The Best Of The Rest

There are other CDP's that deserve to be recognized around the country. As we stated yesterday, coming up with a Top 5 was very hard, but it was clear in the end, an important gauge for our Top 5 Teams selection was meeting ALL of the criterion, not just bits and pieces of it. Yesterday's Top 5 not only met those benchmarks, but in many cases exceeded them.

The following list of organizations are great too and provide a service to their players beyond the description of travel ball. These teams are true College Development Programs and have the players in college to prove it.

New England Ruffnecks
This organization is the perfect definition of College Development Program. They may not have as many AFLAC All Americans or MLB prospects, but they deliver on their promises. The Ruffnecks develop players and give them more opportunities than they will find anywhere else in the Northeast.

In just the 2008 season their teams attended tournaments at the University of South Carolina, Wake Forest University, the East Cobb Baseball Complex in Georgia, the College of Charleston (SC), and numerous other locations such as Nashville, New York, Virginia, and elsewhere.

The Ruffnecks have consistently competed very well and have advanced to the playoff or championship rounds of high-level tournaments. This past year the 2008 14U team played a total of 62 games, and never once played in a consolation game at any of the seven tournaments they attended. At its highest level, the 18U College Prospect Team assembles the best talent to compete on a national stage. There are few programs in the United States that undertake the scope of what they do at the 18U level, which is significantly subsidized. They have had three players named to the East Coast Pro Showcase and Area Code teams in the past two years.

More important they had 11 players from last years team sign NLI's to D-I colleges and this years Class of 2009 has 5 verbally committed to great schools such as Stanford, North Carolina, and Holy Cross. Who says that good talent doesn't come from the northeast? The program got a huge boost when Ryan Westmoreland inked a $2 million deal with the local favorite Boston Red Sox.

The thing we like about this program is their well organized web site. Like NorCal, they continually update it and keep their players and families in the know with practices, results of games and upcoming camps and events.

All American Prospects
The All American Prospects, Inc. are only three years old, but have had a tremendous impact in that short period of time. Recently re-organized to accommodate the growth of their program, they are dedicated to the end result and that's a college scholarship for their players.

As a result, since 2006 no less than 75 of their players have signed scholarships to attend schools such as Florida, Miami, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina State, Stetson, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Yale, Brown, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, LSU, Samford, South Florida, College of Charleston, and Duke as well as several prominent junior college programs.

The Prospects have won two of the past three World Wood Bat Association 17-under National Championships, finishing third out of 152 teams in the 2007 event, as well as the 2006 USA Baseball Junior Olympic East Championship.

The Prospects have had 22 players selected in the 2006 and 2007 MLB draft, including six - Chris Marrero, Colton Willems, Adrian Cardenas, David Christensen, John Tolisano and Danny Rams - in the first two rounds. All six, along with several others are currently playing minor-league baseball.

In 2008, they had 1 first round draft pick in Casey Kelley and 13 drafted overall. In 2007 and 2005, they had 4 AFLAC All Americans each year. In 2006, they had 2. That's an impressive record of top talent.

Richmond Braves
Back in 2002 the program was dubbed "The Top Travel Program in the Nation" in a cover story in Jr. Baseball Magazine. Collectively the four teams ranging from 11 and up have accumulated nearly 100 tournament championships, including numerous state championships and World Series titles.

The program's status among America's elite travel baseball programs has provided it' s players with extensive exposure on the national stage, a long held goal of the program . The Richmond Braves National Baseball Club's ultimate legacy will be measured by the degree of success it's players find in college baseball and beyond.

This program has had its share of success. The Richmond Braves National '10 Team won the 2008 Perfect Game/WWBA 16U National Championship and it's 2010 teams finished 5th in the 14U category. They had 6 high profile drafted this year as well...Ty Morrison: Tampa Bay Rays, Tim Melville: Kansas City Royals, Danny Hultzen: Arizona Diamondbacks, Zak Sinclair: Boston Red Sox, Austin Stadler: San Francisco Giants, Will Roberts: Los Angeles Angels.

Houston Banditos
Bandito teams are select youth baseball teams consisting of players residing in and around the Houston, Texas area, with a division in Austin, Texas. All teams are affiliated with the Banditos Baseball Club, which directs teams beginning at 6U through 18U age divisions.

The Banditos Baseball Club was established in 1996. In just a few years, Banditos Baseball Club has become a highly successful nationally recognized powerhouse select baseball program. The Banditos teams have won numerous state and national championships at various age divisions across many competitive baseball associations sanctioned league and tournament play. This past summer, 6 Banditos were picked in the MLB draft, including J.P. Ramirez who signed a $1.2 million contract with the Washington Nationals. J.P has been playing with the Banditos for some time. At 11, he went 13 for 13 with 5 home runs and hit for the cycle twice in one weekend.

We like this program because of it's enthusiasm for its players. They have player evaluations, and end of year awards they give out. The evaluations are unique to this site. Most of these kids were developing with the Banditos Program when they were 8-12 years old. They were in the system and the coaches very familiar with their skill set.

The Class of 2008 saw 6 Banditos play at the next level. That's significant because they are an organization that made it's reputation on the younger age groups. Unlike other programs, the Banditos are committed to all levels...not just their core age groups.

Diamond Devils
The Diamond Devils of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina won this summers 17U WWBA National Championship. That's not all they have done. Here's some of their accomplishments that we copied from their web site.

Three National Championships…256 Division I players…29 players drafted…16 players are presently in the Minor Leagues…Three 1st Rounders-Drew Meyer, Matt Campbell, Daniel Bard…One Major Leaguer-Drew Meyer…One Cape Cod League Player of the Year-Justin Smoak…24 Diamond Devil alumni have participated in the Cape Cod League…30 Diamond Devil alumni participated in an NCAA Regional in 2006…21 Diamond Devil alumni participated in an NCAA Super-Regional in 2006…12 Diamond Devil alumni participated in the 2006 College World Series…23 Diamond Devil alumni have played in the College World Series…30 Diamond Devil alumni have played in the Junior College World Series…

Best of all, 45 Diamond Devils from the Class of 2008 are playing college ball this year...Wow!!! That's exciting and a further proof that there are teams out there that truly do care about their players and not just winning. Yes, the Devils win..because they have players that know how to compete and a group of coaches that know how to channel that competitive spirit in their players.

Georgia Roadrunners
This program has 4 National Championships in the last 3 years. They have also had 14 players sign NLI's from the Class of 2008 including 4 to Tennessee, and the rest from top schools such as Georgia Tech, NC State, Auburn and Oklahoma State.

Last December, they had 5 Players named to the PG Underclass "All Prospect Team". They are an up and coming program and we hope they keep it up.

In fact, all of these teams exemplify what College Development Programs are all about. These are the type of programs that will greatly benefit your son and give him the extra edge he may need to play at the next level. Congratulations teams and keep up the good work!!!