WHAT WINS GAMES

[ANNASDAD]

when we lose a close game to an equal or better opponent, it has usually been we needed a few more hits, especially situations like runners on 2nd and/or 3rd and don't score.

That's where my "timely hitting" answer comes into play! And when you look back at losing very close late inning games, more times than not it's the team that blinks first with an error! On the flip side, it's the team that wins with that timely hit with runners in scoring position!

*****There's hits, then there's timely hits! So, is everyone up to speed on this timely hits thing? I got to assist on a 16U team several years back with a college coach, that was the one thing he would pound into the girl's heads when doing situational hitting at practice.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Team USA answered this question a couple weeks ago I believe.

And don’t feel bad if you get the answer wrong. Ken did too, and he’s supposed to be a softball guru, right?

#StillSalty

Haha, yeah I don't remember any of Anna's teams ever winning a game with a ZERO on the board!

 

[Eric F]

Don't forget baserunning erros once you get on base and poor decisions from the coach.

DD's team out errored most teams last season and they were rewarded with losses even if they out hit the opponent.

Yep. We had far too many runners get out at 3B last year. It's especially frustrating when it's the first out of the inning.

 

[_MIA_]

 

[Sweet Lou]

Why not both? I had a team that really hit but was terrible on defense and the following year I had a great defensive team that struggled to hit. Both were a bit under 500 but if I had the hitting of year 1 with the defense of team 2 we would have been a pretty special team.

But the team that defened well was much less frustrating to coach.

 

[ANNASDAD]

What pattar, what?

 

[_MIA_]

What pattar, what?

You know that saying “There is no such thing as a stupid question” ? It is a lie….

 

[NBECoach]

Does anyone think that the more prevalent method of victory changes as the players age?

younger teams - more of a possibility the team that bats last wins.

middle teams - pitching starts to take over and the best pitcher wins

older teams - hitting catches up with pitching and you have an offensive game

Once again -NOT EVERY TIME but a trend I have noticed here.

 

[Lobster Birch]

Team USA answered this question a couple weeks ago I believe.

And don’t feel bad if you get the answer wrong. Ken did too, and he’s supposed to be a softball guru, right?

#StillSalty

Yup. Japan’s superior defense carried the day for them.

 

[gator5]

We joined a 12c team as my daughter's first travel team (she is in college now) They were HORRIBLE the year before. They went something like 2-38 in C ball. The coaches decided that their key to success was to have a very good defense. So they worked on defense and throwing in every practice and not much else. And you know what? They were fortunate enough to have decent pitching so the very year we joined we moved up to B by the end of the summer. And it was pretty much 100% due to defense. The year after that they moved up to A.

Now i will argue you get to a point of diminishing returns and they should have made offense a priority after a year or so of just working on defense. They did not.