This was a first for DD......

Classof2020 said:

I'm pretty sure the #1 reason is to put pressure on the pitcher and that this is #2. And what size guys I mean girls do you have on your team that swing a 36" bat?

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maybe...but if the ump would call the inside river as much as they call the outside river girls would back away from the plate in a hurry about the third girl that got rung up as they were bailing out of the batters box and the girls would figure out that unless they want to keep striking out they need to back up so they can hit that inside pitch. The 36in bat was a joke point being that given the way some umps call the zone a girl standing normally in the box can't make contact with a ball brushing the white of the opposite batters box that is called a strike by the umpire.

While it does put pressure on the pitcher the real pressure is coming from the ump most of the time because a strike just catching the inside of the plate or the inside river is not going to get called a strike so there is usually not much use pitching there anyway. So the strike zone and batters box and pitches all get moved over 4 to 6 inches and we just play on....

Sounds like she is a competitive pitcher. Good work. It's funny in softball this is frowned upon. It happens but you don't hear abut "unwritten rules" like baseball. This past weekend a mom was picking signs from the coach calling pitches for my DD. Every time her daughter came to the plate she would tell her the pitch in Spanish. My DD figured it out thanks to 3 years of Spanish classes. Third time around for this girl and she gets hit in the upper hamstring area. I didn't ask, but my DD hits about one kid a month. so I sorta knew. I never taught her this, she just sort of learned it. Not sure I am proud, but certainly not ashamed.

It would be more fun to strike out a good batter.
Hit on rib can cause serious injury. Google Hanley Ramirez.

I'm sorry guys, it seems like there is some kinda bias here, if you crowd the plate, sometimes you get hit, I was not a great hitter playing baseball, but hit a little better when I got closer (I really needed different glasses I find out later in life) and I took the risk of getting hit. Maybe in 8U we don't do this, but in 14U A if you crowd be ready to get out of the way

. If I have a 5 hole batter behind a batter that has my pitchers number with 2 outs and nobody on, I might play the odd and probably try to walk them and get the next one.

I don't like it when batters get hit, but its part of the game and there is nothing wrong with backing someone off that is crowding the plate, if they get hit, that is part of the game.