Venturing Into Chicago

July 11, 2011

 

On Wednesday, we head out to the Demarini Invitational and Metro 16U tournament, both of which will take place in Chicago.  It appears that this will be our first venture off the West Coast, and we plan on running a Chicago Jamboree next summer sometime close to this week.  Chicago is one of the up-and-coming hotbeds of softball in the country.  The Beverly Bandits won the Independence Day tournament in Boulder a week or so ago.  They have an excellent team, and two-time National Camper Jenna Lilly (2014 MI) has emerged as a star for that program.  It was exciting to watch her play against some of the top players in the country.  We witnessed some remarkable performances out in Colorado. Mariah Denson, a 2016 pitcher from Texas, is the real deal and wowed major college coaches all week.  In fact, her team, the Texas Mizuno Impulse 16U, has a great group of young players in addition to Mariah: 2013 Catcher Brooke Noel, 2015 SS Riley Sartain, and 2014 MI/OF Madeline Holcomb.   2013 Absolute Blast SS Samantha Shanahan put on a show offensively throughout the week.   She was swinging a hot bat, and her stock was rising steadily all week.  For the first time, we made our way to the Christopher Complex in Westminster.  Wow, what a facility.  It is a beautiful venue for softball, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.  All in all, it was a great week of softball out there in the Denver area.

Finally, at the end of the month, we will be going to San Diego for ASA Gold Nationals and then to Huntington Beach for the Premier.  As soon as we get home from the Premier, we will begin compiling our lists for our NorCal event in September, our National Elite Camp in October, and our Phoenix Jamboree in November.  After Nationals, we should have a great pool of potential candidates for those coveted invitations.  If you are not sure we know about you, make sure you contact us ASAP indicating your interest in participating.  Our events are invitation-only, so we will need to start the evaluation process immediately.  Otherwise, take care and best wishes for a great finish to the Summer season.  And if you see us in Chicago, please make sure you come up and say hello.