Patroits pick up a Big win in California

The Guilford Patriots finally broke into the win column on Saturday out in California and they did it with a 10-9 win over the team from Juarez, Mexico. This was the first win for the Pats in pool play after being out-scored 23-0 in their opening games against very tough teams from Taiwan and Redlands, California.

Nick Rogers and Jody Calloway helped the team at the plate with 3 hits each. It’s good to see the Patriots pick up a win in the very tough Palomino World Seires but it had to be rough on Juarez, they didn’t win a single game in pool play.

As far as I can tell this Saturday game would be the last for the Patriots in the Series. The question is out there after the Series sand has settled. Which is tougher and the better level baseball, Palomino baseball or Legion baseball? What do you think? The topic was already bought up on a previous post and the comments were very interesting.

8 thoughts on “Patroits pick up a Big win in California

  1. The Patriots are a first class organization that treat their players well. They have been to Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Boone and California this summer. All the parents that I have talked to have nothing but praises for their organization. They put their team together in the fall and currently are re-loading for next year. Most of their starters have had well over 120 at bats this summer. That is strong. They have also participated in Impact Tournament and split with the Dirtbags. Who else in Greensboro has don that.

  2. That post really did not answer the question posed by the moderator——Palomino baseball is one team year in and year out with only pretenders every once in a while when the Patriots happen to misjudge who the better teams in the area will be—Palomino is no longer copmpetitive with the other organizations in the state—1) no one denies they travel and play more games than anyone else including legion teams in the area—they beat the “Dirtbags” and Randolph County AL, but those teams were playing a game to let players play, not to have bragging rights—maybe the other teams are just trying to have a good summer baseball experience knowing that most players have come off a stressful HS season and will be going on to college where they will get plenty of opportunity to play ( 2) they are a select team in a league that most teams struggle to have enough players game after game 3) that is not a refelection on either players from other schools or on having coaches who are not as good as the coaches for the Patriots 4) year after year the rules change within the league that always benefit the Patriots ( heard from both parents of current and former players while no league coaches will comment to me @ least) 5) if the Patriots were to abide by the same rules as area legion teams where they had to have players from a certain geographical area, then they would only be an average team in legion baseball 6) legion officials are not as easily manipulated as palomino officials to insure success of one program over another.
    My prediction——If Palomino baseball exists next year, the Shockers will “make mincemeat” of the Guilford Patriots, that is assuming the rules do not change again!!!!!!!!!
    PS. Let’s see how good thesae “self annointed” great coaches are when they arrive at an area HS that has hard and fast rules—As a reminder, no “crying towel” required, Mr. Smith, I am just a fan of youth baseball, what it can do for young men, and the negative trends I see for a successful future in the area.——

  3. that’s a very interesting post. what are your opinions about youth baseball in greensboro, espeacially after the city has dissolved competitive baseball for evry age group through pony ( 13-14)? what is your e-mail address? i would like to talk to you, please.

  4. its just a game and its for the kids. the shockers also had a good team and can compete on any day. greensboro will never win the big one in its current format and thats ok we played within our league rules we didnt make a allstar team. legion or pony? parents do whats best for your son and don’t worry about everybody else . its about playing and working on your game . sometimes your on a good team and sometimes a bad one. we all want to win but we all can’t and thats life. I have seen a lot of games and I know the players and can tell when they are playing to win and against the patriots its most of the time.they hate to lose to them. a good roster can make a good coach on any team.the smiths have done alot for those kids and my son . are they perfect? no…nobody is .

  5. As a parent whose son played for a very successful American Legion team last summer, and for a very successful Palimino team this summer, I feel qualified to add to the comparison of AL vs. Palimino. I had always heard AL was so much better, and after seeing both, I am not so sure. Each has its goods and bads.

    The theory that all AL teams are good is totally false. We played some teams that were great, but also played some teams that were horrible, and a bunch in between. The same can be said in Palimino, although I do think there is a greater percentage of better teams in AL, because those teams are basically “all-star” teams, each created from 4-6 high schools. I’m not sure what James was referring to, but most AL teams draw from more schools than do the Palimino teams. The Patriots were a great team this year, no doubt. They are definitely an elite bunch in the local Palimino league, and could hold their own against most AL teams. They do win their share of games when they play Asheboro’s AL team, but understand that AL team typically doesn’t play their usual lineup when they play the Patriouts either.

    AL brags about all of the scouts that will be present, but that simply isn’t true until you reach the playoffs, and not many then until you are 3 or 4 rounds deep into the playoffs. Honestly, there are probably as many at the Palimino games. The advantage of playing AL is simply in the number of games played, and 9 innings per game. I know the Patriots play a lot of games, but the other teams simply play the regular schedule and the tournament if they qualify. Asheboro’s AL team had a schedule of 40 games or so this year, and have now advanced to the State Playoffs, having played 20 playoff games so far, with 5 or 6 possible remaining in the State tournament. That is a lot of games; too many unless you want to spend your summer at the ball park.

    For my son, his year in AL was invaluable. He got to pitch a great deal against some good ball clubs, with a fair number of college players, either rising or having played one year. Trust me when I say that college scouts like hearing how a player has done in 9 inning games against college players. His year in Palimino was invaluable as well, as he got a lot of infied reps, I spent a lot less money, and we had time for something other than baseball (remember vacation?). For a rising senior, if you have the option, I like the AL road. If you are lucky enough to sign with a college, you might consider a shorter schedule and be able to enjoy the last summer before college, so the Palimino route may be the way to go. If you want to work a part-time job, AL is out! The decision is completely up to the player, and his family of course. To simply say one is better than the other would be a mistake.

    As for AL officials vs. Palimino officials: that is a whole other story for another day. That story, when it happens, will be totally one-sided, I assure you. And we won’t even get into the umpire story!

  6. There is no comparison between the two—I went to the legion state tournament yesterday and saw 8 teams with rules similar to the palomino rules and can flat out tell you that neither the patriots or the Shockers ( if they are the best in the area as others have said) can play with the legion taems there. my buddy told me that they ( the patriots) have players from 6 different high schools including 1 from lee county—legion baseball has rules and you are penalized for breaking them–palomino has rules and they are made to be broken(or at least changed).

  7. Mr. Hertz, maybe you are correct in saying there is no comparison; however, you went to see the state tournament, which means the best 8 AL teams from the state, so there should be no comparison. If you look at all of the teams, including so many that were eliminated over a month and four rounds of playoffs ago, you would get a better idea of the average team in AL, which I was referring to. I am curious to know for sure how many schools the Patriots pulled from. I know of players from Northwest, Southwest and Western Guilford, and (I was told) East Forsyth. Johnny, can you help us out here? The Randolph (Asheboro) AL team draws from Southern Guilford, Asheboro, Randleman, and Southwest Randleman, and North Moore HS.

  8. The debate on the strength of Legion vs Palomino ball could go on forever…everyone has their own opinion. My son played Palomino ball and found it to be a good experience. He faced quite a few good teams and pitchers and some not-so-good. I’m sure the same could be said of Legion ball in general.

    As for the Patriots roster, “their” schools are Southwest, Northwest and East Forsyth. The primary core of players this year came from Southwest and Northwest Guilford. One player was from Weslyan (he lives in the NW district), one from Western Guilford (he was granted a release by his coach to play for the Patriots) and one from East Forsyth. National Palomino rules allow for three 19 year old players per team and 2 players from out-of-area. Because the Patriots used these rules to their advantage doesn’t mean they should be criticized for doing so…they certainly didn’t break any rules as implied by Mr. Hertz. And remember, these are NATIONAL rules and are not unique to the Greensboro Palomino league.

    Maybe next season we might get to see more Legion/Palomino matchups. That may or may not determine which is the strongest league. In any event, I agree with the person that said earlier that it’s really about the players anyway and what is the best for each one individually. Hopefully the parents and fans haven’t forgotten about that in their rush to thump their chest as being the best.

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