Hoping her younger sister chooses to play, because having a older sister that will be able to teach her the correct way to do things vs "squash the bug" while batting will give her the potential to be a beast if she chooses to do so.

 

[partsguy57]

I heard that one was approved and one wasn't. I just didn't know which one. My wife wants her to use a Louisville since that's what she used in college. I always rag her and say "yeah but they don't make the wood ones anymore".

Lol yep every mom living softball through the daughter... daughter is in final year in college and is starting this spring with her traveling "u" coach and high school coach ( same guy) helping out with the team..... and yet threw out the college scholarship money as she was burnt out playing... go figure...

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[partsguy57]

We FINALLY found a good team this year. Had enough of "daddy ball" to last forever. My wife played college ball and really helps keep the kid motivated. Luckily, shes a pretty good 3rd baseman and a great hitter. The 80-100 games a year takes it's toll for sure. the first thing I tell parents wanting to get their girl involved is choose the team based on the coaches and the parents not the kids. if the parents are dicks, their kids probably are to. If we all would just invest the money we spend on sports, the kids would have college paid for.

Very true.

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[Brian Oatway]

I coach a 16u travel team and the local HS team. Both of my daughters were All State and played in college (youngest daughter is in FLA right now for spring training). Once they got to about 12yo I took a back seat coaching their teams.

While the drama can be killer sometime I would not trade the softball time I've spent with my daughters for anything.

I am not a huge fan of the whole D1, athletic scholarship hype. I've coaches and my daughters have known many girls who chased the D1 dream. Almost without exception they were burned out by the experience and did not finish 4 years playing D1 ball.

On the other hand I've known even more girls who played D3 and had a blast. They played year round, went on great spring training trips AND were helped by the team to pick up Academic financial aid.

And here is the kicker.....Athletic $$ is not guaranteed, you need to stay healthy and make the team each year. Academic money is locked in for 4 year so long as they maintain grades.

I would never crap on an exceptional players D1 ambitions, but I lean a different way with most of my advise. Let's face it girls need to get an education #1 in college, not like baseball where top guys can actually make some money playing ball.

 

[dexnblair]

My daughter is a 12U player. She currently has two bats, the Louisville LXT (2015 model) 32/22 and the Easton Ghost USSSA (2018 model) 32/22. For me, there is no better bat than the 2015 LXT. Just something in how they made the LXT that year. I am looking for 2015 33/23 and 33/24 so when she needs to move to a bigger bat I have it. She likes the Ghost OK, but prefers her LXT. The other "holy grail" bat is the old Demarini CF5 -10. Around here you can sell a used one for as much as a new one. But I have never been much of a Demarini fan. We had two and the both broke pretty quickly and never seemed to have the pop as the LXT.

Also a good bat for the money if you have a smaller kid having trouble getting the bat around is the Louisville X12. Its a -12 but has good pop for a mid-grade bat. Also seeing a lot of girls going back to the Louisville Xeno. Went and watched a D1 college softball invitational this past weekend. 3 of the 5 teams were swinging the Xeno, one team the LXT and the other team Rawlings.

 

[partsguy57]

I will say this... after the full run of it do it for fun only and if you are doing it for fun there will come a time to tell the coach and others to pound sand. The stupid cult like following many in the traveling teams have will create problems in other areas if you don't. Have fun. Cheers

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[dexnblair]

Yep, we are there now. My daughter told her coach she was done and walked away. She is playing school ball only now and having a blast. As a 7th grader she is playing varsity (small school, no middle school or JV team) and she hit her first over the fence HR at 220'. Has hit it out several times on fields that were 200' but struggled with the 220' but that was purley mental as several of the HR's at the 200' field would have cleared the fence at 220'.

She is playing as a guest player now for travel. We get a call every week from a coach asking her to guest play. She can pick the tournaments she wants to play and have fun doing other things as well, which I like a lot.

 

[partsguy57]

Yep, we are there now. My daughter told her coach she was done and walked away. She is playing school ball only now and having a blast. As a 7th grader she is playing varsity (small school, no middle school or JV team) and she hit her first over the fence HR at 220'. Has hit it out several times on fields that were 200' but struggled with the 220' but that was purley mental as several of the HR's at the 200' field would have cleared the fence at 220'.

She is playing as a guest player now for travel. We get a call every week from a coach asking her to guest play. She can pick the tournaments she wants to play and have fun doing other things as well, which I like a lot.

Very good.. fun is the way to go and the route we would choose if we did over.

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[rapidr]

I ran a softball tournament for 12U, 14U, 16U, and 18U, for 10 years, and I NEVER had a problem with ANY of the girls, but the parents... Had to, the last 3 years, have police on site to keep the incidents down. I still watch the local high school's team, and given a choice, I'd rather watch Girl's Softball teams play than MLB. Never understood why they stopped it in the Olympics, Personally, I'd ban aluminum bats from all leagues, the extra 10 mph it adds to the ball are not worth the possible injury to the pitcher. 43' is pretty close to get a pitcher to react, IMHO.

 

[SWJ73]

I ran a softball tournament for 12U, 14U, 16U, and 18U, for 10 years, and I NEVER had a problem with ANY of the girls, but the parents... Had to, the last 3 years, have police on site to keep the incidents down. I still watch the local high school's team, and given a choice, I'd rather watch Girl's Softball teams play than MLB. Never understood why they stopped it in the Olympics, Personally, I'd ban aluminum bats from all leagues, the extra 10 mph it adds to the ball are not worth the possible injury to the pitcher. 43' is pretty close to get a pitcher to react, IMHO.

Softball will be back at the next Olympics.

 

[rapidr]

Softball will be back at the next Olympics.

Good. MIGHT get me to watch them this time...

 

[SWJ73]

My daughter is 14 and plays on a 16U/HS team. A lot of the tournaments in our area don't have enough teams to make 16U and 18U so several of the tournaments put the two age groups together. We are a little behind on playing in our first tournament this year but supposed to play on the 16th. A little worried about the beginning of the season as most of these girls have not played this age group. It will probably take the team a couple of tournaments to get use to seeing the different pitches.

 

[midnightbluS10]

My best friends daughter plays at the high school level. She's a Senior this year, I think. Maybe a junior. I believe she got a scholarship to some huge softball school in Texas(UT-Tyler). Maddie Ennis is her name. She's fuckin AWESOME. Switch hitter with power from both sides of the plate. She's damn good. Not 10u though. Sorry! Her and her family have spend the last decade playing travel ball. They were/are one of the top teams in the country usually. Louisiana Titans was their last team, I think. I don't recall exactly.





https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.shreveporttimes.com/amp/556326002

http://www.maxpreps.com/m/career/default.aspx?careerid=dada26b4-edc2-e511-bef0-a0369f3c1b4c

 

[midnightbluS10]

Turns out UT-Tyler was ranked #3 in the country last year in Div III until they moved to Div II in July. Had no clue they were a Div II school. Hopefully they can continue to dominate now that they're in Div II so Maddie has a good program to join, still.

 

[midnightbluS10]

She was tied for most home runs last season during spring high school season. Maddie is a beast. I played baseball with her dad from the time we were 8 years old. We(around 8 or 10 of us; almost enough for our own Little League team twice. It was us and 3 or 4 other kids lol) were all extremely good in my neighborhood because we grew up with a baseball park half a mile from home, so we stayed out there hours upon hours for year after year after year. Cold. Hot. It didn't matter. We were baseball playing fools. Her dad still coaches but I'm sure at this point he's stepped back and let people who know more take over.

Hell, there were times we played 2 vs 2 lmao. 1 pitcher and 1 outfielder. Had to make it to 2nd base or you were out automatically. It was fucking fun! :lol: we seriously be out there from 9am to dark. Every day.