The Softball Guy's E Rankings

Softball Guy

Volume 1
05/18/11

After a short hiatus, I am back, and will try to update my E,D, and C rankings and thoughts weekly.  I try to be unbiased and opinionated and if anyone would like to get their thoughts out through me, please feel free to contact me, my information is below. 

E Rankings:

1.        Trust/Wicked Sports/Mario:  This team was off last weekend with a few of them playing in an NSA tournament in Jackson.  Regardless, they seem to be the real deal.  It’s mid-way through May, and all of the rumors about the “super team” that Lanvers and Rodney put together seem to be spot on.  They have a deep lineup, a solid outfield, and their infield is better than most.  We’ll see how they do come late August, but I’m curious to see whether they can match up with E team from Texas when they’re down in Florida this fall.

2.       Trust Sports Softball (JV/Luigi):  They had a nice run in Canton this past weekend.  With the Big Boys sitting out, they had a chance to match up with the teams they “had” to beat to earn any credibility.  After rolling Assasins, they went 7 innings to beat Riot, broke a 3-3 tie in the 7^th to beat Syndicate, and handled Irish Swagger to take down their first tournament win of the season.  They played well top to bottom, and their new pitcher gave them a chance to win all day.  They beat Irish Swagger to win the Championship in what I think was Swagg’s 8^th game of the day so I’ll be keeping an eye on this rivalry for the next month or two.

3.       RepoMonkey:  Repo went 0-2 in the D/E two weekends ago and lost to MushSportz.com and Blazers.  I know they have talent and will be a force in E if they use their top to bottom depth and speed on the base baths.  They lost to Blazers, who beat Khaos (which isn’t saying much) who is a “D” team, so I’m not ready to bump Repo from the top three quite yet. 

4.       Irish Swagger:  If they can stay consistent and not lose any of their players, I think they’ll stay a top-5 team all season.   Bulldogs were a good team last year, and a lot of them come from there.  The problem they seem to run into is that they lose early and have to battle back.  They don’t seem to have a problem going through the loser’s bracket yet, but it seems that they tend to run out of steam late in the day.  A loss to a surprisingly good Detroit Basers early this past weekend in Canton bumped them from the Winner’s bracket and forced them to roll through Venom, SWAT, RIOT, Basers, and a 22-4 win over Syndicate to face Trust (trust’s 4^th game) in an win or go home Championship game.  From the sounds of it, there are a few guys available willing to go to this team, and with some consistency, they could stay in the top 5 all summer.

5.       MC Push/Clark Building:  some would expect Syndicate to be in the top 5 but with an over-all losing record, and the big loss to Trust and Irish Swagger, they’ve been replaced.  I had the opportunity to watch Push at spring states, and was impressed with their top-to-bottom talent.  They lost their best player to Trust, so we’ll see if they can rebound/replace and continue to stay effective both offensively and defensively.  If they can shore up a leadership role from a talented hitter, they could be a top five team.

Surprise of the week:

Detroit Basers:  seems like people keep saying this about the Detroit Basers, maybe one of these weeks they’ll break into the  top 5.  They have a lot of raw talent, but seem to lack consistency.  Keep an eye on them , they could be a force in E.

Flop of the Week:

Motor City Venom:   Appear to have only one win on the season against S.O.S. Softall.  They went 0-2 in Canton this weekend losing by a combined 34 runs to Assasins and Irish Swagger.  These guys seem to have support and organization, but their skills and ability need a shakeup if they expect to stay together this season.  I can’t imagine doing this all summer long, unless they are truly out to enjoy the cold beer, the warm air.

Random thoughts:  The Assasins went 3-2 this weekend.  They have a lot of guys that are new to softball, and seem to keep improving.  Their coach has a winning attitude and seems to be willing to make the moves to create w inning team.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see them creep into the top 5 by July.  As mentioned in the “Surprise of the Week”, the Detroit Basers have the ability to finish the summer with a combined winning record If they can stay together.   Detroit Syndicate is a good team.  I would like to rank them 5^th, but after the pounding they took in their 2 losses this weekend, I just couldn’t.   They have the tools to win a few tournaments but seem to lack the maturity be a consistent top 5 team.

IF you have any questions, concerns, complaints or would like to add your two cents to my weekly thoughts, feel free to email me at SoftballGuy2011@gmail.com