stealing when coach pitching?

I think your reasoning for why stealing should be prohibited in that situation is sound, and a rule against it might make sense. But when you are on the field you gotta go by the rules that are written down and everyone showed up expecting. Changing or making rules up on the fly is almost always a recipe for disaster.

GunnerShotgun said:

Why are you coach pitching at 10u? Yes I understand it's rec league.

Click to expand...

This^^^

Our rec league does coach pitch (after 4 balls) in 8U for half the season. After that, it's all kid pitch. Kids figure out how to pitch. Even 8yos.

That said, if there's coach pitch, the rules need to be limited dramatically for situations described by the OP. Being able to steal home on a WP by a coach is ridiculous...so is the coach pitching big high loops. He's making it harder, not easier, for his kids to hit the ball.

Our LL had coach-pitch after 4 balls for 1/2 season in the minor league. I wish they had kept it the entire season because it just gets to be a walk-fest. It doesn't benefit the kids in any way; they learn to leave the bat on their shoulder, the fielders lose interest, the whole thing goes to pot... not all the girls on the teams at that level are TB players or skilled for that... pitching is a premium at that level - most solid pitchers are playing majors or TB... strikes are in low supply sometimes

On the original question though, there is no stealing when a coach is pitching. Otherwise, the coach would send it to the backstop repeatedly. The other rule that should be enforced is that the coach only gets 2 or 3 pitches period. The batter either hits or is out w/in the 2 or 3 pitches after 4 balls... puts some pressure on coach and batter while speeding up the game a bit...

In every rule set I've ever seen, stealing (any base) is prohibited when a coach is pitching, whatever the format or age level.

In many 10U Rec leagues, stealing home is prohibited even if a kid is pitching.

I've seen 10U Rec with all kid pitch and also with a no-walk rule. Unless you're in a league where the Rec pitchers are unusually well developed, the no-walk rule is the only way to keep the game remotely interesting for anyone.

It's very interesting to see the regional differences in the sport. When DD was playing 10u rec ball, we played against some teams that were VERY challenged in the pitching category. My DD herself was not an expert (didn't take first lesson until she was 12), but was typically able to get the ball over the plate, while allowing a few walks here and there. Other teams were a crap shoot. Some had pitchers that were on par with DD. One team in particular had a pitcher that was head and shoulders better than anyone else in the league. But most teams ended up walking far more hitters than anything else. It was not uncommon at all to see 4 or 5 walks in a row without seeing a single strike. We had games in which the opposing defense did not register a single out against us on their own. All outs were made by either having a runner leave a base early or asking a hitter to strike out on purpose, etc. We were involved in some very painful games at that time. I petitioned our league to institute a 5 run per inning maximum, but was turned down. So against the more challenged teams, I instituted that rule on my own.

cuervo1800 said:

Our LL had coach-pitch after 4 balls for 1/2 season in the minor league. I wish they had kept it the entire season because it just gets to be a walk-fest. It doesn't benefit the kids in any way; they learn to leave the bat on their shoulder, the fielders lose interest, the whole thing goes to pot... not all the girls on the teams at that level are TB players or skilled for that... pitching is a premium at that level - most solid pitchers are playing majors or TB... strikes are in low supply sometimes

On the original question though, there is no stealing when a coach is pitching. Otherwise, the coach would send it to the backstop repeatedly. The other rule that should be enforced is that the coach only gets 2 or 3 pitches period. The batter either hits or is out w/in the 2 or 3 pitches after 4 balls... puts some pressure on coach and batter while speeding up the game a bit...

Click to expand...

My DD played rec league coach pitch her first year. Coach would come in to pitch after 4 balls and would inherit the strike count with each pitch he or she threw being a strike. So if the count was 4-1 the coach would throw two pitches.

In my opinion you should never walk 10U and below. Bring in a coach to pitch after 4 balls but make it 1 pitch. You might say it's not fair to only get one, but it might make the kids want to hit versus waiting for a coach to pitch. The other thing is that while I'm in favor of a slightly larger strike zone, I think it needs to be reasonable so kids don't have to swing at pitches that at their eyes to avoid a strike.

I agree with run limits per inning at the younger ages in rec however I will say that in SoCal, 8U Rec all stars were all kid pitch with walks and if you didn't develop the 7 and 8yo kids to pitch proficiently in regular season you would be at a distinct disadvantage come all stars. I will say that why I don't like coach pitch, it is much better than machine pitch which IMO should never be on the field and should be left in the cages.

Rocketech1 said:

I agree with run limits per inning at the younger ages in rec however I will say that in SoCal, 8U Rec all stars were all kid pitch with walks and if you didn't develop the 7 and 8yo kids to pitch proficiently in regular season you would be at a distinct disadvantage come all stars. I will say that why I don't like coach pitch, it is much better than machine pitch which IMO should never be on the field and should be left in the cages.

Click to expand...

agreed for all stars, no coach pitching, but in reg season, need to keep the games moving, interesting, etc. walking batters in until the run limit is pointless for everyone but the pitcher and catcher.

Pointless for P and C too.

Some TB team will suck up any half way decent pitcher if that is the way they want to go.