My 14 yo son recently moved back to Manchester and has played AAU ball in NH as a 13 & 14 yr old. Really good left handed hitter and a great control pitcher throwing approx. 75mph with decent off-speed and great location. Undecided on continuing with same AAU team as a 15, but am aware it might be difficult to join a new team that might already be established. He will be starting his Freshmen year next month and wants to continue with Fall Ball.

Any ideas, opinions, comments and/or advise is GREATLY appreciated.

Look forward to hearing from you guys and getting to know the locals players (coaches, scouts, etc ...) in the Manchester area.

Hi Nasty,
Your question is something that has been debated here recently. The bottom line is that a player should play in a program that will challenge him, provide good competition and instruction. That can be AAU, Legion, Senior Babe Ruth...

I actually am in the same boat as you. My son has played 12-14U AAU the past few years. He will be a 15U player (freshman) next year. The issue/decision factors for me are the following:
- local Babe Ruth is not nearly the same competition level as the AAU and travel competition we've faced (I'm actually in Delaware right now at Sports at the Beach and have seen some very good competition...i'll post a review of Sports at the Beach later...)
- Senior Babe Ruth is run in our town and is a possibility but...they normally don't take many 15's and I'm not sure a 15 would get much playing time on a 20 man roster. I'd hate to decide on this route and then find my that my son is not playing...
- Junior Legion is another option but I don't know a lot about this program or quality level right now...

Our AAU program (the Souhegan Valey Saints) is planning to run a 15U program for this reason as a way to fill the gap prior to Senior Babe Ruth and Legion kicking in fully. The reason I really like this idea is:
- Quality winter training program and instruction. These kids will be really ready for school tryouts...
- A quality run program with independent coaches and instruction after the school season is over with plenty of playing time, quality instruction and top level competition for these 15U players.

Now I know some people may comment about the cost of an AAU program being a waste of money but I don't have the in-depth knowledge or the time to take my son to the next level. I could pay for a winter training program and some instruction but when you add it all up, you can easily end up at the same price point if not more. I definitely think we got our moneys worth this year.

Are these the same questions you're wondering about?

TC

Hi TC,

Yes, sort of. I appreciate your insight and experience.

I agree with you re the level of competition in the AAU games. My son hit .722 on his Middle School team this year and we have been to AAU tournaments in FL, CT, NY, and the mid-west, and there was no comparison in competition. Therefore, we would like to continue with an AAU team.

My son throws once a week in the winter at the facility of his team, with one month off for resting, and hits twice a week, and it would cost me pretty close to that much at local facilities, then I'd still have to pay for him to be on the SPring/Summer team.

I was just wondering what people's experience around Manch/Southern NH might be with various teams/levels in the 15's. Numerous families from our team are not happy with the training and politics that go on in that organization. I know that probably goes on everywhere, but in my day, you work hard, play the game right and show the coach you want to keep getting better, and the better players play.

Are you (or anyone else) aware of any recent pitching coach's in Manch/Southern NH? I am aware of Roper (Nashua?), Mike Jackson (Grizzlies) and Ken (Hammerheads) ... anyone else?

Good luck in Delaware, who puts on Sports by the Beach?

Thanks.

Nasty

Nasty,

All good choices for pitching coaches. I'll throw my son's pitching coach Marc Deschenes out of Dracut in the mix as well. Outstanding pitching coach.

Coach Weaver

Want to play AAU........Got a check book? Most programs are just looking to take you money. The level of play in AAU is weak, best competition in NH is the Babe Ruth District and State Tournament for 13 to 15's. I'd take the Nashua Babe Ruth 15 year old team over any 15 year old AAU team.

I agree with Catching Coach, my brother sees Marc Deschenes as well. He is also his AAU coach.

I started following this forum during this baseball season and it seems like this AAU vs. Babe Ruth or Legion argument always comes up. My brother just came back from an AAU tournament in Florida, and although I didn't see the competition he faced, I heard it was tough. Baseball God, yes it does cost a decent amount of money, I'm not going to argue that at all. My brother had already paid his due to his AAU team when he found out that our town's Legion team wanted him to play for them. I'm almost positive that he would have played Legion over AAU.

Is AAU really that much weaker than a state tournament in NH? I'm not too sure I agree with that. I haven't seen the Nashua Babe Ruth team play, but to take them over any AAU team, they must be pretty good then.

The thing about AAU for my brother was that I believe he was able to play a lot more games than he would have with his town's babe ruth team and also was constantly working with his pitching coach, which was a major plus and has benefited him.

I saw the Nashua 15 year-old team they were good but cetainly not great. I believe Manchester handled them rather easily in the finals like 16-4.

Nashua 15's All-stars is a poor example. They have a solid core of 6 or so players but the rest of the team is weakened by having average at best players. That core of players that you are probably thinking of also happen to actually be AAU players for the Nashua Knights program. They have for the most part been together since they were 13U players for the Knights. So they reall don't fit the argument.

Also for what it is worth they lost to the 14U team in a scrimmage, they don't hit enough or field cleanly enough to fit the praise you gave them.

Manchester Babe Ruth All-stars is where it is at...they won all 3 disticts 13-15U and are making noise in states. I'm guessing some of them might play AAU too for Manchester area teams. They can swing the bats!!

Manchester Babe Ruth All-Stars can't really be "where its at?" Can it? Didn't I read a post during the season that said all three Manchester High Schools combined had less wins than Trinity or Londonderry? Maybe they didnt' finish the season that way but it was pretty late in the season when I remember reading that.

Nashua's 15 year old GSBA team is in first place headed into the Summer Wood Bat League Playoffs.

Actually the fact that they have several middle schools and high schools could be why their teams struggle in school ball. Put them all together to form one all-star team per age group and now the playing field has been leveled. Nashua is similar with 4 middle schools and 3 high schools. Put them together on All-star teams and they have some success usually. Unfortunately for both cities they are in the same Babe ruth district along with Merrimack and Londonderry. No free rides like Goffstown or Keene every year. So ya I think Manchester has some good ball players playing Babe Ruth for them. I can speak of the 14U team as I saw them play in person. They can hit and hit well and they can pitch some too.

Want to watch a good 14U game go up to Laconia and watch Manchester & Keene battle it out in the winners bracket final for the 14U State tournament. Probably some good incoming Freshman and soon to be Sophomores playing in it.

Nashua's 15U team has good solid pitching in Jared Maloney a big tall lefty and Jake Mellen a hard throwing righty. Both played JV as freshman at South (Maloney) and North (Mellen). Both can hit fairly well as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see Maloney as a starter for South next year on the hill.

Is Mickey Hannegan coaching the Manchester All-Stars again this year?

Nasty Lefty, the GSBA is considering running a 15 Year Old team to enter into our Wood Bat League this summer, the cost hasn't been figured out yet but it will certainly be reasonable, our goal would be to get the best players possible to play 3 games a week, 1 weeknight and 2 weekend with one practice a week. I believe I have one coach lined up to run the team so we could limit parent involvement.

GSBA,

When would this team play...from when to when? My 15U (next season) is not playing AAU (using the limited funds to work with a pitching instructor over the winter to prepare for High School ball.) next year only Babe Ruth at the moment. Might be interested in the 15U team if cost is right and schedule works out.

The team would play in our 15 year old division, the season runs from Mid June (at the end of high school) through the final week of July. The cost would be reasonable, it hasn't been calculated as of yet but will be over the next few months.

I'l keep an eye out for it then.

The New England Diamond Dawgs U15 still has a couple openings for their 2010 team. I am only affiliated to the extent that I have a child on the team. The program is lead by Marc Deschenes who you see mentioned earlier in this thread as a great local pitching mentor. His program is based in Dracut MA at Future Stars. The U15 Dawgs won the D2 National Championship in Cocoa Beach last year, and the current U15's, as U14's last year, finished sixth in the Nationals in Sarasota. This is a very strong program. If you know any U15's looking for a top AAU team you can go to their website Diamond Dawgs
and contact Marc directly.

Lightning Baseball of New England also has a spot or two on their 15U team. www.lightningbaseball.com

Pitching coach Reid Willet @ extra innings nashua is great would recomend him to anyone looking to inprove on the mound.