Dr_Zinj
Veteran Member
None of my fast pitches to girls ever turned out.
Only landed one when I took my time and did it right.
Only landed one when I took my time and did it right.
Girls fastpitch softball anyone else invovled?
- Thread starter scesnick
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tractorshopper
Veteran Member
scesnick, been down this road and have seen both sides. I can tell you that if no second pitcher is available that can throw strikes, then you absolutely did the right thing. Nothing is worse or more embarrassing than a walk-fest. In a walk fest, no balls will go into play therefore no fielders on the other team would have a chance at anything anyway. Also, your daughter has worked very hard and I see no problem with her receiving a full game. She can spark the kids on your team to work hard too. My daughters started lessons at a young age and we rotated with other pitchers, but some have no business being out there, even in rec league. If they want to be a pitcher for rec league, they need to work with the parents (and a coach preferably if they can afford it) before the season so they can at least learn the snap and some control. I have seen girls that wanted to pitch but had no control get a shot from the coach being nice only to have their confidence smashed to pieces when it turned into a walk-fest. Even with preparation and lots of practice control can go out the window as soon as they hit the mound with a real batter in front of them and you need to manage that in upcoming pitchers too by not leaving them in too long to get beat up on either. If you had an 8-10 run lead in 2 innings, then go let someone else take a stab at it, but if still close, I'd have kept her in too. I've seen 10 run leads destroyed in rec in 2 innings. Even this season already.
I could go on all day (mine are 12 and 13 right now and play travel ball and oldest is on varsity), but you did right in my book is my short answer. By the other team seeing good pitching and having to figure it out, you are prepping them for school ball which isn't too far away.
I could go on all day (mine are 12 and 13 right now and play travel ball and oldest is on varsity), but you did right in my book is my short answer. By the other team seeing good pitching and having to figure it out, you are prepping them for school ball which isn't too far away.
aczlan
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Another thing that I have seen that happen with the pitchers on my wife's team is the other team gets in a couple of good hitters (combined with some poor calls from the ump) and you end up with a couple of walks in a row which then throws the pitcher off her groove and she starts throwing bad pitches and walking everyone...
Aaron Z
tractorshopper
Veteran Member
Correct aczlan. Same here. Confidence is frail and can be quite up and down at this age. Can change from game to game if not inning to inning or even batter to batter.
aczlan
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Yep, no matter what the age. The lady who has pitched the last few games decided not to be the starting pitcher this year as it happened to her in several games last year.
IMO, she or they should have pulled her sooner in a few of the games and she would have done better (mentally), but such is life
Aaron Z
mikehaugen
Elite Member
I agree, that with the score being what it was, you did the right thing.
Tig
Veteran Member
Edit: Sorry about this being so long. I'm trying to summarize two decades of coaching kids.
I feel for you. It's a tough situation. Be proud of your daughter and she should also be proud. All kids should know what it feels like to excel. Don't worry about game one, but use this strength to develop the rest of your team. Just as your daughter is learning to play ball, you are learning to coach children.
I coached ball for amost two decades and almost to a man, coaches that I knew over those decades gained, over time a better perspective about what we were doing. In the end you realize it is a kids game and as a coach you have a responsibility to all the kids involved.
I had bag of tricks for keeping a game close. My favourite technique in little league was what I called the clock killer. It works for home games if your league has a game time limit. Our league had a rule that if time runs out before an inning is complete, you revert to the previous inning's score. You have to trust the ump, but be sure to confirm start and end times at the pregamp coin toss. Based on game pace and only enough time for another inning, put a developing pitcher on the mound. I always had mound hopefuls who were the go to guys for this. While your at it, try other kids out in the infield as you see fit. Explain clearly to the pitcher that their job is to throw strikes and let the defense get the outs. When you sub the clock killer in, discretely double check game end time with the ump. But don't let the other teams nose get rubbed. Let the other team swing away and make a come back. Watch your pitcher's facial expression (don't let her get upset or worse yet, cry). Go to the mound as the lead slips away and explain the time rule and that the game outcome is safe. If the new pitcher can run the clock out, you do not get your home at bat and score reverts to the previous inning. The end result can be good all around. Your team got some new experience and development. The other coach gets to praise his kids for the comeback.
Any combination of the above can be used to control a game if you have thought it out in advance.
By the time my team core was 12 they were an out getting, base running machine. It was fun to just watch. We had no stars, but had few holes.
The intent it to make it exciting for all kids, even the right fielder on the weak team. You gotta remember these are kids and he also has the same MLB dream as the short stop. If a team gets blown out consistently, some kids won't be back. Your league shrinks every year.
Once your kids develop, this will get easier to pull off, even without a time limit. Short shift the pitchers. Ie; starter, equalizer, closer. Water down the defense. Take the steal off. Swing at the plate, no waiting for the walk. Once playoffs come around, this adds up to additional depth in your roster.
I explained my no blowout philosophy to my team as required. It's for the good of the league. Win with class, lose with class.
We did well at the nationals one year, but my proudest moments of coaching include;
-Turning a surprise 14 point lead in high school into a 3 point win. (Adam's grandpa got to see him pitch that day.)
-Having close games against the weakest teams in house league.
-Coaching against one of my pitchers from the nationals and watching him throw BP to my inexperienced squad. Giving up his (and getting our) first home run in that game and smiling as he let us hang in a few runs back before he winked at me and then struck us out to end an exciting game.
Remember, you're building characters, not dynasties. Good luck and have fun with the kids.
I feel for you. It's a tough situation. Be proud of your daughter and she should also be proud. All kids should know what it feels like to excel. Don't worry about game one, but use this strength to develop the rest of your team. Just as your daughter is learning to play ball, you are learning to coach children.
I coached ball for amost two decades and almost to a man, coaches that I knew over those decades gained, over time a better perspective about what we were doing. In the end you realize it is a kids game and as a coach you have a responsibility to all the kids involved.
I had bag of tricks for keeping a game close. My favourite technique in little league was what I called the clock killer. It works for home games if your league has a game time limit. Our league had a rule that if time runs out before an inning is complete, you revert to the previous inning's score. You have to trust the ump, but be sure to confirm start and end times at the pregamp coin toss. Based on game pace and only enough time for another inning, put a developing pitcher on the mound. I always had mound hopefuls who were the go to guys for this. While your at it, try other kids out in the infield as you see fit. Explain clearly to the pitcher that their job is to throw strikes and let the defense get the outs. When you sub the clock killer in, discretely double check game end time with the ump. But don't let the other teams nose get rubbed. Let the other team swing away and make a come back. Watch your pitcher's facial expression (don't let her get upset or worse yet, cry). Go to the mound as the lead slips away and explain the time rule and that the game outcome is safe. If the new pitcher can run the clock out, you do not get your home at bat and score reverts to the previous inning. The end result can be good all around. Your team got some new experience and development. The other coach gets to praise his kids for the comeback.
Any combination of the above can be used to control a game if you have thought it out in advance.
By the time my team core was 12 they were an out getting, base running machine. It was fun to just watch. We had no stars, but had few holes.
The intent it to make it exciting for all kids, even the right fielder on the weak team. You gotta remember these are kids and he also has the same MLB dream as the short stop. If a team gets blown out consistently, some kids won't be back. Your league shrinks every year.
Once your kids develop, this will get easier to pull off, even without a time limit. Short shift the pitchers. Ie; starter, equalizer, closer. Water down the defense. Take the steal off. Swing at the plate, no waiting for the walk. Once playoffs come around, this adds up to additional depth in your roster.
I explained my no blowout philosophy to my team as required. It's for the good of the league. Win with class, lose with class.
We did well at the nationals one year, but my proudest moments of coaching include;
-Turning a surprise 14 point lead in high school into a 3 point win. (Adam's grandpa got to see him pitch that day.)
-Having close games against the weakest teams in house league.
-Coaching against one of my pitchers from the nationals and watching him throw BP to my inexperienced squad. Giving up his (and getting our) first home run in that game and smiling as he let us hang in a few runs back before he winked at me and then struck us out to end an exciting game.
Remember, you're building characters, not dynasties. Good luck and have fun with the kids.
Last edited:
Tig
Veteran Member
Moss, I like your methods. Get the parents involved and be fair.
In house league every one of my players had an infield and an outfield position. One right in front of the other. Eg LF/3rd. CF/SS. RF/2nd. They switched every inning. Batteries at the half inning. As 12 year olds we lost our first five games, one to each team in the league. We then went on a 13 game win streak to close out the season and playoff championship. Same rotation all the way through. Hanging on the dugout fence was the batting order and defensive assignments list for every inning of the game.
As for batting order I went by the easiest stat that I could glean from a score card. OB%. Disregarding force out etc. This eliminates score keeper bias regarding errors etc. Some kids hit the ball hard and cause errors. Some kids crush poor pitchers but don't have the technique to stand in against the decent pitchers they will see in the playoffs. Others seem haples but stats reveal they know how to get a walk or just seem to have a talent for getting plunked. If you got on base more, you were moving up in the order next game. But during the regular season I did not start a game at the top of the order. Last out of previous game was last batter of the current game. At the end of the season everyone had their fair turn at bat.
In house league every one of my players had an infield and an outfield position. One right in front of the other. Eg LF/3rd. CF/SS. RF/2nd. They switched every inning. Batteries at the half inning. As 12 year olds we lost our first five games, one to each team in the league. We then went on a 13 game win streak to close out the season and playoff championship. Same rotation all the way through. Hanging on the dugout fence was the batting order and defensive assignments list for every inning of the game.
As for batting order I went by the easiest stat that I could glean from a score card. OB%. Disregarding force out etc. This eliminates score keeper bias regarding errors etc. Some kids hit the ball hard and cause errors. Some kids crush poor pitchers but don't have the technique to stand in against the decent pitchers they will see in the playoffs. Others seem haples but stats reveal they know how to get a walk or just seem to have a talent for getting plunked. If you got on base more, you were moving up in the order next game. But during the regular season I did not start a game at the top of the order. Last out of previous game was last batter of the current game. At the end of the season everyone had their fair turn at bat.
MossRoad
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The worst game I ever witnessed was a 7-8 grade girls softball game. We only had one pitcher. A bunch of kids on the other team (and their coach) went to the world series the year before. So, we were looking forward to playing them. So the other team's "world class" coach loudly tells his first batter not to swing at any pitch and take the walk. Of course, our pitcher gets rettled and walks the girl on 4-5 pitches. He tells the girl on first loudly not to steal and tells the next batter not to swing. She walks. Repeat, repeat, repeat. He would not let ANY of his girls swing or steal and there was a 10 run per inning rule, so, our pitcher throws 50-60 pitches and walks 13 in the 1st inning. Next inning, the same thing. The other team parents are laughing, they all start yelling at their kids to take the walk. Our pitcher started crying on the mound. Then in the third inning a parent from the other team comes up to the fence and starts taking flash pictures of their kids taking walks. Our coach calls time, asks the Ump to have the parent refrain from taking flash pictures at each pitch, the other crowd parents start saying nasty things and then we hear "Stupid west siders!" loudly from their crowd. Our parents jump up (we are west siders of course), I thought there was going to be a riot. It was ugly, ugly, ugly. It was a 4 inning minimum game, so final score was like 30 to 8 because they didn't have to take last bats. But we earned our runs. And our principle was at the game, heard the comments, saw the other coaches tactics and brought it up to the proper folks in the school system and sports council. But it was just an all around poor disply of coaching, sportsmanship, parenting, etc.... most disgusting sporting event I ever witnessed.
MossRoad
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On the other hand....
I had a kid on my team of 19 that had never played softball before that year. She had good instincts and quick reactions. I had her at 3rd because she could stop a ball and make that long throw to 1st. Anyhow, the other team has the bases loaded.
A girl smacks a line drive just inside the 3rd base line.
My 3rd basegirl snags it ouf of mid-air, one out.
She looks over and sees the runner at 3rd had left early, so she stomps on 3rd base, two outs.
She looks to her left and the runner at 2nd had alraeady run half way down to 3rd before realizing what happened so she takes off after the runner and runs her down before she gets back to 2nd and tags her out, third out!
THE UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY!!!
The holy grail of baseball defense!!!
From a kid that only had a few games under her belt!!!
With no assist from the coaches, she just did it on instinct!!!
Holy Cow!!!
She throws the ball back to the pitcher and goes back to her spot at 3rd for the next play.
We had to tell the team, the inning is over. Get off the field. The kid made all three outs!
Man, that was the BEST sporting event I ever witnessed!
:thumbsup:
I had a kid on my team of 19 that had never played softball before that year. She had good instincts and quick reactions. I had her at 3rd because she could stop a ball and make that long throw to 1st. Anyhow, the other team has the bases loaded.
A girl smacks a line drive just inside the 3rd base line.
My 3rd basegirl snags it ouf of mid-air, one out.
She looks over and sees the runner at 3rd had left early, so she stomps on 3rd base, two outs.
She looks to her left and the runner at 2nd had alraeady run half way down to 3rd before realizing what happened so she takes off after the runner and runs her down before she gets back to 2nd and tags her out, third out!
THE UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY!!!
The holy grail of baseball defense!!!
From a kid that only had a few games under her belt!!!
With no assist from the coaches, she just did it on instinct!!!
Holy Cow!!!
She throws the ball back to the pitcher and goes back to her spot at 3rd for the next play.
We had to tell the team, the inning is over. Get off the field. The kid made all three outs!
Man, that was the BEST sporting event I ever witnessed!
:thumbsup:
