Thread: Which one is #1 ?

Originally Posted by Momo'sDad

Nanotech, I know the people who get all caught up in speed can be annoying, but the people who hate speed can be pretty annoying, too. In our area, if a 10u pitcher is hitting the strike zone 80% of the time, she's probably going to get pounded. Although 60% is preferable, 40% won't kill a team with a good catcher.

IMO,your way wrong the control pitcher in 10u will own everyone of your batters,been around this game for a long time,now at 12u it starts to show if the control pitcher is real slow.I would rather use my defense to get outs then watch the all mighty flamethrower walk your 40% to 60% of the batters,in 2 pitches the runner is on third all ready.The catcher doesnt matter when the ball is over their head or hitting the batter.I quess you could say that I favor control,because my dd is a control pitcher,not slow about avg. on speed,but has and had at 10u the ability to hit her spots.She didnt just throw it down the middle,thats not what I mean by hitting the strike zone 80% of the time,I mean getting the batter to chase the ball.I would throw the control pitcher to the aggressive batters,because they will chase the ball out of the strike zone,so I would go with our #1 the control pitcher.Because not only does the control pitcher,control herself,but she controls your batters too.

Originally Posted by Screwball

Not all velocity pitchers walk batters and not all slow pitchers throw mostly strikes. One thing is true, you don't throw darts slow and our game is called fast pitch.

NOT ALL CONTROL PITCHERS THROW SLOW,I really could care less who is #1 or #110,and yes it is fastpitch,but that doesn't mean just throw heat.Also it isnt true,that you have to throw a dart fast.So as far as adults not being good at assessing talent and potential,that means you too,so you pigeon hole girls just like all the others.I have to say this,my daughter wasnt considered #1 or #2 last year on her TB team,and she and I could of cared less,but every time one of their flamethrowers would blow a head gasket,of which was very often,who would they call in to clean up the mess?You know screwball I like alot of what you say on here,but sometimes your know it all ,ways can be your biggest down fall,GOOD GRIEF!!!!!!!!!!!

they pigeon hole, which is really bad at 10u.

Can you explain this one to me (pigeon hole) ScrewBall. New one to me. Thankz

I do disagree with the not taking 10U seriously. ASA has a National title available. Olympic Gold Metal winners, are in the game. They won last year. Then the next question to the "pretending to be major league managers" is where did you finish last year coach ? Of course they override what was needed to place in the regional, because they are getting DD ready for 12U..... Here's the big question, do you know the name of the Coach of the only team in our state, that made the top 25 ? Can you get us a scrimmage with his new team this year.... Kinda easy to get thru that stuff.

What the coaches should be doing rather than pretending to be major league managers is working with the pitcher (and pitching coach if there is one) to improve both types of pitchers until you only have slight variations of pitching.

Awesome !!! At least now I know we are both dreamers...

and everyone on team wants to win, even the Friendlies.

There is the crux of your problem. Friendlies are for giving kids opportunities to learn by playing new positions or giving a struggling pitcher some time to work gaining confidence and experience. Fix that thought processes on the team and the rest will take care of itself.

At 10U the W/L column is the least important. It's about development and teaching the kids. Even in TB.

Originally Posted by nanotech14

IMO,the control pitcher is #1.I get sick of seeing these flamethrowers that all these daddyball coaches talk about.These pitcher can hit everything in the park,even the icecream truck behind the backstop in the parking lot,but can only hit the strike zone or near it 40% of the time.

Nano,

I had one of those 12U flamethrowers you are grousing about. At 12U she was all over the place. By the time she hit 15 her accuracy was there with all of her movement pitches ALONG with the superior speed. Many of the "control" pitchers in our area quit because they kept getting pounded.

Lisa Fernandez during an interview said she walked like 17 kids her first time pitching and then slowly improved from there. It takes time. Give me a kid who isn't afraid to chuck the ball any time.

Originally Posted by Sparky Guy

Nano,

I had one of those 12U flamethrowers you are grousing about. At 12U she was all over the place. By the time she hit 15 her accuracy was there with all of her movement pitches ALONG with the superior speed. Many of the "control" pitchers in our area quit because they kept getting pounded.

Lisa Fernandez during an interview said she walked like 17 kids her first time pitching and then slowly improved from there. It takes time. Give me a kid who isn't afraid to chuck the ball any time.

Well thats the problem,give me a control pitcher and by the time she is 15 she will be throwing heat,many of the flamethrowers around here have quit,because they keep on losing games.

Cat said at a clinic we were at she likes control first,and in a interview said a 67mph fastball goes out alot fast then a 64mph pitch.This is where you dont have a clue,just because a kid has control doesnt mean they dont know how to put speed on a ball,and by the way chucking is for rocks in the garden,pitching is a art form

Even at 10U the competition and talent is pretty aggressive here in the midwest. I see MANY 10U pitchers with good control, speed, and even a decent change up.

What wins games are the teams that can play moderate or better defense.

My daughter guust played for a team at nationals that had decent pitchers and literally flawless defense. It was enough to take fourth.

Control pitcher with a solid defense and an offense that likes to take chances and swing the bat (put the ball in play) dominates in my region.

Nano, I totally agree with you. I know it is anecdotal but DD is the "#2" on her HS team because she is a freshman. A senior is #1. DD doesn't throw as hard as #1 but has thrown a no-no this season, has more Ks and has given up 2 HRs compared to 10 HRs for #1...in a recent game, #1 gave up two absolute bombs...DD takes over, same batters come up, both hit routine fly balls...

Give me a control pitcher with movement over a flat pitch flamethrower any day...every game this season - travel or HS - the girls have always had fits trying to square up on the slower, control pitchers...hitting the flamethrowers after the 1st timing AB is usually not a problem...

lol lol this is good... all this over 10u... lol Hey a 10u player throwing screwball and knuckle ball? Why is she playing in 10U? I guess she can throw 10 different pitches.... lol oh always remember in this game defense doesn't win ball games. It will keep you in games but offense is the only way to score... defense doesn't score.... All this game planning and strategy over 10u?? come on guys.. teach these girls... let them play different positions.. enjoy the game. Don't go about it as if therre playing for a national championship....

Originally Posted by nanotech14

IMO,your way wrong the control pitcher in 10u will own everyone of your batters,been around this game for a long time,now at 12u it starts to show if the control pitcher is real slow.I would rather use my defense to get outs then watch the all mighty flamethrower walk your 40% to 60% of the batters,in 2 pitches the runner is on third all ready.The catcher doesnt matter when the ball is over their head or hitting the batter.I quess you could say that I favor control,because my dd is a control pitcher,not slow about avg. on speed,but has and had at 10u the ability to hit her spots.She didnt just throw it down the middle,thats not what I mean by hitting the strike zone 80% of the time,I mean getting the batter to chase the ball.I would throw the control pitcher to the aggressive batters,because they will chase the ball out of the strike zone,so I would go with our #1 the control pitcher.Because not only does the control pitcher,control herself,but she controls your batters too.

I think it depends more on the level of softball in your area. A slower, more controlled pitcher might own many of the batters in rec ball around here, but they generally get hit hard in 10u TB.

Some coaches don't want to see more than 1-2 walks a game, but we were fine with 1-2 walks per inning during TB and won over 80% of our games.

I agree that a smart pitcher with a great amount of precision who knows how to make batters chase pitches is a tremendous asset on any team, especially at the 10u level. Out here, though - where softball is an obsession for so many parents - the hitters are often pretty well-trained and so the most successful pitchers will tend to be those the batters struggle to catch up to.