Have a 12U going through it this weekend. Just wondering what to expect. Thanks.

It'll be shorter than you expect. A few ground balls to SS and throw to 1B. A few fly balls to OF and throw to home. A few hacks at the plate. Maybe some running.

It's been several years since I've been through it so it may have changed but I was always surprised how quick it went.

Yep, that's generally how its been done in our experience as well, at least with open tryouts. Grounders to short, usually 4 or 5 total, at the player, gloveside, backhand then a slow roller. 1B usually play first then get their own grounders with maybe a double play turn. A few fly balls...generally i've seen players in RF with throws to 3B. Maybe one outfield grounder. Usually there is running, pitching and catcher pop times as well. Hitting could be just a few coach pitch cuts, but i've also seen tee station, front toss, and pitching machine. Some variations there but nothing that a player hasn't experienced.

I generally think the hardest part of these tryouts is for players coming from outside the org. Hard to impress in such a limited look. Mentally need to be locked in and absolutely can't let one mistake turn into multiple.

aggielax48 said:

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Yep, that's generally how its been done in our experience as well, at least with open tryouts. Grounders to short, usually 4 or 5 total, at the player, gloveside, backhand then a slow roller. 1B usually play first then get their own grounders with maybe a double play turn. A few fly balls...generally i've seen players in RF with throws to 3B. Maybe one outfield grounder. Usually there is running, pitching and catcher pop times as well. Hitting could be just a few coach pitch cuts, but i've also seen tee station, front toss, and pitching machine. Some variations there but nothing that a player hasn't experienced.

I generally think the hardest part of these tryouts is for players coming from outside the org. Hard to impress in such a limited look. Mentally need to be locked in and absolutely can't let one mistake turn into multiple.

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Correct. Need a tool to pop if you are an older kid. Speed, pitching velo, bat, throwing arm (position), glove, etc. Younger kids need to be athletic. Show your potential to be coached.

Prob start with 60.

Thanks all for the information. He made the 12U program so all is good.

Agreed. Very nice. Congrats to your son!

I'm assuming they check your bank account to see how much $ you have like most travel ball organizations

My son plays select ball as well and we have played against several Twelve teams, some good, some not but I will tell you that having been in the select ball circles for a while now, many parents/coaches have a negative opinion of the program. To be fair, every program will have it's detractors but I have heard a lot about Twelve specifically. Mostly around how the coaches are pushed to win at the expense of the kids' health. Stuff like over pitching arms, calling sliders, catchers playing 3+ games in a row, etc. Other programs do the same so it's critical to make sure you know the difference between good tough competitiveness and when that line is crossed.

As a select coach from another organization, I will say I respect the 12s the most by far in the Houston area outside of my personal cypress organization. Well coached and I haven't heard anyone complain. Others in the area are far worse outside if the smaller organizations.

AustinCountyAg said:

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I'm assuming they check your bank account to see how much $ you have like most travel ball organizations

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What a bizarre comment. It's a business and their product is coaching baseball. If the parent can't pay the bill who will?

In my experience Twelve is a really good org. Even their younger teams that aren't great show improvement over the season and they work to develop kids. They have some strong youth teams but the HS level is where they're top notch and have a great record of putting kids into college.

DRAINS_05 said:

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As a select coach from another organization, I will say I respect the 12s the most by far in the Houston area outside of my personal cypress organization. Well coached and I haven't heard anyone complain. Others in the area are far worse outside if the smaller organizations.

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Are there any recommendations for a HS kid who wants to play during the summer but not select or travel ball? My kid has no dreams of college ball but wants to get better as a high school kid. We're in The Woodlands.

Any reason why he doesn't want to play select?

aggiebrad94 said:

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DRAINS_05 said:

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As a select coach from another organization, I will say I respect the 12s the most by far in the Houston area outside of my personal cypress organization. Well coached and I haven't heard anyone complain. Others in the area are far worse outside if the smaller organizations.

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Are there any recommendations for a HS kid who wants to play during the summer but not select or travel ball? My kid has no dreams of college ball but wants to get better as a high school kid. We're in The Woodlands.

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I really wish I had an answer for you because I love that he just wants to play. I wish there were more kids like him and hope you find what he's looking for.

There is not much out there besides HBA wood bat league but I'm not sure you can play unless your 18 and over.

aggiebrad94 said:

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DRAINS_05 said:

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As a select coach from another organization, I will say I respect the 12s the most by far in the Houston area outside of my personal cypress organization. Well coached and I haven't heard anyone complain. Others in the area are far worse outside if the smaller organizations.

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Are there any recommendations for a HS kid who wants to play during the summer but not select or travel ball? My kid has no dreams of college ball but wants to get better as a high school kid. We're in The Woodlands.

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He's going to have to go through it just to make the roster at The Woodlands. Believe it or not, not everyone my son played with went to college and walked away from offers (D1 offers too). They just loved the game.

Agree with this. Unfortunately select clubs are the farm teams for high schools to build rosters. Select is just on a different level as far as preparedness for the next step. High school coaches jobs get a lot easier when the kids already know the routine before they get there. Unfortunately Rec ball leagues(daddy ball) aren't great for development outside of brand new players getting into the sport.

aggiebrad94 said:

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DRAINS_05 said:

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As a select coach from another organization, I will say I respect the 12s the most by far in the Houston area outside of my personal cypress organization. Well coached and I haven't heard anyone complain. Others in the area are far worse outside if the smaller organizations.

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Are there any recommendations for a HS kid who wants to play during the summer but not select or travel ball? My kid has no dreams of college ball but wants to get better as a high school kid. We're in The Woodlands.

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Unfortunately, unless the kid is a freak athlete they need the instruction & reps from select/travel ball (they're the same thing just different monikers that are interchangeable) and the baseball IQ from having played at a high level a kid is going to have a difficult time making the HS team at any one of The Woodlands, College Park, or Oak Ridge. Even if a kid isn't a college prospect.

Looking at The Woodlands roster from this past spring they carried 34 kids which is a big roster. From what I've seen most will carry 25 with 30 being the max. They went 25-11 and lost in the 4th round of the 6A playoffs. Cross-reference their roster with the Perfect Game data and every single one of those kids played on high-level select teams. Most were with Twelve but several played for Banditos, Hunter Pence Baseball Academy, Scorpions, and a couple with Kyle Chapman which is one of the oldest and most respected HS summer ball programs in Houston. Of those 34 kids I counted at least 8 who have committed or signed to play college ball somewhere. Those commitments range from Tennessee to Texas State to HBU to some top-level jucos (and juco ball is legit).

Not sure which school your kid is going to attend but maybe reach out to Jeremy Ryan who owns/coaches RC Elite Mizuno but also coaches the College Park HS prep team.

Thanks for the replies. I left out a key point (my apologies).

Son goes to a small private school in The Woodlands.

We don't want select because of the money and time commitment. We'd be looking for a similar type of basketball or soccer league.

I expect at the end of the day, he'll just get a job and workout.

My son is a 25 kid and plays for twelve. We started out in 11U and are still there. If you stick with it, I imagine you will see Brauninger out at the fields and can hound him. He is usually sitting on a bucket at the 3rd base dugout with his phone out. He does not like to walk to far to coach 3rd base. I have never talked to him personally, just witness it from the stands, LOL. The main goal with Organizations is to try and get your kid to play college ball, but a lot has changed the last few years with the transfer portal. There are like 90 Division 1 baseball schools plus Juco, NAIA, Division 2 and 3.

Brauny coached my kid, and his practices were demanding (appropriate per age group as they kept growing up). The parents loved it. He's an easy going guy.

As a follow up here, I don't have direct knowledge of the Twelve since my son hasn't played with them, my perspective is just what I've heard from the people in the groups I know. The one thing I do KNOW is that the specific coach you have makes the real difference in the quality of baseball.

aggiebrad94 said:

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DRAINS_05 said:

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As a select coach from another organization, I will say I respect the 12s the most by far in the Houston area outside of my personal cypress organization. Well coached and I haven't heard anyone complain. Others in the area are far worse outside if the smaller organizations.

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Are there any recommendations for a HS kid who wants to play during the summer but not select or travel ball? My kid has no dreams of college ball but wants to get better as a high school kid. We're in The Woodlands.

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There are some leagues for HS kids that aren't really select. Check out Houston Area Select Baseball Community on Facebook. There are post like this all the time. Especially when HS teams are picked and some kids are left out and still want to play.

This is just the first one that popped up that I saw today. Can't vouch for them.


We have a Babe Ruth 16-18u summer league in Nederland(Beaumont area) that I've been involved with for 20+ years. Brauny actually got started coaching there. No practice, 2 games a week for 6 weeks. Just show up and play. Once we pick all stars, I gets a little more serious and we start practicing. We roll most every select team we've ever played. The kids love it and have a blast. No dads, just a bunch of old guys that love baseball. I'm sure you could find something similar in Houston.

Here is a good article about our league from when Bost played. Most of the all star team is Juco guys with some D1 guys mixed in and a few that made the major leagues. We hear it all the time when kids finish playing college and come back, that this was last time they had fun playing baseball. That's really what it's all about. $125 to sign up. If you make all stars, all travel and expenses for the kid are paid. Pretty good deal…


Sorry to brag about our league, I just wish there were more like it.


https://www.panews.com/2018/06/14/baseball-for-the-fun-of-it-mid-county-league-lets-players-relax-play-at-same-time/

Twelve takes care of arms better than any organization we have been a part of. Our son is a freshman in hs and the way they handle arms is one of many reasons we selected 12.