New coach...needs help with 8u batting lineup

I'm new to this thread, and hoping someone can give me guidance.

This is my husband's first year as a head coach, and he is coaching 8U rec league. Long story short, we have a pretty solid in field, outfield could use some work, but our batting is killing is. We have 11 players. Out of those 11, we have a couple power hitters, a few consistent hitters, and a few who usually strike out.

Our current line up has a consistent hitter and the fastest runner first, our second most power hitter who is pretty fast 2nd, a very consistent hitter with hits varying between infield and outfield but she's pretty fast 3rd, at 4th we have our best power hitter but she's kind of slow, at 5th we have a good hitter but she runs slow and sometimes does strike out, 6th we have consistent hitter to infield and pretty slow, 7th is 50/50 with getting a hit or strike out and she's lately slowed down, 8th has been on base only once, 9th is also 50/50 with hits or striking out but they aren't big hits and she's kind of slow, and our 10th and 11th batters always strike out.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to tweak this lineup? As is, we get one good inning, then two bad ones because we have a pretty good amount of girls who will make contact but they aren't all very fast or dont get the ball out of the infield. Should we move our 2 or best power hitters back some?

do you have run limtis per inning? if so what are they?

Your line-up is fine and, I believe, the best that it can probably be. What I would suggest is to teach the bottom part of your lineup to bunt to reach base. This may score you some runs, make less outs, and get back to the top of the order sooner.

I do not like giving the defense a free inning, I would adjust it so you do not have 3 outs in a row.

A not bad way to do it is allow the players to place their name in the lineup anywhere they want based on the when they get to the game.

10 run limit per inning, coach pitched, and no bunting allowed. Sorry I left those details out.

I also thought it may be the best it can be other than maybe taking our 2nd power hitter out of 2nd in the lineup and moving back a spot or two. I don't want to stagger them much because I think that will take us from one good inning then 2 bad, to no good innings or one run scored at best.

SoftballMomx2 said:

10 run limit per inning, coach pitched, and no bunting allowed. Sorry I left those details out.

I also thought it may be the best it can be other than maybe taking our 2nd power hitter out of 2nd in the lineup and moving back a spot or two. I don't want to stagger them much because I think that will take us from one good inning then 2 bad, to no good innings or one run scored at best.

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First - 10 runs per inning is ridiculous for rec 8u. Most leagues cap it at 5. This just makes it OK for coaches to run up scores big time and let the 'rule' justify it.

I hate the following site for most things, but their 8U strategy works well and made us a better team and more competitive even when we didn't have the talent. It wasn't all about 'winning' as this site is all about, however it made it much more enjoyable for all the players as at worst we were competitive in every game.

The Winning 8U Batting Order Strategy for Fastpitch Softball

The batting order for a 8U rec league team should be set so that each kid gets the same number of at bats throughout the season, assuming all kids are making all the games. That means sometimes batting your weakest batters at the top of the lineup.

Out in Left Field said:

It is 8u. Put them out there and let them play. Don't make some kids bunters already...plenty time for that "coach revenge" later.

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I would agree with you and that sounds good in theory, but apparently people are more competitive in the area we live. It's a really big deal here, and there are stacked teams that end up having every game called early because they are up 11 runs. Many games have scores of like 11-0. It takes the fun out for many of the girls. We have won games don't get me wrong, but I guess I was hoping maybe moving them around some would ease up some of the "massacres" of games with such big losses.

At 8U rec there is something to be said for batting the entire lineup each inning in lieu of 3 outs.

Instead of worrying about the lineup, I would work on hitting. Every practice, set-up hitting stations: Tee work, side toss, front toss, hitting stick, and coach pitch. Also make sure your coach is proficient at throwing meatballs pitches for your kids to hit. I have seen too many coaches strike out their kids frequently because they were not good at it. For example, a flatter pitch is easier to hit than a high arcing pitch. Can't emphasis enough how important this is in coach pitch leagues (BTW - I think its a shame that more leagues don't have kid pitch at 8U).

Marriard's link is a good one that I have used periodically in 8U and 10U.

Also, don't listen to advice to randomly place kids in the line-up and fielding positions. No need to dumb down the game and "punish" the kids who work hard at trying to improve and get better. Why set the kids up for failure. I have played against teams that were indifferent to playing competitively and its a train wreck.

Teach softball fundamentals, field a competitive team every game, and make sure the kids enjoy the game so they sign up next season. Good luck.