It’s getting colder outside and the sun is setting earlier and earlier. As a baseball lover, I truly long for warmer days ahead. Fall baseball is rough at times, including this past weekend, I enjoyed watching my oldest son playing at a Perfect Game event. This weekend, 12u baseball came to mind as it’s a magical time and often considered the primary year of youth baseball. It’s the year of Cooperstown, it’s the last time for the boys to play on a smaller field.
The 12u season is special, as a player and for family members, as many great memories are made both with childhood friends and families. This past weekend, I kept an eye on The Sykesville Wood Bat Tournament. This tournament featured some good teams and players. The Olney Pirates, HCYP Raiders Blue, BCC Big Train, Williamsport Angels, Sykesville Cyclones (host team), KMS Barnstormers, Rockville Rockets and a new team Mid Maryland United competed with lumber for bragging rights. There is nothing like the sound of wood bats but these wood bat do change the game at 12u. BCC Big Train won the Sykesville wood bat tournament, outlasting Olney in a good final game. In many of the games this past weekend, the wood bats made this tournament a pitcher’s paradise. In the spring, the metal bats will return and offenses will erupt again.
Let’s take a look a some of the top 12u teams for this upcoming spring. In looking at any teams this early, it can be tricky. Rosters are mostly completed but some teams will add players to those rosters at a later point. I decided to take a look at some of the changes of the top teams and started by looking at results from Spring 2018 (11u season) and this fall to predict the future.
This is not a ranking and teams are not listed in any particular order:
• The Olney Pirates – 62-7 record Spring 2018 and a fall 23-3 record according to game changer Olney has a big recreational program to pull talent from and the reputation to attract neighboring talent, this Olney team added arguably the top HCYP Raider from last season to an already good roster – considered one of the top 2 or 3 teams every year
• Gambrills Athletics – 35-13 record Spring 2018 and a fall 9-3 record according to game changer Gambrills really finished strong last spring beating Olney and Mid Atlantic Red Sox soundly several times and really has a talented group of players- often considered the best team in Maryland
• HCYP Raiders Blue – 37-13-1 record Spring 2018 and a fall 7-6 record according to game changer HCYP like Olney benefits from a big recreational program and name brand recognition, a team that is capable of beating anyone in the state
• BCC Big Train - 37-7 record Spring 2018 and a fall 14-2-1 record according to game changer Big Train team has tons of great pitching and arguably the best pitcher in the state this coming year- I look for this team to make noise in 2019
• Mid Atlantic Red Sox – 40-21-2 record Spring 2018 according to game changer The Red Sox have changed a good bit. The Red Sox added a set of twins from PA, The Red Sox added a really good Pitcher from a nearby program and The Red Sox lost 4 players to Mid Maryland United – Team is well coached
• Severna Park Green Hornets – 38-16 record Spring 2018 and a fall 8-1 record according to game changer- A very sound fundamental team, lost a key player to Gambrills - can beat anyone in the state
• Elkridge Hurricanes Orange – 28-12-2 record Spring 2018 according to game changer – a very competitive team, has one of the best hitters in Maryland on the roster – another team that can win a tournament, regardless of competition on any Sunday
• KSI Elite – 20-3 record Spring 2018 according to game changer – This club is known for offense and the organization broke away from the BCCC Warriors
• Mid- Maryland United – New team that has talent. The pitching talent is really good and will be even better in spring, this team also plays good defense – It will be interesting to see what this team does in the spring
• Others to watch: GORC Wildcats, Williamsport Angels, Catoctin, KMS Barnstormers, API Blue, Mid-Atlantic Shockers, Lake Shore Graysox
