Daughter played first tournament so that means she was in the circle live for the first time. Pitched 3 innings through 4 games. They were time limits so only 10 innings total on the day. one game she came in against a better team and pitched ok. Started next game and gave up 2. We then scored 15 and she didn't pitch the second inning. Team only batted once because of our scoring and theirs when the second pitcher came in. It was her first time as well and struggled with her control some. Great day but have you guys experienced the circle time problem with the time limits? Had we not scored so many runs my daughter would have pitched more. Good problem to have but I'm a newbie travel ball dad. Thanks. Also finished the day 2-2.
first 10u tourny
- Thread starter eagle6
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- Jun 12, 2015
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Circle time problems seem pretty common to me, for various reasons.
- Feb 7, 2013
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The best way to get maximum circle time is to put in the effort to be the #1 or 2 pitcher on your team where the coach has to pitch you a lot. For example, DD's first season as a 8u, I had to beg the coaches for her to get pitching time. We had 4 pitchers and DD was #4. Her first game she only pitched one inning. But she practiced a lot that season, was seeing a PC weekly and by the end of the season she was #1.
Pitching is a long process, have a long term plan (e.g. throw strikes 50% of the time, introduce a change up, gain 3 mph in the next 6 months, etc) and the circle time will come. And if it doesn't, you can always look for another team where she will get to pitch more.
One last point. Make sure you DD works on other aspects of her game like hitting, fielding, throwing and a secondary or third position. Many young pitchers are playing a different position by the time they reach high school.
Good luck and enjoy the time you spend with your daughter.
Pitching is a long process, have a long term plan (e.g. throw strikes 50% of the time, introduce a change up, gain 3 mph in the next 6 months, etc) and the circle time will come. And if it doesn't, you can always look for another team where she will get to pitch more.
One last point. Make sure you DD works on other aspects of her game like hitting, fielding, throwing and a secondary or third position. Many young pitchers are playing a different position by the time they reach high school.
Good luck and enjoy the time you spend with your daughter.
Would sure like to think a team would get more than 10 innings in 4 games. What was the time limit? Of course, 10U gets fewer innings than older/higher divisions because the ability level means more walks, more errors, more wild pitches/passed balls, things that slow the game and prevent quicker innings.
Something to be said for a 5 run limit in 10U.
With so few innings to go around in your teams first tourney the coach was probably trying to figure out what he/she had.
BTW; congrats on getting going in travel ball.
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thanks. Was not complaining about her lack of pitching. Just more or less checking to see if the number of innings played was normal. Coaches were trying to see what they had. Need more work on pitching throughout. Dropped 3rd strike rule caused way to many runners to advance. First game, first batter--strike out--turned into a run. That rule is tough at the 10U level. Especially since it was the first time our girls saw it live. As well as the delayed steals, etc. Very much a learning experience.
When I read this last night it sounded like your DD might have gotten too many innings given the circumstances. The coach needs to juggling 3 or 4 pitchers. If they are not getting enough circle time in games they should be throwing on the side during the games.
Just the first tourney so the coach is still trying to figure it all out too, see how it works out. Good luck!
They will figure out the additional rules, we had to adjust some players because of the rules.
Just the first tourney so the coach is still trying to figure it all out too, see how it works out. Good luck!
They will figure out the additional rules, we had to adjust some players because of the rules.
- Jun 12, 2015
- 3,848
- 83
We're a first year 10U team too. That rule is tough at first but they catch on fast. In our first tournament we let 2 or 3 girls get on base on a dropped third. Since then I think it's only been one total (we played 22 games this fall). It doesn't take very long for them to get in the habit of throwing to 1st on those.
When my DD played 10U we were a C-level TB team. One of the local tournament directors had 10U C-level or "bronze" tournaments with a 3-run limit per inning until the last inning. This was a great format to develop pitchers without getting into one of those 15 run innings that bog everything down. Plus the girls would get excited every time we held the other team to less than their 3 run limit!
