We have a love/hate relationship with the Midnight Madness tourney in West Branch. The boys love playing under the lights, but if there are any delays for weather or umping (we had an ump walk out last year) they end up playing well past midnight, and then they may play again before 9 or 10am! So, plan on very late nights and whatever it takes to get your kid motivated on less than ideal sleep. Also, the rings and medals they gave out last year were total crap. I mean tossed-in-the-junk-drawer crap. My 14u kid didn't even put it on his trophy shelf. So, a mixed review: it's good competition and nice fields, but crappy game times and questionable championship bling.
We have a love/hate relationship with the Midnight Madness tourney in West Branch. The boys love playing under the lights, but if there are any delays for weather or umping (we had an ump walk out last year) they end up playing well past midnight, and then they may play again before 9 or 10am! So, plan on very late nights and whatever it takes to get your kid motivated on less than ideal sleep. Also, the rings and medals they gave out last year were total crap. I mean tossed-in-the-junk-drawer crap. My 14u kid didn’t even put it on his trophy shelf. So, a mixed review: it’s good competition and nice fields, but crappy game times and questionable championship bling.
Amber –
The Midnight Madness Tourney was an experience! The kids loved playing under the lights! The parents enjoyed watching out 12U boys experience this for the first time! However, the umps were terrible! I have never been an ump so I can not speak as to what it is to do that job! I have been a sports mom for MANY years! The umps that handled the 12U field were not consistent! When one of our players struck out with a strike over the players head and our coach questioned the call, the ump told our coach to “Shut UP!” Bad calls all across the board! It wasn’t just our team it was every team! And it was consistent every game! We had counts there were not right and when questioned with the books we were not listened too! It was a very bad experience with the officials. It was the talk of the tournament at the 12U field! It is sad that an ump can ruin an experience for a team! Unless the ump situation improves I would be hesitant to check this one out! There was also a rain delay which is completely understandable however, we were never notified by the actual tournament even after reaching out. We had another team that we know reach out to us! The whole idea of the tourney is great but there definitely needs to be some changes with the officials.