The Saga of Rebuilding a School Program: A parent-coach's journal

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Jan 25, 2022
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This is why watching games isn’t torture for you..😂

I think I understand you a little better now. That's some detailed analysis fan action. The fielding angles are much more blurry from the outfield fence...or parking lot.
 
Jun 8, 2016
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I think I understand you a little better now. That's some detailed analysis fan action. The fielding angles are much more blurry from the outfield fence...or parking lot.
I can see her screwups from my office 4 States away 😂

Once you what good looks like it is hard to “un-see” what not as good looks like..
 
Jan 25, 2022
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Another coach sent me this a few days ago. I showed my kid yesterday and said "I feel like this sometimes, like when I take a fastball to the shin, but also can't fully appreciate how difficult pitching is so it's ok. And I'm a terrible catcher."

 
Aug 5, 2022
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I mean top tier locally. She's not destined for D1 or something. Just very solid and a significant loss for us. A (very) small college did offer her a spot though. Still, I probably should keep in mind that the membership here are likely more involved in softball and at a deeper level. Seems like everyone posting here has a kid playing D1 or on some kind of diamond platinum unobtanium level team.

I will add, to her credit. you will not see a lot of shortstops track and catch a fly ball into shallow RF. We basically expect to see that at this point.

You shouldn’t see a lot of short stops track and catch a ball in shallow right field because it’s not their play. Shallow right center maybe if the ball is blowing across the diamond and it starts on the left side. Do you not have a second baseman?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jan 25, 2022
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You shouldn’t see a lot of short stops track and catch a ball in shallow right field because it’s not their play. Shallow right center maybe if the ball is blowing across the diamond and it starts on the left side. Do you not have a second baseman?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I didn't mean to imply that every ball hit that way is taken by the SS. That's certainly not the case, but 2B was sort-of an unfilled position for a while so kids they rotated into that spot weren't always sure what was and wasn't in their territory. Add to this that the RF position was also a rotating cast of characters for a while, so they also weren't always where they needed to be. That's not my team so I don't know exactly what they're told, but the teams I've been a part of are taught that no one owns a fly ball. If they can get to it first without neglecting their own position in that particular play and call the ball, they should do so. Obviously with seasoned players in every position, that shouldn't be an issue. They have an effective 2B now with a knack for finding the ball quickly. But to be perfectly blunt, we haven't had a ton of great players to the point that we would just expect all of them to be able to completely field their position. Remember, this is a rebuilding program. :)

Now that you mention it though, I do recall on that particular shallow RF catch she made, it was cold and windy so that ball may very well have drifted over. I remember because when talking about the catch I usually mention that the opposing team's head coach, who was in full Carharrt coveralls, stayed at his spot by 3B applauding until she got back to the dugout. If I had to guess, I would say in that particular case if it was indeed blowing around, she would likely have initially been making the move to catch it behind second base itself.
 
Jan 25, 2022
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The game with the team I mentioned in my last post-game discussion went as-expected. Nothing surprising there, and I think it lasted 4 innings. The girls played solid D, but if ya can't hit, ya can't score.

If I want to make a crappy excuse for giving up hits, they were apparently using the now-banned Suncoast bats. Apparently several teams in our region have been using them. One in-particular had hit (IIRC) 36 homeruns this season vs 21 last season. So...I wish we had known about those bats. I don't think any of us even knew Suncoast existed. Wouldn't have helped DD2 much. Although she makes contact most of the time, she can't barrel it to save her life. We have a lot of work to do this offseason. I'm thinking I may do a lot of just setting the pitching machine on something like 35 and letting her work her way up as she starts making solid contact. Maybe some hitting lessons as well. I've been told I have a nice swing, but it just comes naturally to me so I have no idea how to explain it to her.

We've played two games since.

The first one was with a team we haven't played before. Their record and competition looked to put them in the neighborhood of our skill level, give or take. We had only played one or two common teams.

Overall it went very well. P1 had a solid outing and we managed to get the bats going late and ended up with a 4-1 victory. Out other game with them had been rained-out.

Last night we played a divisional team in the first round of the district tournament. There are only four teams in our district. This is the team we beat with a walk-off double early in the season at home, then lost 2-0 in the game where our RF left in an ambulance after the home-plate collision. She almost slid into home again last night but decided to stay on her feet and just beat the tag. I'm pretty sure she only just stopped wearing the mouth guard in the past week or so. They also happened to be the tournament host and had a big crowd there.

We were down 1-0 for a bit, then tied it up around the 4th inning or so. P1 was throwing hard but still getting into too many deep counts. That pitch count shoots up fast, and she's generally good for 100 or so. I believe it was the 5th when they went ahead 3-1. Top of the 6th our girls managed to get two more to tie it up, then held them scoreless in the bottom. We had a runner on 3B early in the top of the 7th. At two outs, she managed to get picked off by the catcher.

In the bottom of the 7th with one out and a runner on 2B, one of their girls hit a smokin line drive to left center. As soon as it came off the bat I mumbled "game over," but our kid got a great jump on it and made the catch, then sent a laser to 2B and beat the runner trying to get back.

Things got pretty rowdy going into extra innings. A few innings back, some of what I refer to (for us as well) as the "boyfriends and brothers club" were running their mouths at P1. At one point they told the batter "don't swing. she can't throw anyway!" and P1 literally just started walking toward them instead of back to the circle. Just stands there facing them just outside the circle and we're all like WTF. It was funny because they shut up, but knowing her if she had spoken it would have been something to likely get her removed. Her dad was loudly yelling at her to let it go, and a few seconds later she turned and headed the right direction. Ump immediately called time and asked the assistant coach to handle it, and he did. This is a team we generally get along very well with. Their coaches are all great guys and will put the kids first at all times, even when it's not their kids. P1 did, as expected, come out in her next at-bat and angry-swing herself into a strikeout...lol

Anyway, in the top of the 8th we managed to get a run. At this point both pitchers were giving up a lot of contact. I know P1 was at 117 going into the bottom of the 8th, but she was still effective for the most part. Running on sheer willpower at that point and really, it was hers to finish regardless.

We got them to two out, and I think they had a runner on. Batter hit a semi-weak grounder back to P1 and she easily fielder it. She looked over at the B&B club quickly as she turned to make her throw to 1B and end it. Then she dropped her mask in the circle and ran to the front of the high-five line looking at them the whole time. I was kinda surprised she didn't go right to the fence, but it was funny regardless.


So the girls play again this evening in the second game of the night. Seeds 1 and 4 are playing. Seed 1 is the country rival who has whipped us twice already. It would take a lot of pulled hamstrings to put them in a position to lose that game, so we'll likely face them for the third time. We'll see how it goes I suppose. A win tonight sends us to regionals and a loss sends us into the offseason. Still, 2nd place in the under 525 tournament, 2nd in the district, and a record over .500 hasn't happened here in quite a few years.

Current record, 16-14.
 
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Jan 25, 2022
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Well, as-expected, the girls did lose last night. It was kind-of a crazy game due to some errors and mishaps. Their pitcher struggled a lot more than expected. We really didn't expect her to struggle at all, but she actually threw a few walks. Our girls were getting a good bit of contact and managed to get a few hits and score a run in something like the 5th inning, but ultimately lost 9-1.

However, it went to 7 innings. That's a moral victory in my opinion. P1 got the start and threw the first 5 innings, then P2 finished it off. I was kinda surprised P1 started since she had throw 8 innings the night before. She held up pretty well, though.

And on a positive note, there were no taunts or mexican standoffs.

So, district runner-up. That's a big deal for this team. The record is 16-15.

Tomorrow starts the regional tournament, and since the girls are runner-up in the district they'll play a district winner. This one happens to have the most dominant pitcher in the area. 30-4 last year with a .83 ERA and 431 strikeouts. 22-6 this season with 336 K's and a 1.06 ERA. They won the region last season and have the #2 RPI in a region this season out of 15 teams. Ours is #11. I've actually been wanting to see this kid pitch in-person. Tomorrow is also graduation for us and we have 4 starting seniors. Time-wise it'll be fine, but who knows what those kids have going on with family, etc, afterward. One of them is already out.

As usual, we'll just have to wait and see.
 

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