in your opinion who are the top summer teams around the northeast

If you are talking the 17-18 division, I have some thoughts. I hope I don't leave anyone out, but it is surely possible. My observations are based on my experiences seeing these teams from 1989-2003, while I was still the manager of the Columbia Reds (MD). This would include participating against these programs in tournament or post-season play. By the way, I consider the northeast to be: DE, PA, NJ, NY, CT, NH, VT, MS, ME, RI.

Bayside Yankees American (NY) - Cuseta
South Troy Dodgers (NY) - Rogers
Brooklyn Youth Services (NY) - Zitter
Brooklawn American Legion (NJ)
Stahl Post (DE)
Grand Slam Diamonds (DE)
Bayside Yankees National (NY)

My apologies to folks associated with other top-notch programs in the northeast. I consider Bayside and South Troy to be the measuring sticks!

Team Cape Cod is always strong. They have appeared in the NE Regionals for 5 years running.

No offense taken. your list must have been made years ago as you said....Last I checked Delaware is not in the Northeast . As long as we keep getting new teams to compete, the thrill lives on.

Tops may be
Bayside American
South Troy Dodgers
Long Island Titans
World Yacht Clippers
Team CT
Bergan Thunder NJ
Youth Services
All American Baseball PA


There were more kids signing NLI's from the Clippers and Titans then most.

Coach Merc

Just curious--where do the LI Tigers and NY Cardinals stand in your estimation?

TR..
The Cardinals have a real nice program We have had the opportunity to play them each of the last few years. They had a bunch of 05's with them this year with Mike Anderson being their high profile 06'. There are actually quite a few kids from my area that have been with the Cardinals the last few years.

As for the Tigers. Tremendous reputation but with all the travel we do and events we've played in, we have never run across the Tigers. I don't even know any kids playing with them. In the past we always had a few from up my way playing with them. Jason Dellaero for one. So I can't really give an opinion.

The others, Bayside A, South Troy, Bergen, Team Ct and All American as well as College Select we have played. There was also the Infurno team from upstate NY that I thought was outstanding.
There is a legion team out of Springfield MA that had a bunch of solid players and this falls Riptide Team was loaded with good players. McGeary, Duffy etc.

Coach Merc

There is another aspect here that I think players/parents should be aware of --many of the summer teams are 18U teams with the nucleus being HS seniors who had graduated and are prepping for the Fall College Frosh season which I think is great--the kids are playing great baseball while staying in shape for the Fall College time.

The Fall teams are a bit different in that they are comprised of HS seniors as well as underclassmen and I think you would agree that most summer "teams" are not necessarily the same "teams" in the Fall.

And yes the Inferno Team is a very solid and outstanding program out of the Buffalo area. we hope that they will be back in our tournament this summer- They are always solid and very competitive.

TR
I think for me as a coach and as a program administrator, the fall has always been much more enjoyable and competitive. Some of the teams mentioned above played the summer without a signable player. All had graduated either in 04' or 05'had already committed and/or completed their first year of college.
Forget birthdates, tournaments should be run as per class years with no exceptions. 18u should be this years 06' with the 17u being 07's and so on. This should sound familiar.

CM

it does as we have for years dealt with Class Years not age

Note about the Tigers.

Excellent organization - but they took a hit when Babinsky went to the LI Titans.

His record as a Tiger coach (16U) was hard to believe - and he helped produce a very long list of college baseball players.

Both groups are top notch - as are the Cardinals. IMO

Coach Merc...geography was never one of my strong subjects in school

Living in MD, Delaware is North/East of us!

Sorry about that...

My son had the opportunity to play with the NY Cardinals this past summer. Great organization -great baseball-Ian Millman does a great job with 18u team-IMO.
It was the first time my son was away from home for any length of time. He learned a lot about baseball and life (Brooklyn, NY is just a tad different than Blue Anchor, NJ!). He also lived on the road for several weeks which is a great experience for anyone who is thinking about pursuing baseball as a career. He made many good friends that he keeps in touch with.

Best of luck to Mike Anderson...great kid!

My son played last summer with the Connecticut Bombers. Really good team with excellent coaches and a very competitive schedule. I think it was very good preparation for college ball.

how about tri state arsenal. i kno thats my team im not just talking us up but we did beat the ct bomber every time we played them this year and a couple other teams mentioned and we won aau nationals

Coach Merc, I've seen your team play and I think the World Yacht Clippers are a class organization with a bunch of talent. My son plays for the All American Baseball Academy and we saw you guys in Cooperstown the last 2 years. He played on the 15U team but just moved up to the older team. Looking forward to seeing you again in August.

I think this topic might be dead, but if it isn't, I was wondering if all of these programs were in the same price range, and if so, what the range is.

Andrew,
sometimes it's not all about price, it's what your getting for the $$$. Our budget is somewhere around $80K of which the players are responsible for $40. The rest is sponsor money raised by the staff.

Last summer the team spent 20 straight days on the road. This after the PG BCS in June. Airfare, hotels, meals, ground transportation, laundry etc. Then we played a 30 game regular season, went to Cooperstown for a weekend and then to Maryland for the Bear Classic. These added an additional 6 nights in hotels and meals.

Add in uniform costs, batting helmets, baseballs, insurance, league fees, umpires for league games, and tournamnet entrance fees, some over $1000 per event.

As I said, comparing costs is irrelivant until you compare what your getting. There are programs where it costs less to play because they have more sponsor money and there are programs that when you make ti to the elite team in the program it costs less because the younger teams are supplimenting the "A" team. Some teams charge to tryout, others don't.
This does not make one organization better then another. It's what your hoping to get out of the experience and that programs track record.