Purpose in playing Fall ball

[ANNASDAD]

How do college coaches look upon players they have committed that decide to take time off? Vacation here, wedding there, or a little nagging injury, etc.

For Fall ball I’ve actually heard some college coaches who are okay with it either way, some want their commits to stay healthy and not risk injury.

 

[Orange Socks]

Just assumed the non-committed would see most of the playing time.

This is an incorrect assumption. Just because a kid has committed doesn't mean they are giving up their innings to the non committed players. When the non committed kids do the work and get a coach to show up to watch, you bet your a$$, she better be on the field and batting. If not, then we have a major problem. Coach should have a plan for playing time for each player. Will the Committed SS get most of the starts at her position? Most likely. If you have 4 pitchers, the coach will need to do their best for equal pitching time. Depends on the team they are playing too. If we were playing Bombers-Smith, Glory-Shelton, Scrap Yard, Aces Express teams coach does not want the team to be embarrased and will put his best team on the field to start with subs during the game. College coaches are there to watch the other team too.

On another note: No college coaches in sight and the hitter gets a walk. TB coach puts in a PR at 1st and brings the batter back to bat. Why?

 

[_MIA_]

Look at it from this perspective. Why would a committed player join a team where she was barely going to play?? If a player has a coach there specifically to see her then definitely she should play. Otherwise (IMO) the coach should manage playing time like he/she would do for any other high level team where every kid he/she puts out there can play..

 

[radness]

Know of teams (including top tier teams) where some players who have already been recruited and don't need to travel for out of state for showcasing stay home that weekend *save $,
gives the uncommitted more playing time to showcsse.
However, when it comes time for Nationals like pgf Premier and Alliance the committed, who are usually starters, will play.

It is something that irritates some families but for the bigger picture...
imo, it actually can make a lot of sense!
Benefits multiple goals.

 

[sluggers]

So, I have been under the impression that the purpose for playing Fall ball, is to be seen at showcases and to get on coach’s radars.

There are some kids who would play softball every day of the week if they had their way.

As a matter of fact...playing a game of slow pitch with friends and then heading over to a favorite watering hole for some libations sounds pretty good.

 

[Rolling Hard]

This is an incorrect assumption. Just because a kid has committed doesn't mean they are giving up their innings to the non committed players. When the non committed kids do the work and get a coach to show up to watch, you bet your a$$, she better be on the field and batting. If not, then we have a major problem. Coach should have a plan for playing time for each player. Will the Committed SS get most of the starts at her position? Most likely. If you have 4 pitchers, the coach will need to do their best for equal pitching time. Depends on the team they are playing too. If we were playing Bombers-Smith, Glory-Shelton, Scrap Yard, Aces Express teams coach does not want the team to be embarrased and will put his best team on the field to start with subs during the game. College coaches are there to watch the other team too.

On another note: No college coaches in sight and the hitter gets a walk. TB coach puts in a PR at 1st and brings the batter back to bat. Why?

This is a common practice in SoCal even at Friendlies (1:20 DD gamettes with teams usually playing 3 on any given Sunday). If it a 4 or 5 pitch walk or HBP, I get it. But if the player great AB and battles a 12 or 13 pitch and earns a walk putting her back up to bat again is a disservice to her IMO. My general observation (no numbers to back it up) in this situation is the player does not do as well as her first AB. Hard to refocus?

 

[Rolling Hard]

Know of teams (including top tier teams) where some players who have already been recruited and don't need to travel for out of state for showcasing stay home that weekend *save $,
gives the uncommitted more playing time to showcsse.
However, when it comes time for Nationals like pgf Premier and Alliance the committed, who are usually starters, will play.

It is something that irritates some families but for the bigger picture...
imo, it actually can make a lot of sense!
Benefits multiple goals.

Not sure who gets irritated. Is it the families/players that get displaced when PGF time comes around OR the families/players that are upset that some teammates get to stay home (saving $) and thus making team less competitive?

Now that I think about it, it probably both! Some people are generally irritated! (Not ME) LOL

 

[LEsoftballdad]

My older daughter was an uncommitted senior last fall on a team that was 75% seniors. Some were committed, but most were not. We had one stud pitcher commit to a MAC school at NE Finest in July of 2021, but the rest of the girls were D2 and D3 players, my daughter included. Over the fall, everyone played an equal amount, assuming they showed up for the tournaments, but that's another story. Once the girls started to commit, we still kept a competitive roster on the field because we still wanted to win.

By the summer, all the seniors had committed, but we still had a 2023 and a 2024 on the roster who had not yet, so the coaches made sure to get them in games more often to be seen. The 2023 committed at NE Finest, so it must have worked.

Now the issue we had in the summer was getting the committed girls to remain committed to the team... Ugggggg

 

[Orange Socks]

My older daughter was an uncommitted senior last fall on a team that was 75% seniors. Some were committed, but most were not. We had one stud pitcher commit to a MAC school at NE Finest in July of 2021, but the rest of the girls were D2 and D3 players, my daughter included. Over the fall, everyone played an equal amount, assuming they showed up for the tournaments, but that's another story. Once the girls started to commit, we still kept a competitive roster on the field because we still wanted to win.

By the summer, all the seniors had committed, but we still had a 2023 and a 2024 on the roster who had not yet, so the coaches made sure to get them in games more often to be seen. The 2023 committed at NE Finest, so it must have worked.

Now the issue we had in the summer was getting the committed girls to remain committed to the team... Ugggggg

We had 4 Senior fade away at the end of DD's last summer season. With those players missing, we had our best finish of the summer at TCS Nationals. Just missed the final bracket of 16 by one game.

 

[canyonjoe]

The purpose of being on a team in any season is to play softball. The kids that are committed love to play the game and want to play more games. If you aren't getting PT on this team you need to find one you will.