Since I've posted so much about my experience in the off-season leading up to my softball coaching debut, I figured I should give an update with some highlights of our first three games this season.
By this time, our high school team should have played eight games, but this is Chicago so we were lucky to play three. These were the first three games of my head coaching career, the first three games of the school's program, and the first three games many of our players have ever played.
Game 1: We played another school with a lot of inexperienced players, and I suspect the coach was, too, based on her misuse of the DP/Flex rule (she just put 10 hitters in the lineup). It wasn't anything to complain about though since we were up 23(!)-0 by the time that 10th batter came up. Other coaches tell me this is a common mistake to watch out for.
So, yeah, we won our first game 23-0. A couple of our girls took it upon themselves to make outs to speed things along (this was after I tried to have a runner leave third early and the umpire didn't call it). I had no idea how good we were, and despite the big victory, I didn't learn too much (other than our #1 pitcher can throw strikes! Woohoo!). Our girls can hit though. Of all the basic skills, "see ball, hit ball" seems to be where most of them are able to compete the best.
Game 2: The next day was Opposite Day. I think our girls got a little cocky after that first game, and we got trounced 27-4. One thing I've learned with girls new to the sport is they don't always buy in to everything you try to teach (the little stuff, mostly). After last Friday's rude awakening, they all seemed to get it. The team was definitely better than us, but not that much better. We play them again in May, and I expect a closer contest.
On Monday, we had practice because our game was rained out. And that's when one of our new girls threw the ball wild -- immediately after I got on them about throwing, too -- and it cracked out #1 pitcher in the head. Out with a concussion until next week when she'll be reevaluated and hopefully cleared to play.
Game 3: So without our #1 pitcher, we head into our third game. Our #2 pitcher was coming off an injury, but she pitched her heart out (and also killed it at the plate). And that's where things got interesting. We had the literal worst umpire I've never seen. Let's recap:
At least ten times he would look to me and/or the other coach to help him figure out what to do. This is a certified umpire!
He repeatedly talked about how he didn't understand DP/Flex, and he thought everyone on the bench was a courtesy runner.
He lost track of the count at least a half-dozen times (including once for the other team where he said the count was 2-1 after ball four).
He did not realize that a ball was foul if it landed fair and then rolled foul before reaching 1st/3rd base (this was a pop-up around home plate).
He also didn't know a batter-runner can't just stand in the way of a fielder trying to make a play. This was on the pop-up. Our catcher was trying to get to the ball, the batter just stood in her way (she didn't know to run, I guess). I asked him why it wasn't interference and he just kept pointing to where the ball landed. After the inning, the other coach and I informed him that's supposed to be a foul ball but he didn't seem to understand why.
We built a modest lead, so he would repeatedly tell me between innings that he wanted to "keep it close" so they could "keep playing." He even talked about them continuing to play when the other coach and I were trying to discuss when to call the game on account of darkness. More on keeping it close in a minute.
He pressured me into using my subs when we were up 5 runs, which can disappear in the blink of an eye at this level. Again, all about "keeping it close."
He was confused more than once about whether players got hit by a pitch.
He didn't know a runner doesn't score on a force out with two outs (force was at third, runner on third had crossed the plate first; I had to tell him that run didn't count for us).
And none of that includes a couple judgment calls that were, well, designed to "keep it close." Remember that video of the girl who was 2 steps past first base when the umpire called her out? We had a couple like that, but with runners nowhere near first being called safe, including on what should have been the last play of the game.
So we ended up at a 15-15 tie, and after the game the other coach and I just looked at each other and laughed. I wasn't happy about the bad calls directly costing us a win, especially since he pretty much said he was going to do it, but the part that really got to me was the confused looks on our girls' faces after some of the calls. These girls are trying to learn the game, and more than once they came up to me asking things like "Shouldn't she be out?" or "What did I do wrong?" The calls were so egregious that the girls didn't really understand. If it was a bang-bang play, I could say "It was close; he saw it differently." I had no answer for them other than to reassure them they were doing well.
And, of course, our pitcher, coming off injury and NOT an experienced pitcher, gave it her all. She was devastated after the game, but telling her I was proud of her seemed to help.
Here's the good news though: After three games, our girls have pretty much seen it all. Good, bad, ugly, and everything in between. They learned how to win graciously. They learned that sometimes you're gonna get your butt kicked (and you can't take any team lightly). They learned that sometimes the calls aren't gonna go your way, and even if the bad calls affected the result, they didn't play perfectly so there's always something to improve.
All that said, my favorite part of the entire past two weeks, and forgive me for patting myself on the back here, is how well they received an idea I had way back last summer. A big part of what I'm trying to teach them is about being a team, supporting each other, etc. The game on the field is important, but these girls really didn't understand all the "team" stuff. So, borrowing the idea from something the Chicago Blackhawks do, I decided to get this:
After the first game, I gathered the captains as soon as the game was finished and showed them the belt and explained its purpose to them. It was to be handed out in lieu of a "game ball." For this game, they got to decide who gets it. For each subsequent game, the current belt holder would pass it on. It didn't necessarily have to go to the "best" player, but the teammate they felt was most deserving. And I told them I'd give suggestions if I ever felt strongly about it, but it was up to them to decide. This may be the best idea I've had as a coach. The girls love it. They love passing it out (win or lose...or draw). They get excited for whoever gets it each game. It's become a thing that rewards a deserving player but also brings them all together, and it helps minimize the sting of a loss since we're ending on something positive.
Our next scheduled game is Monday, and we'll still be relying on our #2 pitcher. What that third game showed me, and hopefully the whole team, is that we are capable of winning a game without our #1. Here's hoping.
By this time, our high school team should have played eight games, but this is Chicago so we were lucky to play three. These were the first three games of my head coaching career, the first three games of the school's program, and the first three games many of our players have ever played.
Game 1: We played another school with a lot of inexperienced players, and I suspect the coach was, too, based on her misuse of the DP/Flex rule (she just put 10 hitters in the lineup). It wasn't anything to complain about though since we were up 23(!)-0 by the time that 10th batter came up. Other coaches tell me this is a common mistake to watch out for.
So, yeah, we won our first game 23-0. A couple of our girls took it upon themselves to make outs to speed things along (this was after I tried to have a runner leave third early and the umpire didn't call it). I had no idea how good we were, and despite the big victory, I didn't learn too much (other than our #1 pitcher can throw strikes! Woohoo!). Our girls can hit though. Of all the basic skills, "see ball, hit ball" seems to be where most of them are able to compete the best.
Game 2: The next day was Opposite Day. I think our girls got a little cocky after that first game, and we got trounced 27-4. One thing I've learned with girls new to the sport is they don't always buy in to everything you try to teach (the little stuff, mostly). After last Friday's rude awakening, they all seemed to get it. The team was definitely better than us, but not that much better. We play them again in May, and I expect a closer contest.
On Monday, we had practice because our game was rained out. And that's when one of our new girls threw the ball wild -- immediately after I got on them about throwing, too -- and it cracked out #1 pitcher in the head. Out with a concussion until next week when she'll be reevaluated and hopefully cleared to play.
Game 3: So without our #1 pitcher, we head into our third game. Our #2 pitcher was coming off an injury, but she pitched her heart out (and also killed it at the plate). And that's where things got interesting. We had the literal worst umpire I've never seen. Let's recap:
At least ten times he would look to me and/or the other coach to help him figure out what to do. This is a certified umpire!
He repeatedly talked about how he didn't understand DP/Flex, and he thought everyone on the bench was a courtesy runner.
He lost track of the count at least a half-dozen times (including once for the other team where he said the count was 2-1 after ball four).
He did not realize that a ball was foul if it landed fair and then rolled foul before reaching 1st/3rd base (this was a pop-up around home plate).
He also didn't know a batter-runner can't just stand in the way of a fielder trying to make a play. This was on the pop-up. Our catcher was trying to get to the ball, the batter just stood in her way (she didn't know to run, I guess). I asked him why it wasn't interference and he just kept pointing to where the ball landed. After the inning, the other coach and I informed him that's supposed to be a foul ball but he didn't seem to understand why.
We built a modest lead, so he would repeatedly tell me between innings that he wanted to "keep it close" so they could "keep playing." He even talked about them continuing to play when the other coach and I were trying to discuss when to call the game on account of darkness. More on keeping it close in a minute.
He pressured me into using my subs when we were up 5 runs, which can disappear in the blink of an eye at this level. Again, all about "keeping it close."
He was confused more than once about whether players got hit by a pitch.
He didn't know a runner doesn't score on a force out with two outs (force was at third, runner on third had crossed the plate first; I had to tell him that run didn't count for us).
And none of that includes a couple judgment calls that were, well, designed to "keep it close." Remember that video of the girl who was 2 steps past first base when the umpire called her out? We had a couple like that, but with runners nowhere near first being called safe, including on what should have been the last play of the game.
So we ended up at a 15-15 tie, and after the game the other coach and I just looked at each other and laughed. I wasn't happy about the bad calls directly costing us a win, especially since he pretty much said he was going to do it, but the part that really got to me was the confused looks on our girls' faces after some of the calls. These girls are trying to learn the game, and more than once they came up to me asking things like "Shouldn't she be out?" or "What did I do wrong?" The calls were so egregious that the girls didn't really understand. If it was a bang-bang play, I could say "It was close; he saw it differently." I had no answer for them other than to reassure them they were doing well.
And, of course, our pitcher, coming off injury and NOT an experienced pitcher, gave it her all. She was devastated after the game, but telling her I was proud of her seemed to help.
Here's the good news though: After three games, our girls have pretty much seen it all. Good, bad, ugly, and everything in between. They learned how to win graciously. They learned that sometimes you're gonna get your butt kicked (and you can't take any team lightly). They learned that sometimes the calls aren't gonna go your way, and even if the bad calls affected the result, they didn't play perfectly so there's always something to improve.
All that said, my favorite part of the entire past two weeks, and forgive me for patting myself on the back here, is how well they received an idea I had way back last summer. A big part of what I'm trying to teach them is about being a team, supporting each other, etc. The game on the field is important, but these girls really didn't understand all the "team" stuff. So, borrowing the idea from something the Chicago Blackhawks do, I decided to get this:
After the first game, I gathered the captains as soon as the game was finished and showed them the belt and explained its purpose to them. It was to be handed out in lieu of a "game ball." For this game, they got to decide who gets it. For each subsequent game, the current belt holder would pass it on. It didn't necessarily have to go to the "best" player, but the teammate they felt was most deserving. And I told them I'd give suggestions if I ever felt strongly about it, but it was up to them to decide. This may be the best idea I've had as a coach. The girls love it. They love passing it out (win or lose...or draw). They get excited for whoever gets it each game. It's become a thing that rewards a deserving player but also brings them all together, and it helps minimize the sting of a loss since we're ending on something positive.
Our next scheduled game is Monday, and we'll still be relying on our #2 pitcher. What that third game showed me, and hopefully the whole team, is that we are capable of winning a game without our #1. Here's hoping.
