Today was our 13U rec league All-Star game. This league has 10U then 13U (8th graders can play even if they're 14), so it's a pretty big age range. We actually have a girl who just turned 10 last month playing on the team. She's the sister of the girl this post is about.
The game was set up with each of the five teams selecting four girls, then the girls were split so two from each squad were on the blue team, two on the red team. I made sure to coach the team with our 11-year-old pitcher because I wanted to make sure she got an inning or two in the circle. She started pitching last year, and we've put a lot of time in. She's still very much a work-in-progress, but she's starting to figure some things out.
On the other team was an 8th grader who is known as the hardest thrower/most intimidating pitcher. Awful mechanics, no control, but she does throw hard for this level. While she's warming up to pitch, my pitcher says to me "How does she throw so hard?"
I look at her and say, "You throw that hard, too." She looked at me a little confused, so I had to repeat myself. It had never occurred to her that she was on this other girl's level. She doesn't realize how good she currently is (which, admittedly, is nowhere near a finished product).
I gained a little bit of perspective here. We think they see what we see, but they don't always. From the sidelines, my pitcher sees "the fast pitcher" and thinks "how does she do that?" without realizing that she's 2-3 years younger, much less experienced, and she's already doing that!
And while process > results, our girl threw two scoreless innings, faced only seven batters. The father of one of the girls on her team today (but on a different team during the season) even came up to her to tell her how much better she's gotten since he last saw her. The other pitcher really struggled, gave up 6 runs and couldn't get through her second inning.
Edited to add: I really wish the other pitcher could get with a decent pitching coach. She actually has a ton of potential, and it kills me a little bit to see her being taught every single wrong thing.
The game was set up with each of the five teams selecting four girls, then the girls were split so two from each squad were on the blue team, two on the red team. I made sure to coach the team with our 11-year-old pitcher because I wanted to make sure she got an inning or two in the circle. She started pitching last year, and we've put a lot of time in. She's still very much a work-in-progress, but she's starting to figure some things out.
On the other team was an 8th grader who is known as the hardest thrower/most intimidating pitcher. Awful mechanics, no control, but she does throw hard for this level. While she's warming up to pitch, my pitcher says to me "How does she throw so hard?"
I look at her and say, "You throw that hard, too." She looked at me a little confused, so I had to repeat myself. It had never occurred to her that she was on this other girl's level. She doesn't realize how good she currently is (which, admittedly, is nowhere near a finished product).
I gained a little bit of perspective here. We think they see what we see, but they don't always. From the sidelines, my pitcher sees "the fast pitcher" and thinks "how does she do that?" without realizing that she's 2-3 years younger, much less experienced, and she's already doing that!
And while process > results, our girl threw two scoreless innings, faced only seven batters. The father of one of the girls on her team today (but on a different team during the season) even came up to her to tell her how much better she's gotten since he last saw her. The other pitcher really struggled, gave up 6 runs and couldn't get through her second inning.
Edited to add: I really wish the other pitcher could get with a decent pitching coach. She actually has a ton of potential, and it kills me a little bit to see her being taught every single wrong thing.