Tryout season doesn’t always make sense

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May 27, 2013
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That is why you recruit CF and SS and not corner IF.. :ROFLMAO:
Yeah, I get that as well. However, I still think it takes a special skill-set to be able to read a ball off the bat, take the correct angles, and have a strong arm. All while having the speed to cover such a large area. I have no issue with recruiting up the middle because at least an OF (CF) is included in that.
 
May 27, 2013
2,353
113
Yeah, I get that as well. However, I still think it takes a special skill-set to be able to read a ball off the bat, take the correct angles, and have a strong arm. All while having the speed to cover such a large area. I have no issue with recruiting up the middle because at least an OF (CF) is included in that.
Sorry, just realized you included CF in your comment.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
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Yeah, I get that as well. However, I still think it takes a special skill-set to be able to read a ball off the bat, take the correct angles, and have a strong arm. All while having the speed to cover such a large area. I have no issue with recruiting up the middle because at least an OF (CF) is included in that.
There has to be work put in for sure but 2/3 of OU's starting OF in last year's WCWS played SS in TB (and Brito played it in college before she transferred..she did play some OF in TB, at least at the early ages if I remember correctly, as did Coleman for the U18 USA team). The year before their LF, Donihoo, was a SS in TB. It is probably easier in MLB since they have years in the minor's to get the work done..not so much in College softball. Both Mookie Betts and Trout were drafted as SS (and Mookie play 2B until his last few years in the minors..). With the field being so small in softball, you can get away a little bit with having less than great corner OF if your CF covers a bunch of ground.

Teaching somebody to play SS/P/C at the college softball level/ professional baseball level isn't going to happen (in particular P in softball..easier to convert to a P in baseball) regardless of their athletic ability. While obviously very important, the other positions have a less steep learning curve.
 
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Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
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This can happen in softball too. Chicks dig the longball. But really, I hope this coach's team ends up having a losing season.
Just recently talk to a D1 coach and she said, "I recruit up the middle. Pitchers, catchers, SSs and CFs."
Some of the ~300 D1 programs probably have the luxury of filling their rosters with SSs and CFs, but I suspect they're a minority. Others WILL recruit a corner, particularly 3B, or any other position they have a specific need for.
 
Jun 8, 2016
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Some of the ~300 D1 programs probably have the luxury of filling their rosters with SSs and CFs, but I suspect they're a minority. Others WILL recruit a corner, particularly 3B, or any other position they have a specific need for.
So you agree that it is a good strategy if possible..👍
 
Oct 3, 2019
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You have to just accept things and move on (which you have). Better to find out now than a month after the season starts.

My philosophy is that a girl should change teams every 2-3 years. Of course I learned this the hard way. Once a coaching staff gets in their minds a girl's skill set, it is pretty much impossible for them to see anything else.

At 16u, my daughter was deemed not good enough to pitch on the main fields in showcases when college coaches were there. And she was never allowed to pitch against a quality opponent. And we played on a local team - not some team with megastars. And yet I think they were shocked when we chose to go elsewhere for 18u.

And what happened at 18u? She went to a regional team where she was the #1 pitcher. She got multiple D1, D2 and D3 offers within 3 months. Seems maybe she was good enough to pitch in local tournaments.

The two pitchers on her local team that were "better" than her? Neither is pitching in college. One did go as a hitter.

Now for my amusing story. When I coached rec league, I had evaluated the girls on my team and had mentally put them in skill sets. Half way through the season, someone was not there so I was the warm up partner for a "marginal" girl. Just playing catch with her for 3 minutes totally changed my perspective on her. From that point on, she was one of my key players, and we started winning a lot more games. She was on my team the entire time, I watched her play 8 or so games and saw her in all the practices, and I totally missed it.
Interested in knowing, what "it" was? I'm curious because our player began playing rec. at 2nd year of 12u. She began at 3B, but after being given a practice player position on a low level travel team the following Fall, she was always relegated to RF, and rightfully so in the beginning. But she got locked in there even as her skills increased. There was still this stigma as she was always behind the other girls that played IF and CF, where she would eventually end up. My point is, she was given the opportunity in the first place by her first travel coach, thank goodness because she was 3-5 years behind the other girls and could have been written off entirely. Essentially, she has played only 2-2-1/2 years and is now almost 16 and playing CF and batted leadoff for her JV team. She got called to Varsity at the end of her Freshman season and is about to start Fall ball with an entirely new travel team. It will be interesting to see what it's like with all new coaches seeing her for the first time. It just always makes me wonder what coaches are looking at and why sometimes they are quick to write a player off. Is it Daddy ball or just favorites or bad coaching that they can't be inspired to take a girl with some athleticism and make her into a confident, accomplished player. I would look forward to that challenge if it were me.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
So you agree that it is a good strategy..👍
I think it's more posturing than an actual "strategy".

You can make a RF/LF out of any CF, but corner and middle infield are different positions often filled by different types of players. If you could get the top SS AND 3B off the that really good SOCAL travel team, why would stick to the "SS only" position and have to train someone to play the corner? That SOCAL travel team 1B/3B may one day hit 20 HRs...are you really going to say no because they're not a SS?

It's good to be Patty Gasso or Kenny Gajewski, but for every one of those, there's at least a handful mid-major coaches who are just fine with a ready-made 1B/3B.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
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You can make a RF/LF out of any CF, but corner and middle infield are different positions often filled by different types of players. If you could get the top SS AND 3B off the that really good SOCAL travel team, why would stick to the "SS only" position and have to train someone to play the corner?
because with some work the SS from the Corona Angels would be a better 3B than the SoCal kid 3/4 of the time. Whether it would worth it would depend on their hitting prowess..
 
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Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
because with some work the SS from the Corona Angels would be a better 3B than the SoCal kid 3/4 of the time. Whether it would worth it would depend on their hitting prowess..

I get it, the slow lumbering 49th in health OK type kids need some love too..

Plenty of really good orgs in SOCAL. One of those is the Corona Angels, so I'm not sure what you're trying to say there. Check out how many former Angels and OC Batbusters have been on Gasso's team. Like I said, she can pick up the best of everything, but the mid-major or even a P5 at the lower end of the totem pole probably isn't getting a team full of SS and CFs. The snark about OK is pretty amazing given the number of baseball and softball players from that small population state who end up on some pretty good college teams.
 

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