One of the many plusses from playing on fields with short base distances is that you have to learn to be great at fielding ground balls. There is no room for error there. Basically catch and throw. The kid from the Nashville team put on a clinic. Work with high school kids non-stop on the footwork for that dynamic. Kids from LL have it down at 12.
I agree with your comment about the fielding. it was incredibly fundamental. I was really impressed with all the teams' fielding.