THIS WEEKEND IN SOCAL
One free Saturday letter for SoCal travel families, 10U–18U. Three things: parent, player, weekend.
Open the WatchlistWritten by a travel-ball dad in Orange County.
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Sept 19–20
Open the Watchlist →Sample letter
Issue 001 draft for Sept 19–20. Hold send. Times POSTED. Gates NOT POSTED.
Sample · Issue 001 draft · not a send
THE CUT
SOFTBALL NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 001 · SAT–SUN SEPT 19–20, 2026
Good morning.
Inside:
Times are up. Surf City SEPTEMBER START UP opens Saturday at 8:00 AM at Huntington Beach Sports Complex. Fall Kickoff and PCFL September Qualifier first pitches are posted too. Gates still NOT POSTED.
Parent — Heat is still the job. Water on the hip. Shade on the break. Fluids before, during, after. Energy drinks are not hydration.
Player — Fall Kickoff is turf: pack turf shoes. TCS: 10U and 12U no metal; 14U and up can unless the facility says otherwise. Ask the TD before warm-ups.
Weekend — Surf City first pitch Sat/Sun 8:00 AM at HB Sports Complex (18U grid posted). Fall Kickoff Sat from 8:00 AM at Great Park / 1:15 PM at Rosetta. PCFL Sat from 8:00 AM at Rosetta. Gates NOT POSTED all three.
Surf City — SEPTEMBER START UP
Event page still lists Huntington Beach Sports Complex; Peralta Park; Yorba Linda Regional Park. 12U–18U. Saturday and Sunday, Sept 19–20.
Times: POSTED — Sat/Sun first pitch 8:00 AM HB Sports Complex (18U).
WARNING: Peralta and Yorba absent from that 18U grid — no clocks invented for those parks or for 12U/14U/16U.
Gate: NOT POSTED.
Tryouts
Age first. Club pages only. If it isn’t posted, it isn’t here.
Nothing posted for this week yet. Check back.
Ask the club
No date posted? Ask the club on their page. We don’t invent tryouts.
Club pages only. If it isn’t posted there, it isn’t here.
Circuit
Notes from the weekend. What parents actually use. Sourced, not a rumor mill.
Nothing posted yet. Check back.
Player care
Water on the hip. Shade on the break. Short notes for a hot SoCal park day.
Water on the hip. Shade on the break. Don’t grind through a 92-degree park.
Show up hydrated. Water at least every 15–20 minutes, in the shade if you can. Take pads off on the break. Build heat work up over 7–14 days. Change the plan when it’s extreme. Energy drinks are not hydration.
Heat first. Then the reps.
Add time and intensity over 7–14 days. Water on a real break, in the shade. If the day is too hot, change the plan. Don’t save the water for the end.
Food first. Eat for the day you have. Fluids before, during, after.
A well-balanced diet helps replace what you lose in the heat. Skip drinks with stimulants or high caffeine as “hydration.” Meet needs with food, not supplements. Spread carbohydrate and protein through the day, especially after play.
See it. Feel it. In real time. Keep it useful.
Imagery works best when it is vivid, uses more than one sense, runs in real time, and stays on a positive picture of the skill.
Rain stays a footnote. Heat is the job.
Coming soon
Modules that fill when we have a real listing. Empty beats wrong.
Used equipment
Bats, bags, and gear that already did a season.
Nothing listed yet. Coming soon.
Hot bats
What’s in the bag this year.
According to Bat Digest’s 2026 list. Not our rank. Price: NOT POSTED. No affiliate links.
Featured players
First name, age, what we saw. Last names stay off the wall.
Nothing up yet. Nominations are in review.
In Need Of
A team looking for a player. A family looking for a team.
No asks posted. Coming soon.
Reviews
Would you go back. Named source only.
Parks/tourneys NOT POSTED. Coming soon.
Team search
Find the club. Then the park.
Coming soon. Public org pages only.
Nominate
First name only. We hold every nomination for review. No public last names.
If we use it, we use first name + age group only (example shape: “Maya, 12U”). Never a full name on the site or in the letter without a separate Tim yes.