Needing Advice

[2x softball dad]

I haven't read all replies so forgive me if I become redundant.
Yelling at little girls-UNACCEPTABLE
what skills improved at the numerous 3 hour practices?

The infield is great. 9 out of 10 balls hit to our infield will result in an out, if not 10 out of 10.

Where is the pitching coach? 27-0 score?

We only have two pitchers and they both go to a pitching coach, which has helped them tremendously. But we still have a way to go in this area.

What kind of bush league manager lays a 27-0 beating on anyone?
Lopsided scores, especially at the 10U age do not benefit either dugout.

This was a very talented hitting team, Almost every batter got an in the park home run, one right after another. They kept hitting them over the outfielders heads but instead of the coach backing them up, he just kept them in their positions. Also, of our two pitchers, one is fast & wild and one is slower and accurate. The fast and wild pitcher was pitching and they were zeroed in on her pitches. I thought that it would have been a good time to put the slower pitcher in to throw them off, plus it was really frustrating the pitcher to keep having the other team kill the ball over and over. You could see it in her eyes.

The umpire even asked our coach if he wanted to call the game because it was out of hand and he refused to, and after the first few back to back home runs, he just sat on his bucket and said nothing for the remainder of the game.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I haven't read all replies so forgive me if I become redundant.
Yelling at little girls-UNACCEPTABLE
what skills improved at the numerous 3 hour practices?
Where is the pitching coach? 27-0 score?
What kind of bush league manager lays a 27-0 beating on anyone?
Lopsided scores, especially at the 10U age do not benefit either dugout.

Take the team over if you desire, DEVELOP SOME PITCHERS, or find
a good fit elsewhere for your DD. At the end of the day, she is #1 for you.
Don't coach just to coach, eliminate the problems and move forward.

What should the winning team have done? A coach could tell all his players to bat from the opposite side, but I'm not going to tell my players to just stand there and let pitches go by, nor would I tell them to give themselves up by leaving base early on purpose. When we've got an insurmountable lead, I'll go to a reserve pitcher and we'll stop stealing, but I would never tell my players not to swing their bats. Then again, we've never been up 27-0, so it's not like I'm speaking from experience or anything.

It's up to the losing team's coach to throw in the towel, not the coach of the team that's ahead.

A travel team needs at least 2 pitchers that are capable of starting, and at least 1 other pitcher that can give them some innings in a tournament setting. If you don't have that, then put this team in a rec league somewhere. I'm not saying they've got to be 'A' level pitchers, but they need to be able to help their teams get outs. You also need to work on your outfielders. Occasionally you're going to run up against a team of New Year's babies that are flat out jacking the ball all over the place, but you should be able to find teams you're capable of playing with, so long as you've got some decent pitching and halfway decent hitting.

You could go 0-and-40 and still have a successful season, depending on how you define your goals. If my team had lost every single game by 1 run this season, I'd have a good idea of what we were capable of and would be happy with it. Not everyone feels the same at 10u, though.

 

[Sweet Lou]

This was a very talented hitting team, Almost every batter got an in the park home run, one right after another. They kept hitting them over the outfielders heads but instead of the coach backing them up, he just kept them in their positions. Also, of our two pitchers, one is fast & wild and one is slower and accurate. The fast and wild pitcher was pitching and they were zeroed in on her pitches. I thought that it would have been a good time to put the slower pitcher in to throw them off, plus it was really frustrating the pitcher to keep having the other team kill the ball over and over. You could see it in her eyes.

Clearly the talent of the two teams was not the same, especially if all the balls were being hit past outfielders. One or both of the teams was in the wrong tournament division. But at some point you have to pull the pitcher and you really need to back up your OF when that happens. Positioning fielders is one of the coaches jobs.

 

[2x softball dad]

What should the winning team have done? A coach could tell all his players to bat from the opposite side, but I'm not going to tell my players to just stand there and let pitches go by, nor would I tell them to give themselves up by leaving base early on purpose. When we've got an insurmountable lead, I'll go to a reserve pitcher and we'll stop stealing, but I would never tell my players not to swing their bats. Then again, we've never been up 27-0, so it's not like I'm speaking from experience or anything.

I agree. What the opposing team coach did that I noticed was he quit stealing (when it wasn't a home run), and when it was, they runners didn't run full speed. He didn't change pitchers, but I don't think that it would have mattered anyway. By that point, the girls were crushed, our coach had gave up and the girls could tell.

A travel team needs at least 2 pitchers that are capable of starting, and at least 1 other pitcher that can give them some innings in a tournament setting. If you don't have that, then put this team in a rec league somewhere. I'm not saying they've got to be 'A' level pitchers, but they need to be able to help their teams get outs. You also need to work on your outfielders. Occasionally you're going to run up against a team of New Year's babies that are flat out jacking the ball all over the place, but you should be able to find teams you're capable of playing with, so long as you've got some decent pitching and halfway decent hitting.

I agree, which is why we're looking to pick up another pitcher or work on a couple of girls who have pitched before and try to develop them to where we can use them if need be.

You could go 0-and-40 and still have a successful season, depending on how you define your goals. If my team had lost every single game by 1 run this season, I'd have a good idea of what we were capable of and would be happy with it. Not everyone feels the same at 10u, though.

True, and that's my thinking. I don't want to make a change solely because we only won a couple of games, but because the fun has gone out of the game for the girls. I think that once it's fun for them again, they'll learn more and play at a higher level.

 

[2x softball dad]

Clearly the talent of the two teams was not the same, especially if all the balls were being hit past outfielders. One or both of the teams was in the wrong tournament division. But at some point you have to pull the pitcher and you really need to back up your OF when that happens. Positioning fielders is one of the coaches jobs.

Clearly. We found out afterwards that the opposing teams players were all 11 yr olds (league age 10 though) and are moving up to 12U next year. But I agree, after they've scored 10+ runs in the first inning and the pitcher is clearly frustrated and they have her pitches down, you have to pull her and try something different. Who knows, they may have hit our 2nd pitcher as much or more than the first, but you've got to give it a shot. And you have to adjust your players to the game's situation. If they're hitting them deep consistently, back them up; if they're hitting them short, move them in. You can't just give up and go sit on the bench and hang your head.