Did you State Softball ?
- Thread starter WARRIORMIKE
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How do you determine the best state for softball? Well being from NY this hurts to say but has to be Cali. But this is based on all the previous factors of weather, pop, facilities, coaches. I don't know a single person that wants to coach in North Dakota (lived there for 7 years NOT FUN). Wasn't until 2 years ago that a college team won the WS without a single rostered california player. Had a college coach tell me she doesn't recruit locally where i currently live because there just aren't enough players. California players are approaching 250-350 games a year while some of us east coast people hit around 80. Hard to compete with that. However how much better is a girl from no where Delaware that gets a scholarship to say Arizona State have to be in order to get noticed? I'm guessing quite a bit to get a coach west of the Mississippi to come take a look.
I can't say definitively which way is better, but we are taking a look at this for our rec league. We play SF peninsula and south bay teams for summer and fall ball. It's not SoCal, but there is good softball. Our league has player pitch at 10U but we are reconsidering after learning that some of the better programs in fact have coach pitch at 10U.
Awesome pitchers will still be awesome. The coach won't get in much when they are throwing. But on the other side of the equation, it greatly multiplies the hitting and defensive action that occurs in a game to have coach pitch instead of walks. I could also see an argument that it could help pitchers as well. Instead of pulling a borderline pitcher due to some walks, coaches may instead be able to let them stay in games longer, and learn how to tune in their control in a game situation without fear of being yanked so soon.
- Jul 26, 2010
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We have player pitch at 10u, and have had for over 10 years on this side of SFBA. That said, two years ago we amended our 10u pitching rule to expedite game play and limit walks. This was necessary as we limit the innings pitched by each pitcher per week substantially at this age, meaning that having just one or two pitchers won't cut it.
We had some doubts as to if it would work well but it turned out great. One of my DD's umpires for the league and did a fair share of 10u games and said that there were usually only 2-3 instances of needing to use this rule per game.
10 & Under Field Rules 2013
8 of 8
Q. At the start of the season, after a pitcher ha
s pitched three walks in an inning, the
batter will not be awarded first base on any additi
onal walks. A coach from the
offensive team will pitch to the batter and they wi
ll have the number of pitches
left to finish the at-bat. If the batter does not
hit the pitch, it is a strike. If the
batter fouls off the third strike, they receive ano
ther pitch. The coach will pitch
from the rubber. The batter will not be awarded fi
rst base if hit by a coach’s pitch.
The defensive pitcher must be in the circle but not
in front of the rubber. The
pitcher will return to the circle for the next batt
er(s). No stealing or bunting is
allowed on a coach pitch.
Division Director reserves the right to review and
amend this rule at any time.
-W
We had some doubts as to if it would work well but it turned out great. One of my DD's umpires for the league and did a fair share of 10u games and said that there were usually only 2-3 instances of needing to use this rule per game.
10 & Under Field Rules 2013
8 of 8
Q. At the start of the season, after a pitcher ha
s pitched three walks in an inning, the
batter will not be awarded first base on any additi
onal walks. A coach from the
offensive team will pitch to the batter and they wi
ll have the number of pitches
left to finish the at-bat. If the batter does not
hit the pitch, it is a strike. If the
batter fouls off the third strike, they receive ano
ther pitch. The coach will pitch
from the rubber. The batter will not be awarded fi
rst base if hit by a coach’s pitch.
The defensive pitcher must be in the circle but not
in front of the rubber. The
pitcher will return to the circle for the next batt
er(s). No stealing or bunting is
allowed on a coach pitch.
Division Director reserves the right to review and
amend this rule at any time.
-W
For our 8U division, our league uses a hybrid player-coach pitch format. It's player pitch until ball 4, then the coach pitches for however many strikes are are left in the count. For example, if the coach takes over on a 1-strike count, her/she gets 2 pitches to the batter to either put the ball in play or strike out. There are no walks. About halfway through the Spring season, we change to all player-pitch to get ready for the league tournament and All-Stars. This has been successful for us in developing both pitchers and hitters. Our one 8U All-Star team had two girls who could throw 40+mph from 30', and very rarely gave up more than 2 or 3 walks in an entire game. This level of pitching was not uncommon in the All-Star teams we faced. At the State Champ tournament, our pitchers were average.
I agree that awesome pitchers will be awesome pitchers, but I believe they need circle time in game situations as part of their development. Similarly, the betters batters need to face pitchers who are trying to get them out to hone their skills. Coach pitching is great for building confidence and getting some success for the lesser-skilled kids.
The nature of SoCal communities comes into play too, it's one huge suburban sprawl, so weather+population+space.Most other areas have true cities so the population gets dense where the land gets scarce.
In NorCal, sprawling areas like SJ, Sacto, Stockton, have power org's, while SF does not.
In NorCal, sprawling areas like SJ, Sacto, Stockton, have power org's, while SF does not.
Yes we are currently using the exact same rules as your league. Hybrid, then girl pitch only. Sorry, I may have misled, it never occurred to me a league would do coach pitch only at 10u.
I have seen more than a few comments about leagues having coach- or machine-pitch at 10U. Maybe it's my misunderstanding about what they meant by coach-pitch. Machine-pitch at 10U is ludicrous, IMO.
JJsqueeze
Dad, Husband....legend
I don't buy the population argument-The BOS-WASH megalopolis has 44 million people- far more than southern California. But does not produce even close to the same amount of top level FP players. I don't buy the weather either. Texas and Florida have a much larger combined population and good weather and they do not produce anywhere near the number of top level players and they don't have the large urban centers either- both have a lot of sprawl.
I think it comes down to a combination of population/money/desirability of location as a place to live. I have my bones to pick with SoCal as a resident, but it draws a lot of people and has a lot of high paying jobs. The equipment/private coaching/TB fees are expensive and not all families can afford to pursue the game a the highest levels with the best quality coaching. It is a HUGE advantage. The good coaches go where the money is (the really-really great ones can live anywhere they want and students will come)
