The Team NJ Summer Classic kicks off Wednesday morning and you could say this is where things get serious, as in it’s time to seriously prepare for Nationals.

In the next two weeks, many teams will kick off their preparations to make a run at a PGF, ASA or TC/USA National Championship by competing at the New Jersey and/or the Colorado events (Boulder Independence Day Tourney, Colorado Sparkler or Colorado Fireworks).

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Many teams are flying straight from Jersey to Colorado to get wall-to-wall softball at its most competitive level and hit the ground running for what promises to be a slugfest over the next six weeks.

Speaking about elite play, what’s become apparent over the last 12 months is that if there’s a team clad in maroon and white hailing from Orange Country, Calif. on the fields, then that’s the one who’s the lead dog and everyone else is fighting for second place.

A bit brash, perhaps, but you can’t argue with the results and the depth of talent that Mike Stith and Gary Haning have assembled on the OC Batbusters 18U team.

The defending National Champions lost two big bats and strong defenders in outfielder Alyssa Palomino (Arizona signee) and Sydney Romero (Oklahoma) for the summer as the 2015 grads were invited to play on the USA Jr. National Team, but most college and club coaches would tell you the Batbusters are still the deepest and most talented team in the nation.

This week will be interesting to watch at the Team NJ Summer Classic on two fronts: how the Batbusters begin their serious fine-tuning of the roster and how other teams step up their game to play the best team in the country.

Coach Stith wasn’t happy with where his team was physically and mentally over the weekend at the So Cal A’s Invitational, but recognized at the same time that this is where you iron out the wrinkles.

“Now’s not the time to worry about where we are,” he said from the dugout on Sunday. “We’ll make sure everything comes together as we get closer to the end of July.”

Realistically, though, it all starts this week and for the last two years the Batbusters have owned Jim Barsalona’s event, beating an up-and-coming Lady Lighting Gold Team Miken squad from North Carolina in 2013 (when the team was still Team Mizuno, prior to the merger with the Batbusters’ organization but with many of the same players today )and a home run-crunching (South) Carolina Elite squad last year.

Everyone will be watching the Batbusters to see how truly good they are— and with a pitching staff of Taylor McQuillin (Arizona), the ace of last year’s staff, along with Mariah Lopez (Oklahoma), Natalie Lugo (Florida), Stephanie Best (Cal Poly) and Kaley Winegarner (Northwestern)—the defending PGF National Champs have the deepest and most talented staff in the country.

But there’s more at stake here, too.

It’s an opportunity for top East Coast teams to show they are comparable and can even beat the visitors from Southern California; after all, the Batbusters did fall to the Gold Coast Hurricanes over the weekend so they’re not infallible.

You just know the home-state teams, of which there are 24, would love nothing better than to take it to the guests from the West.

A win over the Batbusters—shoot, even a competitive loss—is something to brag about to all who’ll listen, but it’s not just one team who’s dominant from So Cal—the Corona Angels coached by Marty Tyson are possibly the second best team in the nation as they were runners-up to the Batbusters at PGF and won several other key tournaments last summer including Boulder and TC/USA Nationals (of course, they did have Alexis Osorio, now the star pitcher for Alabama who was a finalist for NCAA Freshman of the Year).

A third team, the California Cruisers, could also beat most of the field.

This “field” of 90 is strong and, with a championship trophy waiting Saturday night, there are several teams that could challenge the California three for top honors.

From Jersey, the Kevin O’Donnell-led Jersey Intensity showed at the A’s Invitational it can play with the big boys, including the Batbusters and Angels, which it beat by coming back with six runs in the bottom of the seventh.

New Jersey Gatorade State Player of the Year Kelsey Oh (Boston College) is the pitching ace for Intensity and Lacey Sumerlin (Georgia), the Alabama Gatorade POY and MK Bonamy (Notre Dame), also from Alabama, lead the offensive firepower. Funny, the best team in Jersey is led by a pair of Southern boppers with the bat.

Another team from the Garden State who hopes to be an unwelcoming host is Jersey Pride, which has played the California teams competitively in the past and could make a serious run this week.

Out of state there are three that could surprise and knock off the So Cal powerhouses: Lady Lightning Gold Team Miken, led by All-American pitcher Regan Green (Mississippi State) and a Top 10 finisher at PGF Nationals the last three years, Wagner’s-Dunn from Florida, which won the ASA 18 GOLD National Championship in 2014 (true, it was with Florida Gator star freshman pitcher Lele Ocasio) and Rhode Island Thunder, coached by Dave Lotti which, some would contend, is the top team in the Northeast.

Still, everyone expects the Batbusters or perhaps the Angels to make it three in a row for a contingent from the Golden State.

The rest of the nation is catching up to So Cal club dominance—a look at the SEC having five of the eight teams in the Women’s College World Series makes you realize it’s not just a California-centric sport anymore.

For now, however, the big dawg in the junkyard is the OC Batbusters and, with Gary Haning’s three decades of experience and Mike Stith’s technical skills and leadership, the Batbusters don’t look to be giving up the championship bone anytime soon.