Thread: Hitting Batters – 12U Rec.

DD has pitched 4 innings this year, 2 games/ 2 innings each. I think she has given up 1 earned run and 1 ball has reached the outfield, hard grounder thru the infield.

She seems to being throwing the ball inside all the time and the batters are popping the ball up or hitting weak grounders. All sounds good until we get to she has hit 6 or 7 batters in 4 innings. She hit 1 or 2 batters all last year.

I think I should leave her alone, batters beware. (She isn’t throwing it hard enough to hurt anyone)

you say that she is throwing inside all the time,sounds to me that she might be closing the hip a little to early,before the release rather then after release.

Quincy did she move from 35' to 40' this year? Has she always pitched inside?
If so that extra 5 feet could be the difference. Balls that were inside balls last year could be traveling in farther inside over those final 5 feet and now hitting batters.
Could be a simple adjustmet to where her stride foot lands.

Even though the number of HBs is high, she hasn't pitched enough innings yet to say that it's too much of a problem. Don't try to overcorrect. Just have her continue working to develop her control and recognize that pitchers are going to have off days.

Look for the arm pulling away from the body and where her head is - balance.

Is she trying to throw a particular pitch, ( screw, drop etc ) , or just inside FB's? 2 or 4 seam? Others above are correct about mechanics, I just want to cover all the bases. You for sure don't want to live "inside", good hitters will pull that and send it sailing into the next county.

Thanks, I will look at some of the mechanical things mentioned above but I did tell her to live “inside”, the number of hit batters has surprised me. The good news is no one is hitting her hard so the defense can make the plays, except when she plunks the batter.

If she isn't throwing hard enough to hit anyone why has there only been one grounder to the outfield?

My dd claims that the white line of the batters box is hers, more specifically her screwballs real estate. The kid loves that pitch and keeps the batters from digging in so the inside fastball is rarely swung at. Love those backward K's! Not sure of the age group, however in 12U it seemed like the curve was the second pitch learned, so coaches were having their batters get closer to the plate in anticipation of the curve. That makes it easier for them to get hit as well with an inside pitch.