14u Pitchers Not Allowed to Bat?

[CoogansBluff]

Too many players, somebody will be unhappy no matter what.

 

[marriard]

16 active (2 injured)

18 is NUTS for 14U. We are at 13 and we are REALLY active in subs/players/dp/flex/etc and it still can be challenging for the 12 &13th players.

Might as well go out and get 2 or 3 more and have 2 teams.

 

[1bucketmom]

Bat the best bats! DD pitches and loves to bat. She's watched enough college and NPF ball to notice the pitchers don't bat. in order to make sure she bats, she makes sure to have productive at bats and works hard at it. She's a Lauren Haeger fan. I very much approve of a courtesy runner. DD Is a good bat but a slow runner. Let her get on and then get her out of there!

 

[smddad]

18 is NUTS for 14U. We are at 13 and we are REALLY active in subs/players/dp/flex/etc and it still can be challenging for the 12 &13th players.

Might as well go out and get 2 or 3 more and have 2 teams.

I don't get it. Is there not room for 18 kids on the lineup card?

 

[aec4444]

Top batters bat. If the girl happens to pitch, so be it. I want my best hitters at the plate.

 

[JJsqueeze]

RT- How is your parent happiness meter looking these days with the team? Almost two months in I would think a few girls would have already dropped because of the roster size. I am sure you are not alone, really no way to divvy up PT with 18 and not piss about half the team off but you know that. I'd be asking the coach what the plan was at about this point and seeing when he thought it was going to thin out and what was the plan if it didn't.

 

[JAD]

This subject is near and dear to my heart, and my DD changed TB teams at the end of the last season because of it. I understand that there are a lot players who may want to "pitch and sit", but when a team uses a 3 or 4-pitcher rotation (we were 16U), that is a lot of sitting. I understand that my DD is not a great hitter, but she has some pop in her bat and I want her to hit in showcases, friendlies, and tournaments we are not "playing to win". My problem with our last TB coach was that he was always "playing to win". We would go to a showcase and he would bat 9, while every team we played would bat everyone.....drove me freaking nuts. I bit my tongue and we finished the season, but no one was happier than me when the season was over!

Edit to add: My DD may not have been one of the top 9 batters on her TB team, she is batting clean up for her HS team. How much success would she have hitting in HS if we had not continued batting lessons and working on her hitting during the TB season? My DD may become a "pitch and sit" in college, but right now I want her to play and hit as much as possible!

 

[marriard]

I don't get it. Is there not room for 18 kids on the lineup card?

On some lineup cards... but certainly not on the field

 

[JAD]

Top batters bat. If the girl happens to pitch, so be it. I want my best hitters at the plate.

Not sure what level or age group your TB your team plays, and I have no problem with a team batting their top 9 in tournaments they are playing to win (qualifiers, nationals, ect). When teams start playing true A-level TB no one cares about the won/lose record, they only care how you finish at nationals (PGF, ASA or ASA Gold) at the end of the season. And the best way to finish high at nationals is to be prepared. And the best way to be prepared is to get every girl as many at bats as possible and cross train girls to play multiple positions.

When you get to Nationals and your superstar gets hurt in her first bracket game do you want another girl ready to "step up" and take her place or do you want to pack your bags and go home?

 

[MNDad]

I totally disagree. You are taking away one of the best parts of the game plus their hitting skills will atrophy. I see pitchers at 18U playing on game and a couple of weekends during a weekend. How can that be fun?

A little different but DD was the HS's only catcher. During the first game last spring DD gets on base and I hear the coach yelling courtesy for the catcher and DD comes out. I don't think anything about it. Later DD gets on and the coach puts in a courtesy. I know there is only 1 out so after the game I ask her what's with the courtesy runners for the kid that scored the second in runs and steals last year. She's my only catcher and I can't afford to lose her. I explained that taking away a part of the game that DD loves will make her relate catching to not playing the full game and she will come to resent having to catch. DD ran every base after.

DD played with two different 18U teams last summer. The first she pitched about 75% of the innings. She hit and played first when she want pitching. Played three tourneys with another team. Shared innings with three other pitchers and saw time in about every third game. Never hit or played the field. Had the time of her life on the second team. It's totally different when you have a group of girls working toward a common goal rather than their individual statistics or innings.