Stalling For the Win

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Jul 22, 2015
851
93
I coach 10u rec. You would think it's not super competitive, but these coaches are intense. Everybody's ridiculously competitive. It's one of the better rec leagues around, but yet everyone is super competitive.

This last Saturday my team (ranked second to last out of 8) was playing the top undefeated team. Somehow we were winning 1-0 the whole game and by the 5th inning they scored 2. We were home and there was 8 minutes left with an hour 30 drop dead rule. Two outs bases loaded opposing team is up. The coach purposely gets the girl on third out by making her hesitate to move it along and get them a chance to get us out. If they don't get 3 outs in 6 minutes now, we win because it reverts.

I could have stalled. Actually that last inning I changed pitchers (not to stall, because I needed to) and I told her no warm up pitches because I really didn't want to stall. It just feels scummy? She had pitched earlier. She didn't need them.

Anyways. 6 minutes they get three outs we lose. 1 pitch away from winning. Afterwards blue takes me and AC aside and says we should have stalled. AC wanted to stall, he pointed out the opposing coach was playing that game by intentionally getting a girl out.

Talked to another coach afterwards that said they would have stalled. I'm kinda still glad I didn't stall, but like we have 2 wins out of 13 games. That would have been a nice win for the girls.

Did I do the right thing and keep it moving? What would you have done? Was the opposing coach purposely getting one of his girls out a good play (I mean it was in terms of winning) or is it along the same lines of stalling and should be frowned upon? Just curious where everyone stands on all this.
They're 10. The only wrong thing you can do is make it about you or the parents instead of the kids. Keep it fun and help them learn. No one will care who won any of those games in a couple of weeks.
 
Mar 8, 2016
313
63
It is 10u rec. Every extra at bat, pitch, and play in the field is a win for your team. You do need to try and win but not ever by stalling.

I was coaching 10u rec. I put a girl in the last inning to pitch. We had a 8 run lead with a 7 run limit. I left the girl in as she struggled to find her groove. The opponents scored 9 runs (the rules magically changed) and won the game. In the car after the game, my dd wanted to know why I didn't take her out. I told her the girl needed to pitch to live batters so she could figure out what she and her parents needed to work on. DD was not impressed with my answer. Fast forward to the district finals and my "stud" travel ball pitcher goes off to play in a travel tournament. Who do I need to pitch in the championship game for the right to go to the state tournament? The same girl who blew the lead earlier in the year. She had been working at home with mom. She pitched great only allowed 1 run and we won the game. It has been 10 years and she and her parents still remember both of those games. For most of the girls I coached on that team it was the biggest softball win of their careers.
Don't stress over anything except doing what is best for your girls

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
Oct 23, 2019
62
8
It is 10u rec. Every extra at bat, pitch, and play in the field is a win for your team. You do need to try and win but not ever by stalling.

I was coaching 10u rec. I put a girl in the last inning to pitch. We had a 8 run lead with a 7 run limit. I left the girl in as she struggled to find her groove. The opponents scored 9 runs (the rules magically changed) and won the game. In the car after the game, my dd wanted to know why I didn't take her out. I told her the girl needed to pitch to live batters so she could figure out what she and her parents needed to work on. DD was not impressed with my answer. Fast forward to the district finals and my "stud" travel ball pitcher goes off to play in a travel tournament. Who do I need to pitch in the championship game for the right to go to the state tournament? The same girl who blew the lead earlier in the year. She had been working at home with mom. She pitched great only allowed 1 run and we won the game. It has been 10 years and she and her parents still remember both of those games. For most of the girls I coached on that team it was the biggest softball win of their careers.
Don't stress over anything except doing what is best for your girls

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

My DD was in a similar situation, but it effectively killed her interest in pitching and she was never the same. It probably means she didn't have the mental toughness to be a pitcher, so I figure better to find out now than later.
 
Mar 8, 2016
313
63
My DD was in a similar situation, but it effectively killed her interest in pitching and she was never the same. It probably means she didn't have the mental toughness to be a pitcher, so I figure better to find out now than later.
You definitely have to read the situation. In my estimation at the time the girl was struggling to pitch but not struggling with frustration. There are other times I have read the situation incorrectly. All you can do as the coach is make the decision you think best in the moment. No one ever sends a runner and gets them thrown out when they are sitting in the stands.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
Apr 14, 2022
564
63
78 seconds after the game was over, the girls had already forgotten who won. They probably have no idea if they're 2-13 or 13-2.

I wouldn't beat myself up over 10u rec coaching strategies.
After a 10u game the main coach asked the girls who won. Most had no idea and they had won by 8-10 runs. Lol
 
May 16, 2016
1,024
113
Illinois
I yelled at the team I coached when I realized they were trying to stall to win a game. I was the head coach, the assistant coach told the girls on the team to go up to bat with their shoes untied. I was coaching 3rd base, I realized what was going on when the first batter of the inning came up with both shoes untied. I yelled very loudly across the field that if another girls comes up to bat with their shoes untied they will not be playing the rest of the day. Damn near the entire team bent over and started tying their shoes. I was not happy about that type of play from the team I coached.

We won the game. In the post game discussion I made it very clear to the entire team that untying your shoes to delay a game is not the way I coach the game of softball. It is not worth sacrificing your integrity to win a 12u softball game.
 
Feb 13, 2021
880
93
MI
You did the right thing. I know teams play the time game, I truly dislike the whole set-up, though I do understand the need for it. However, ANY action to palpably try to shorten or lengthen the game is against the spirit of the rules. One of the truly beautiful things about both SB and BB is that there (traditionally and ideally) isn't a time clock. You have a certain number of innings each consisting of 3 outs per side. A very wise man once said the game "ain't over till it's over" and it is NEVER wrong to teach youngsters to play within the confines of the spirit of the rule.
 

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