DD is bummed out.

[cuzmail]

One of the local HS teams almost never uses their best pitcher as a pitcher. All their pitchers are contact pitchers. Their fielding is generally pretty bad, but their best pitcher is also first team all-conference SS. So, they are a better team with their #2 pitcher and a great SS than with their #1 pitcher and no D.

Exactly what happens with DD. Her MS pitches her to get a sizable lead and then moves her to SS and has the #2 pitcher come in. This makes the infield solid. When DD is in the circle, there are gaps since the catcher and other position players need to be moved around. Good thing in school ball DD is a K pitcher and it works.

 

[BobInMadison]

It can be a real drag for a student who goes to a college to play ball, and then the coaching doesn't work out.

Bad situation: one of my cousins was offered a football scholarship at Colorado. However, he was from Oklahoma, his family had been in Oklahoma for generations, parents and grandparents were OU grads, grew up a huge Sooner fan. Really wanted to play for Barry Switzer. His family had $, so he went to OU as a walk-on redshirt. The #### really hit the fan while he was there. He would never say anything bad about the program in public, but he told his mother stories who told my mother who told me... Let's just say I have to respect for Coach BS.

Even worse, at one point some of the players bought some guns, so he took them out to the family land in the country and taught them how to shoot. My cousin came from a family of hunters, real responsible gun owners.

Later, one of the players he taught how to shoot a gun shot another player. My cousin left OU for a juco soon afterwards.

Bad doubled: the older brother of one of my friends played college BB at Arkansas. One year he got to the Final Four playing Deep Pine, on a team with Sidney Moncrieff and Ron Brewer. (Houston Nutt was also Deep Pine on that team.) He didn't like the assistant coach he worked with. So, he transferred. Had to sit out a season. Then, his new college hired a new HC. Guess who? The old AC from Arkansas!

 

[KCPRK]

Not saying this is the case but it hasn't been mentioned as a possibility.

Sometimes players for whatever reason refuse to play with their best effort or attitude behind a pitcher. Sometimes its an off field problem being transferred to the field.

You said your daughter received some good press before the season-do you think some of her team mates took that the wrong way-jealousy?

 

[PEPPERS]

Not saying this is the case but it hasn't been mentioned as a possibility.

Sometimes players for whatever reason refuse to play with their best effort or attitude behind a pitcher. Sometimes its an off field problem being transferred to the field.

You said your daughter received some good press before the season-do you think some of her team mates took that the wrong way-jealousy?

I like to think that is not the case, but after watching the one game it made me wonder. I asked her if they were any friction between her and some of the players and she said, no. She is a good kid and makes friends pretty easy. I encouraged her to be positive and to encourage players when an error was made.

 

[BobInMadison]

Exactly what happens with DD. Her MS pitches her to get a sizable lead and then moves her to SS and has the #2 pitcher come in. This makes the infield solid. When DD is in the circle, there are gaps since the catcher and other position players need to be moved around. Good thing in school ball DD is a K pitcher and it works.

DD #3 is a K pitcher in rec league, but mostly a contact pitcher in TB. (The reason is, she can blow it right by the rec league players, but the TB players know how to hit).

In TB she depends on her team's D. Wasn't very good last year, but they spent the winter working on D. Hopefully a lot better this year, since the other pitchers on the team are slower and almost completely contact.

In rec league her biggest problem is finding a good catcher who won't drop third strikes. Last fall she was the team's #1 P and the #2 C. Another girl was the #2 P and #1 C. That worked out well. DD #3 was good enough to catch the #2P, and the #2 P was good enough to catch DD #3. In that case, it made a HUGE difference whether she was pitching. She could come in and strike out the side.

Last spring, and possibly this spring as well, she was the #1 P and the #1 C for her rec league team. The team didn't give up a lot when she was catching instead of pitching, because there were no dropped 3rd strikes.

 

[MNDad]

Then at some point she began express concern because she was getting scored on because of errors,

Did she express this concern to you, her coach or her teamates? I know so many pitchers parents that blame every misfortune of their DD's on the other players I can't help but think there's more to the story.

 

[abbygale]

What I would question more, is why did he take the bat out of her hands? I've heard of a lot of foolish moves, but rarely that one.

 

[JAD]

Some teams have a different confindence level behind different pitchers, it really isn't right especially at the college level. I saw this same thing several years ago on my oldest DDs 12u team. Three pitchers, each pitcher rotated starts, there wasnt much difference in "stuff" and numbers, but record wise, one pitcher won 50% of her games, another won one game all season and the last didn't win any (not very successful team in the way of winning), Every time the team played behind pitcher #1 it looked like they expected to win, they were "on their toes" had confidence, pitcher #1 also yelled out after each batter the # of outs and where the play would be, ex. "one out infield look 2".

Over the years I have noticed that defenses usually play on their toes when the #1 pitcher is throwing, while a lot of them seem to get on their heels when the #3 pitcher is in the circle. The #2 pitcher gets a "box of chocolates"....$1 to Forest Gump.

 

[PEPPERS]

Did she express this concern to you, her coach or her teamates? I know so many pitchers parents that blame every misfortune of their DD's on the other players I can't help but think there's more to the story.

It was with her mom and me.

 

[BobInMadison]

It was with her mom and me.

OK, sometimes young athletes will share their concerns with parents, but keep mum elsewhere.