2012 Season
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Crimson's Ghost
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Re: 2012 Season
Don't drink the kool-aid. AAABA tournament was a stinker. All of the teams in the tournament were young, too. No reason to believe J-town will ever win.
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Crimson's Ghost
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Re: 2012 Season
AAABA hasn't been good in years. Johnstown can win one soon enough.
Re: 2012 Season
But they won't because they have such a limited recruiting area.
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Crimson's Ghost
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Re: 2012 Season
Biggest issues for Johnstown's limited success in AAABA.
1. The Johnstown SD has little to no good baseball players. The biggest local school district doesn't offer anything to the league. That HS program needs a face lift.
2. Johnstown having two teams also hurts success. The best team doesn't get to add the four next best players, they have to grab the third place team's best.
3. Somerset, arguably the best local area for baseball doesn't always have their kids play here. They play legion as long as they can and move on.
--Also, UPJ's success plays a big role. They had a down year, but if they get conference stability...They can get a better caliber of recruits which would be eligible to play here. Seton Hill has made good contributions recently to the league and they are coming off a big season.
--The age should make a difference, going from 17-20 to 18-21 will help Johnstown, because Johnstown typically carries more HS players then anyone else. So HS Juniors will not be a factor anymore. The League is moving to 6 teams next year, larger player pool could help.
I mean moving forward, Bishop McCort will be adding some good players to the league in the next few years. Richland is going to be loaded in the coming years also. Forest Hills will have some solid baseball players as well. North Star and Township typically produce good players. These local guys have to carry it, but UPJ,Seton Hill,Westmoreland County HS Seniors ect... have to play big contributions to the league as well.
1. The Johnstown SD has little to no good baseball players. The biggest local school district doesn't offer anything to the league. That HS program needs a face lift.
2. Johnstown having two teams also hurts success. The best team doesn't get to add the four next best players, they have to grab the third place team's best.
3. Somerset, arguably the best local area for baseball doesn't always have their kids play here. They play legion as long as they can and move on.
--Also, UPJ's success plays a big role. They had a down year, but if they get conference stability...They can get a better caliber of recruits which would be eligible to play here. Seton Hill has made good contributions recently to the league and they are coming off a big season.
--The age should make a difference, going from 17-20 to 18-21 will help Johnstown, because Johnstown typically carries more HS players then anyone else. So HS Juniors will not be a factor anymore. The League is moving to 6 teams next year, larger player pool could help.
I mean moving forward, Bishop McCort will be adding some good players to the league in the next few years. Richland is going to be loaded in the coming years also. Forest Hills will have some solid baseball players as well. North Star and Township typically produce good players. These local guys have to carry it, but UPJ,Seton Hill,Westmoreland County HS Seniors ect... have to play big contributions to the league as well.
Re: 2012 Season
Like I said, don't drink the kool-aid. If Johnstown ever wins the tournament under the current format, it will be a fluke. Unless of course, one or two pitching prodigies appear on the local scene at the same time. You mentioned all of these local schools and their upcoming talent, but you don't realize that nobody coming up in the local ranks has any more talent than anyone else had in the past ten, twenty...or fifty years. And look at how that has turned out.
Too often local coaches mistake adolescent maturity for talent. Thats why 99% of those Boiler kids turn out to be just average by the time they are 20 year olds. I mean sure they are talented for Johnstown, but it really is a big world out there.
Just face it. A local all-star squad can't compete with a team comprised of D1 players from the East Coast (Baltimore) or Southeast (New Orleans). And while we're on the subject, let's remember that this year's Baltimore bunch only went .500 back in their own league so it wasn't a surprise to see someone other than Johnstown send them home early this year.
Kool-aid can be addictive, so you might want to get out and try a different beverage once in awhile. Now, I am not being disrespectful to the local kids at all. However, to try and say that players in our area are better than these larger areas that recruit, well that is just plain irresponsible. And I think it has a negative impact on the local kids.
As far as your other points, here are some thoughts:
1. Johnstown has no players. Right, they all go to McCort.
2. Two teams are bad for success. Actually, two teams is good because the Oldtimer's are guaranteed five games of receipts. If only one team were in this year, it would have been two and out and the Old-timer's would have been in the hole. In fact, if the Tournament hadn't adopted this format three years ago, it may have been bankrupt by now and you'd be headed to Altoona for it.
3. Somerset doesn't have their kids play AAABA. Wrong, Somerset kids don't want to play AAABA because they are loyal to their school. They wait until they are out of high school and legion to drive 45 minutes to Johnstown everyday. Johnstown has so many competing leagues and teams that they can't even get more than 9 kids at a legion game. Our kids have had more scholarships, draft picks, and placments than any other school in South Central Pa in the last thirty years. They don't need Johnstown, but Johnstown needs them. Just about every successful Johnstown AAABA champion in the past thirty years has had some Somerset kids on it.
Too often local coaches mistake adolescent maturity for talent. Thats why 99% of those Boiler kids turn out to be just average by the time they are 20 year olds. I mean sure they are talented for Johnstown, but it really is a big world out there.
Just face it. A local all-star squad can't compete with a team comprised of D1 players from the East Coast (Baltimore) or Southeast (New Orleans). And while we're on the subject, let's remember that this year's Baltimore bunch only went .500 back in their own league so it wasn't a surprise to see someone other than Johnstown send them home early this year.
Kool-aid can be addictive, so you might want to get out and try a different beverage once in awhile. Now, I am not being disrespectful to the local kids at all. However, to try and say that players in our area are better than these larger areas that recruit, well that is just plain irresponsible. And I think it has a negative impact on the local kids.
As far as your other points, here are some thoughts:
1. Johnstown has no players. Right, they all go to McCort.
2. Two teams are bad for success. Actually, two teams is good because the Oldtimer's are guaranteed five games of receipts. If only one team were in this year, it would have been two and out and the Old-timer's would have been in the hole. In fact, if the Tournament hadn't adopted this format three years ago, it may have been bankrupt by now and you'd be headed to Altoona for it.
3. Somerset doesn't have their kids play AAABA. Wrong, Somerset kids don't want to play AAABA because they are loyal to their school. They wait until they are out of high school and legion to drive 45 minutes to Johnstown everyday. Johnstown has so many competing leagues and teams that they can't even get more than 9 kids at a legion game. Our kids have had more scholarships, draft picks, and placments than any other school in South Central Pa in the last thirty years. They don't need Johnstown, but Johnstown needs them. Just about every successful Johnstown AAABA champion in the past thirty years has had some Somerset kids on it.
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Crimson's Ghost
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Re: 2012 Season
Baltimore does play "up" in their regular season. They play in the equivalent age group to the Altoona League with AAABA aged kids. And the talent level for them has really dropped. It is still good, but again teams like New Brunswick and Cleveland are winning now.
Why is that? Baltimore isn't as good, Washinton doesn't even bring a team. The tournament is watered down. Johnstown on the right years could win it. Those Grays/Delweld teams in the early 2000's that made deep runs Zambotti/Dicken/Mayer/Slatcoff ect... were better than any of the teams here this past week. They actually had to play GOOD Baltimore teams. Had those teams got to play the teams from this past weekend, they would have been in the Championship. The Grays made the Final 4 in 2002,04, and 05. Delweld and Gallikers finished second in 03 and 01 respectively.
Trust me it isn't Kool Aid. It is reasonable.
1.The tournament isn't as good as it was even 5-6-7 years ago.
2. Johnstown had better teams in the past, no reason to think they will never have good teams again.
Thats it! Johnstown gets to play in the lower bracket! Its not so unreal for Johnstown to make a run if the right teams fall in place. Drop the second Johnstown squad, and its very much believable they could make a run at a championship. The 2001 and 2003 second places were actually when Washington brought their best team, the Arlington Senators here. Thats three quality teams along with Baltimore and NO. Johnstown finished ahead of two of them.
Why is that? Baltimore isn't as good, Washinton doesn't even bring a team. The tournament is watered down. Johnstown on the right years could win it. Those Grays/Delweld teams in the early 2000's that made deep runs Zambotti/Dicken/Mayer/Slatcoff ect... were better than any of the teams here this past week. They actually had to play GOOD Baltimore teams. Had those teams got to play the teams from this past weekend, they would have been in the Championship. The Grays made the Final 4 in 2002,04, and 05. Delweld and Gallikers finished second in 03 and 01 respectively.
Trust me it isn't Kool Aid. It is reasonable.
1.The tournament isn't as good as it was even 5-6-7 years ago.
2. Johnstown had better teams in the past, no reason to think they will never have good teams again.
Thats it! Johnstown gets to play in the lower bracket! Its not so unreal for Johnstown to make a run if the right teams fall in place. Drop the second Johnstown squad, and its very much believable they could make a run at a championship. The 2001 and 2003 second places were actually when Washington brought their best team, the Arlington Senators here. Thats three quality teams along with Baltimore and NO. Johnstown finished ahead of two of them.
Re: 2012 Season
It was stated in the paper, one of them, that from the beginning of the season, Baltimore had lost 13 pitchers for varying reasons. 13? And they went 20-20. If they had some of those kids, they would have steamrollered this tournament, like they usually do. Lets just call Baltimore the private/ catholic franchise of the AAABA. Same diff. as BMCHS.
It ain't over until it's over.
Re: 2012 Season
If the tournament goes bankrupt in Johnstown it is over. Altoona wouldn't draw 300 fans on opening night.In fact, if the Tournament hadn't adopted this format three years ago, it may have been bankrupt by now and you'd be headed to Altoona for it.
The Clarks had more to do with keeping it alive this year than the presence of a second Johnstown team.
Re: 2012 Season
Altoona has more teams and a larger population than Johnstown. Plus, they have Curve Stadium. Yeah, it could work.
Johnstown's recent success is due to the format change that allows them to play in the lower bracket every year. In 1990, Johnstown had three players drafted from the Pepsi-Cola team and finished 2-2. In 1996, Johnstown had two players drafted from Principle and went 0-2. Meanwhile, due to their limitless recruiting, Baltimore and New Orleans have two or three kids drafted every year - sometimes even local kids. In fact Bryan Beggs, Matt Kamalsky, and just last year, Austin Urban won championships while playing for Baltimore. Their success is due to the fact that they are permitted to recruit kids nationally. However, everyone knows the current Johnstown league would never allow it because someone could get an advantage on the recruiting trail. You can dream that Johnstown will win it all someday, but unless they come up with another scheme, it will always be the same result.
Again, this is nothing against the kids. If the Johnstown kids played a team from Frederick, Towson, or Jefferson Parrsh, I bet they'd win it quite a bit. But when they have to knock off a team full of D1 kids from all over the eastern and southern United States wearing the same jersey, its a different story.
Johnstown's recent success is due to the format change that allows them to play in the lower bracket every year. In 1990, Johnstown had three players drafted from the Pepsi-Cola team and finished 2-2. In 1996, Johnstown had two players drafted from Principle and went 0-2. Meanwhile, due to their limitless recruiting, Baltimore and New Orleans have two or three kids drafted every year - sometimes even local kids. In fact Bryan Beggs, Matt Kamalsky, and just last year, Austin Urban won championships while playing for Baltimore. Their success is due to the fact that they are permitted to recruit kids nationally. However, everyone knows the current Johnstown league would never allow it because someone could get an advantage on the recruiting trail. You can dream that Johnstown will win it all someday, but unless they come up with another scheme, it will always be the same result.
Again, this is nothing against the kids. If the Johnstown kids played a team from Frederick, Towson, or Jefferson Parrsh, I bet they'd win it quite a bit. But when they have to knock off a team full of D1 kids from all over the eastern and southern United States wearing the same jersey, its a different story.