Wisconsin Prep Baseball Spring versus Summer

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

Growing up in a town that played summer ball, i am biased towards summer baseball, but i heard today that there are only about 55 teams left in the state that play summer baseball versus spring baseball. For the baseball experts on the board, is it likely that summer ball will eventually "die off" and combine with spring baseball?

 

I see West Bend West is in the title game... AGAIN. I believe they have made state 6 of the past 7 years. Is that program that good or are they simply beating up on bad competition?

[davego]

That is why there is only on division of summer baseball (the lack of teams). I know that if the number goes below that 50 mark there is serious consideration to dropping the summer state tournament.

 

There has been a proposal kicking around to sort of split the difference and have one season that would start on May 1 (regular season) and then conclude with the state finals the last week of June. Many of the communities that have viable legion teams are opposed.

 

As a (former) basketball coach, I didn't care for the summer season as much as it took kids away from summer leagues and camps. Understood that was self-serving.

 

I do know it is "harder" to get people to coach, work, umpire and kids to participate in the schools that have a summer program FWIW.

[stoutdude04]

I cannot answer your question directly. However, I played tennis/coach in the same conference as West Bend. They always had a strong tennis program because they were able to get baseball players to fill out the bottom of their lineup. I always thought it was a touch unfair because there are usually plently of kids who play both sports. I am guessing that it probably goes the other way around and helps bolster their team.

[jerichoholicninja]

Eventually everyone will be in spring ball. Kids just cannot commit to summer ball anymore. I can't remember which one but one school's summer ball team folded in the middle of the season because the kids couldn't commit to playing anymore games.

[DHonks]

I remember thinking it was funny when my high school went from Spring to Summer when WISAA disbanded. I don't get summer baseball, but then again I went to a school where you only usually played 1-2 sports. I could see it being useful in small towns where a person might play 4 sports.

[davego]

There is a team from a small school that had to suit-up their manager to play RF this summer. She was one of the best softball players in the school...but obviously if they are down to 8 kids, there are issues.

[Buckylovesbeer]

Spring is for baseball. Summer is for Legion Baseball. I honestly feel bad for the Summer ball teams....they dont get a chance to really see what they have against the majority of the teams in the state. The WIAA does not allow Legion teams to play summer ball teams, so that competition is out the door. Legion ball is awesome, kids are relaxed, and lots of scouts come to the playoffs. Plus, after having the entire spring season under their belts, the kids look and play their best.

 

Being a spring baseball coach is cool too, because then you can relax and watch all the ball in the summer.

 

I think it sucks that all kids cannot play at the same time.....and I agree that summer ball is slowly coming to an end. I hope they fix it soon.

[RockCoCougars]

Spring is for baseball. Summer is for Legion Baseball. I honestly feel bad for the Summer ball teams....they dont get a chance to really see what they have against the majority of the teams in the state. The WIAA does not allow Legion teams to play summer ball teams, so that competition is out the door. Legion ball is awesome, kids are relaxed, and lots of scouts come to the playoffs. Plus, after having the entire spring season under their belts, the kids look and play their best.

 

Being a spring baseball coach is cool too, because then you can relax and watch all the ball in the summer.

 

I think it sucks that all kids cannot play at the same time.....and I agree that summer ball is slowly coming to an end. I hope they fix it soon.

Personally, legion ball was much more enjoyable for me than the spring WIAA stuff. No 40 degree games, getting to play under the lights, no need to ride the school bus, 'unwinding' after games, etc, etc. Even though it was more laid back (didn't have practice every day), it always seemed that the caliber of play was better as well.

[Buckylovesbeer]

I agree 100% with you RockCo. Legion ball rocks.....and it sucks that the WIAA summer ball teams miss out on that experience.

[NeedMoreFans]

If you look at who plays summer ball, its a lot of teams from the Milwaukee area (not all, though). My high school played summer ball, and my guess it's because everyone around them did. I am thinking it is more of a conference thing than an individual school thing. If Port decided they wanted to play spring ball, there would be no schools near them to compete with because everyone else plays summer as well.

[NYChez]

I played summer ball in th late '80's and thought is was awesome. There were some serious players - I believe Larry Hisle, Jr. (Homestead), Craig Counsell (Whitefish Bay), and Paul Wagner (Germantown) all played at that time, so talent wasn't an issue (and these guys somehow went on to bigger and better things without playing Legion ball - but I understand times are different now). What made it great was:

1. I got to play high school golf and baseball - didn't have to decide between one or the other.

2. Our games were played at 8:15 pm, and we didn't have to wake up at 6am the next day for school - a much better atmosphere than 4pm starts.

3. We didn't play half the season with our hands down our pants because of cold weather. This may be a reason Milwaukee and the lakeshore communities stick with summer ball. With the breeze off the lake, spring teams may never play a game with the temperature above 45. That's not baseball.

[chuckiehacks]

I played summer ball and agree, missing out on Legion ball sucked. In college, we played a spring schedule and without fail the first weekend of games (April 1) got snowed / sleeted out. From a weather standpoint, the hybrid season would work, but I doubt it will ever come to that because it would take kids out of spring sports (golf & track) and still not allow kids to play a full legion season.

[Buckylovesbeer]

To add another thought.......as you see more and more kids play fewer sports (the overall decline of the "three sport athelete) it would have been awesome to have a chance to play four sports....spring golf would have been very fun. Unfortunately, the weather would still suck. But I would have killed in high school to have a chance to add a fourth sport....many schools dont even allow it anymore.

 

At last check, spring baseball in the WIAA was down to something like 52 teams. In Spring ball, Division I alone, there are 94 teams. That is a lot of competition between schools/players that we as fans/parents/coaches never get to see. The WIAA rule that summer ball teams cannot play legion programs has been challenged several times, and always failed. It would be cool to see how some of the summer ball major players (Arrowhead, West Bend West, etc) would match up against the Legion Powerhouses (Kimberly, La Crosse, DePere) and the Spring Power programs (Sun Prairie, Bay Port, Kimberly).

 

That is a ton of matchups that never happen. Having two seperate seasons with two sets of champions seems so silly. As a player, I know I would want to beat the best! As someone mentioned at the beginning of this topic, if just a few more schools go to spring ball, Summer ball may be scrapped all together due to the lack of enough teams.