Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Well, it looks like the playing time is more based on how long you've been with the team. My DD only got 1 inning in all weekend so I had a very long talk with the head coach. He said he's in a tough situation (blah, blah, blah). He even said at least one of the assistant coaches is upset with him over my DD not playing (which I confirmed). He said she has been outstanding in practice, and that even one of the college coaches commented on how well she's been doing. The girl that plays her main position made multiple errors and cost them the game but was never pulled. She even got yelled at for not listening to the coaches.
He mentioned that he had her slated to play but kept in the starters in the close games, and that won't happen again. We'll see. I was told he won't be coaching after the season. My DD was extremely upset, but then got offers to play on 3 different teams in the last week which helped her feel better. She absolutely wants to stay and said she'd just prove that she should be on the field.
I know you said the team had 8 returning starters, but if you're playing 3 pool games on Sat. there's absolutely no excuse for ANY player to not get at least a total of 1 game worth of innings. If she keeps doing well on Sat., particularly at the plate, the coach won't have a choice but to find a spot for her in the batting order on Sundays. Based on your account of the discussion with the coach, IMO it sounds like he's afraid to give her that Sat opportunity because he knows that it likely will mean that he will have to have a hard conversation with one of those 8 returning starters when they sit on Sunday. Sounds like his AC is already telling him to man up. I'd give it another tournament to see if he gives her more of an opportunity on Saturday. If he does, Sundays will probably work themselves out in relatively short order. If no more of an opp than 1 inning again, you will need to decide how much harder to push.
Kudos to your DD - she has a great attitude. She just needs to keep working hard and learning to play more positions well so she can step in anywhere when the opportunity arises.