Softball: National rankings are nice, but it’s only talk

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You know those national rankings everyone latches on to? Don’t believe them. Not anymore.

The Nike Faster to First tournament exposed national rankings in the worst way. I know from personal experience that it’s hard enough drumming up a reasonable ‘top 25’ teams in the Southland.

Admittedly, there were talented teams at every corner of the Huntington Beach Sports Complex, but there were teams that absolutely, positively, were not the ‘XXth-best’ team in the country. No way.

And if you didn’t know beforehand, know this: There’s no way to get it right. Rankings are all about creating water cooler talk. Don’t take them seriously. The difference between 10 spots in a ranking is often negligible on the field.

By my count, 17 of the 26 teams in the tournament were ranked in the Preseason Fab 50 by StudentSports.com, which didn’t exactly have a stellar tournament ranking-wise. The No. 19 team, Pembroke Pines (Fla.) won. Seven teams were ranked higher.

There are 11 California teams in the preseason ranking. Based on the performances of unranked Ayala and Long Beach Wilson, which were in the tournament as afterthoughts, who’s to say there shouldn’t be twice as many California teams in the top 50? Maybe Thousand Oaks, Riverside Poly and El Toro should be there, too.

No question, some of the best programs in the nation participated, but Ayala single-handedly destroyed every known ranking by beating No. 1 La Palma Kennedy and No. 2 Corona Santiago in successive days.

Coach John Ameluxen may have believed in his team beforehand, but he was the only one. ‘The talent level here is awesome,’ he said Saturday night. ‘We’re just happy to be here.’

Ayala played five teams were ranked 21 or better and went 3-2, and was six outs from beating No. 4 Sacramento Sheldon and playing for the championship. And his squad was just happy to be there.

Nope, there’s no way to accurately rank softball teams. It’s a pitcher’s game. There’s too little margin for error. And there are a lot of good teams floating under the radar.

That was made crystal clear.
-- Martin Henderson
-- Image from www.alphaprofit.com