The Latest on the 2025 Extra Elite 100 Rankings… & a Wise Parent’s Perspective Of It All

 Well, if you weren’t around on Friday or checked out the site over the weekend, we at Extra Inning Softball (meaning me, Brentt Eads) have had a great time over the last 72 hours or so (meaning, I’m being sarcastic here) dealing from the fallout from learning that the 2025 Extra Elite 100 had a glitch in the backend admin system.

This error left many deserving incoming juniors off the Top 100 list which isn’t fair to them. Of course, the response from the public has been, well, let’s just say pretty… vocal.

I’d say it’s been 90%/10% supportive and—understanding that the mistake was recognized—I did a mea culpa on Saturday morning in an article covering “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly” explaining it.

Right now, the initial thinking is to suspend the rest of the 2025 class rankings temporarily (the 101-200, 201-300, etc. as well as the Position and Regional rankings) and redo the entire class starting September 11, 2023.

Below is our schedule for the rest of the year.

Again, on a personal level, I really appreciate the support of all of those who’ve reached out with encouraging words.

I have decided to postpone moving to Antarctica for at least another few weeks… but I’m still being protected by federal agents in the Witness Protection Program (not really… I’m being protected by my 17-year-old son, who—when not playing video games- is getting better and better on the guitar).

Most importantly, he has watched some martial arts shows on TV so I feel safe with him.

Seriously, what did lift my spirits were the kind sentiments sent by so many.

The following letter was emailed to me today and I’m leaving the author’s name out because she has a talented daughter who plays softball and we don’t want this young athlete getting any added or unwanted attention from this discussion.

But I do SO appreciate the sentiments behind this.

Names and identifying details have been omitted but the rest of the text is exactly as emailed today (though some edits/changes were made for reading clarity).

What are YOUR initial thoughts and reactions? I would be interested to hear what you think… email me at: [email protected]

*****

Dear Brentt,

I wanted to offer a few words of support (and counter all of the torches and pitchforks 😊) in follow up to your article regarding the 2025 rankings.

First, thank you for the candid, honest explanation of what happened with the data. As a researcher who works with large amounts of data on a regular basis, I certainly understand how “glitches” can occur.

I know EIS is working with thousands of rows of data and many variables… errors can happen.

I also thought your explanation of the ranking process was very-well stated. It’s an imperfect (and therefore, impossible) task to perfectly rank players on any given day. Even if you only had a list of 20 players and the task to rank them 1-20, I would place a big bet that you could give that list to 5 different experts in the softball arena and you’d get 5 different outcomes. I

It’s not an exact science because people are not an exact science (and let’s face it, teen girls are an even less exact science!).

Players change… their development changes (and not all at the same pace or with the same potential). And that’s not even addressing the obvious struggle of “weighting” skills of the game (i.e., is dominant hitting prioritized over dominant fielding or vice versa?

Which is more important: athleticism, IQ, coachability, or being a great teammate? Is current performance or potential more critical? And if so, how much?

There is no formula, and I don’t envy anyone trying to create one. I also don’t envy EIS trying to account for these different skills (tangible and intangible) in ranking players (overall, by position, and by region). Again, it’s not an exact science and I think you did a great job explaining that.

Finally, your explanation for sticking to a true 100 and the various other options you considered made a lot of sense.

There is no perfect solution here, but I understand the dilemma and how solving one problem creates another… and another. There is no solution that would please everyone, so you have to do what you feel is right and commit to continuous improvement in the process (which you’ve done).

My daughter is a softball player and has been ranked in your Extra Elite 100 ratings previously.

Do I think she was ranked where she should be? No. Am I upset about that? Nope, not at all.  Would I have ranked her there if I was sitting in your seat? Quite possibly.

Because here’s the thing… I have watched her daily for 11 years. I have seen her work, I have heard all of the comments about how elite of an athlete she is, I have seen her perform at her absolute best, I have the regular feedback from her coaches on how high her ceiling is and how she’s elite in every area of the game.

BUT, you’ve only seen a snapshot of her and I’ve only seen a snapshot (or less) of every other player you’re trying to rank. Thus, we both have a limited view (and mine is more limited than yours).

So what exactly should her “number” be? We’re back to it being an inexact science that you’d have trouble coming to consensus on with any group of softball experts.

What I would emphasize in this debate is exactly what you added in your article… ultimately it doesn’t matter. Whether she is unranked or 99 or 41 or 1, she has work to do and she has to make the case to college coaches that they should take a chance on her.

She is grateful for EIS and all the coverage you have brought to the sport and her personally, but she (nor do we) place her recruiting process or outcome on you.

If she makes it to the collegiate level, she will have EIS to partially thank for the information you all provided through your articles and the opportunity for exposure of her and so many other athletes.

If she doesn’t make it to the collegiate level, she will still have EIS to thank for the information and opportunities you all provided to her in pursuit of her dreams.

As much as I appreciate the plight of lost sea lions and walruses, I sincerely hope you stay on “the grid” and continue raising the visibility of and honoring this sport and all involved in it.

Thank you again for all you do.

A Softball Parent

COPYRIGHT © 2023 Extra Inning Softball TM

Check out our other EIS links: