Messing with stats in Gamechanger

[uncdrew]

I do GC for DD's travel team, and I feel like I'm a little harder on her than her teammates. If she doesn't make a play that I know she's capable of, she gets an error.

For the most part, at 12U, if you beat the throw to first base it's a hit in my book. Balls that are hit hard enough to glance off the fielder's glove are hits as well, as are outfield hits that are misread. It's tough to determine where and when a play 'should' have been made at this level. Good outfield catches still elicit cheers from the crowd. I give ROEs if the first baseman drops the ball, or if the throw sails over her head.

As pattar said, it's really not that important. For me, I like the pitching stats they give you like first pitch strikes, pitch counts, swing and miss percentage, etc. DD has a super-bloated ERA though, because of the aforementioned preference for giving out hits. Her FIP is my only consolation!

I'm with you.

The pitching stats are helpful. Fielding and batting stats less so.

The parent that enters games into Game Changer for our 10U team knows softball very well and is very fair. I tell our Head Coach quite often how fortunate we are to have that.

Yet as we all know, you need to know your team. That girl with a .600 average that never hits the ball out of the infield isn't the team's best hitter, regardless of what their mom and dad tell everyone who will listen. *sigh*

 

[bmakj]

does the HC use the GC stats? that is probably the biggest question. yes, you have to know your team, but a HC has 10-12 players to be keeping track of, and may use the stats as a reference to supplement what they see. In this case, it could have an effect.

I wish our team did stats in GC. it would certainly highlight an interesting stat for DD (currently batting 7th, irregardless of how many we are batting, 12u), through 13 games, 0 Ks. she has gotten base hit, ROE, HBP, or BB for every at bat. does not have great power (most hits are sharp ground balls up the middle, or fly balls that drop in between If/OF, but has also hustled out a few legit infield hits (ie SS has to backhand, get up, turn, and make throw). or how many runs are scored on PB for the catchers (DD catches). but all this team apparently uses is eye test. not saying that you dont take that into account, but some stats would be nice too.

an interesting question, when a CR scores for either pitcher or catcher, who gets credit for scoring the run? who would take the hit on a base running error (not certain you can even do those in GC). DD is pretty good BR, not fastest on team, but quick, listens, and doesnt hesitate. hate when they CR for her less than 2 outs.

 

[bmakj]

Also, last team we were on that did use GC for stats, the scorekeeper was in the dugout (officially listed as AC, but just so they could be in dugout), and would consult HC on each play (error or hit, throwing error or catching error, PB or WP, etc., just a quick communication, like E#, or saying PB or WP or stolen base). this kinda eliminated that (or at it did in this case, and should really). might be something to suggest.

 

[OK04dad]

Sometimes my DD's teammates bring up their stats on GC. I remind her that the mom doing GC doesn't understand what a fielder's choice is and some of the other mistakes she's made. Basically, tell her it's good for knowing the score but that's about it.

 

[_MIA_]

If my DD is barreling up a good majority of pitches against all kinds of pitching, good and bad, I don't really care if she is batting third or 100...and I would make sure to tell her that....

 

[Softballmom2008]

This is 2nd year 10u. They do publish stats. In GC, where they publish the play by play, my dd is always assigned the error if it’s an infield hit, or her hits are all errors if she reaches 1B on her hit since obviously the defense fumbled the ball, but when the scorekeepers dd hits the ball, she reaches because it was a legit hit. It’s ridiculous,
Another thing that’s happening is the scorekeepers wife is screaming after every single one of my dds pitches...great catch to the catcher. Every single one and she knows it drives dd nuts which messed up her 1st inning. She kept saying, I didn’t like it when she cheered for my dd. She finally stopped once she knew I was ignoring her.

 

[uncdrew]

does the HC use the GC stats? that is probably the biggest question. yes, you have to know your team, but a HC has 10-12 players to be keeping track of, and may use the stats as a reference to supplement what they see. In this case, it could have an effect.

I wish our team did stats in GC. it would certainly highlight an interesting stat for DD (currently batting 7th, irregardless of how many we are batting, 12u), through 13 games, 0 Ks. she has gotten base hit, ROE, HBP, or BB for every at bat. does not have great power (most hits are sharp ground balls up the middle, or fly balls that drop in between If/OF, but has also hustled out a few legit infield hits (ie SS has to backhand, get up, turn, and make throw). or how many runs are scored on PB for the catchers (DD catches). but all this team apparently uses is eye test. not saying that you dont take that into account, but some stats would be nice too.

Fine point.

I was telling my DD I was really proud that she leads the team in RBIs and has the fewest Ks, though her average is middle of the pack. Game Changer keeps those counting stats and helps us know that my DD puts the ball in play and makes things happen, though she gets out on line drives and hard hit balls a lot. When we look at the stats in conjunction with what we know/feel it does help solidify our thoughts.

 

[reagansdaddy]

does the HC use the GC stats? that is probably the biggest question. yes, you have to know your team, but a HC has 10-12 players to be keeping track of, and may use the stats as a reference to supplement what they see. In this case, it could have an effect.

I wish our team did stats in GC. it would certainly highlight an interesting stat for DD (currently batting 7th, irregardless of how many we are batting, 12u), through 13 games, 0 Ks. she has gotten base hit, ROE, HBP, or BB for every at bat. does not have great power (most hits are sharp ground balls up the middle, or fly balls that drop in between If/OF, but has also hustled out a few legit infield hits (ie SS has to backhand, get up, turn, and make throw). or how many runs are scored on PB for the catchers (DD catches). but all this team apparently uses is eye test. not saying that you dont take that into account, but some stats would be nice too.

an interesting question, when a CR scores for either pitcher or catcher, who gets credit for scoring the run? who would take the hit on a base running error (not certain you can even do those in GC). DD is pretty good BR, not fastest on team, but quick, listens, and doesnt hesitate. hate when they CR for her less than 2 outs.

Credit for the run goes to the courtesy runner and Gamechanger keeps the stat in that way. Essentially whoever crosses the plate gets the run - same as if the coach had used a pinch runner.

Gamechanger does not keep track of baserunning errors.

 

[Strike2]

I do GC for DD's travel team, and I feel like I'm a little harder on her than her teammates. If she doesn't make a play that I know she's capable of, she gets an error.

For the most part, at 12U, if you beat the throw to first base it's a hit in my book. Balls that are hit hard enough to glance off the fielder's glove are hits as well, as are outfield hits that are misread. It's tough to determine where and when a play 'should' have been made at this level. Good outfield catches still elicit cheers from the crowd. I give ROEs if the first baseman drops the ball, or if the throw sails over her head.

For the most part, what you described is a hit at ANY level. Beating a throw where there was no misplay of a routine chance is a hit every time. A ball hit unusually hard OR soft can also easily require more than ordinary effort. Misjudging a fly ball in the OF usually isn't an error unless it comes right down on top of a stationary player and they miss it. Even then there are possible exceptions: my DD was playing LF a couple of years ago, and a "can of corn" fly ball was hit in her direction. However, the sun angle matched the fly ball, and even with sunglasses and good technique, she simply couldn't see it in close and it bounced off her shoulder. Anyone who has ever fought to find a ball in the sun would know that's anything but "routine".

If you're going to assess and track errors, it's not a subjective "depending on the player thing" or even playing level. I've seen plenty of beat throws, high bouncers, slow rollers, and hard shots deflecting off D1 college player gloves that were ruled hits. An error is a failure to make a play requiring ordinary effort, not a failure to make an exceptional or even above-average one. Examples of "routine" include a grounder hit at normal infield practice speed close to where an infielder is lined up at normal depth, or a fly ball that the player doesn't have to break out into a sprint to catch. If 1B has to go to max extension to have any chance to catch the ball, and she drops it, it's an error on the throw. If a play is missed, and you would have said "great work" had it been made, it's not an error.

 

[Lightning]

OP, I don't think there's anything to be gained by complaining about GameChanger stats. If it's as blatant as you say, then the coaching staff knows that something is off and you don't have to say anything. But if you try to complain about the stats, you run the risk of being labeled the difficult parent. This is just something it's best to let go.