Softball revenge stories

[SoCalASABlue]

I don't know if I'd call this "revenge" as much as "scoreboard". DD has been playing with 3 girls since 8U. All played rec in the same league. All went to TB about the same time (but to different teams). All 4 have started on the same HS team since freshman year (all now seniors).

DD has been told by the dads of 2 of the girls (one also a pitcher, one a catcher) that she doesn't throw hard enough, she'll never get out any good hitters, and she'll never be the #1 pitcher on any team she plays on.

My DD has been the #1 pitcher on the HS team since freshman year (despite being labeled a junk ball pitcher). She has also been the #1 pitcher on every travel team she's played on (although not always at the beginning). As many others have said on this site, at the higher levels it's not all about speed. If you have crap mechanics, you're not going to last against good hitters.

Last year HS pitcher #2 (whose motion has been cringe-inducing for years) finally throws her shoulder out, leaving DD to be the only pitcher for the HS team.

RESULT - first CIF title for DD's HS in 30 years, 22-8 record as the only pitcher, 1-hit SO in the CIF championship game.

Not bad for a kid who would never amount to anything as a pitcher (yet will be pitching D3 next year)...

 

[Pdiddy]

I'm scratching my head at that one too......

Yeah.....I have not had one person say "well, she did change her mind, so I could see where her TB coach would be damaged by this and upset...."

after losing three top players....he re-signed an outfielder. A player that has quit on him TWICE before and he swore he'd never let back....I think "Animal Farm" must be his favorite book and his guide to running a softball team....

 

[dbronstein]

My DD joined a 10U rec team in Fall 2013. She wanted to pitch, so I got her some lessons and started practicing with her. The team had a new pitcher who developed into a stud by the end of the season, so the coaches rode her the whole way. And the HC's DD was the #2. When it became clear that DD was never going to get a chance, she gave up on it. The coaches rode the stud pitcher through the spring season as well. A couple of weeks after the season, I got an email from the HC that he got an offer to merge with another team and move up to the comp division and my DD didn't make the cut. He did make sure that she was able to get on another team in the same club.

I told my DD maybe she'd get a chance to pitch on the new team, and she decided to give it another shot. She got her chance in the first game and cashed in, and she became their top pitcher by the end of the season. She's not a stud by any stretch, but she was a good 10U rec pitcher. We'll see how she does with the move to 12U this spring.

Meanwhile, her old team's stud pitcher unexpectedly left to move up to 12U for the fall, and the coaches got through the season with a few other pitchers. They held a tryout in October invited all the girls in our club. I asked DD if she wanted to try out and she said "No, I like my team better." Apparently they didn't find a pitcher becuase they've posted several times on the area softball board that they are looking for a pitcher. They just posted again last week.

The coaches are actually pretty good guys. I was thinking they were going to move to comp this spring anyway when we moved to 12U and DD would probably get pushed out at that point. And it's worked out great for her so I can't complain. But it's still fun seeing the posts from the old coach.

 

[JJsqueeze]

notice to rec league coaches- ANY GIRL THAT PRACTICES PITCHING GETS TO PITCH REGULARLY during the season- if you want to pitch the better pitchers in the playoffs have at it. I used to ask my team every practice who was practicing pitching and anyone who raised their hand would get an inning. It didn't work out well with my team, no one caught the bug, but the idea is sound.

 

[Jasmine_House2021]

Love reading these stories!!!!

 

[cuzmail]

Why did he care what college she chose?

Website bragging on which colleges his players are attending?

I love it when the "Gold" teams put front and center on their home page the colleges the players are going to in a subliminal effort to say "Look what we can do for you".

In in reality most of those players were recruited through another team and/or age division, then joined the Gold team afterwards so the Gold team had nothing to do with it at all.

 

[iMlearning]

12u revenge

I have several but the best one came at 12U rec ball. The coach at the end of the season told us DD wasn't quite ready to play in Allstars. We weren't surprised that his DD was even though she clearly didn't enjoy playing and it showed on the field.
That day playing one of the best teams, DD hit her 1st grand slam. We were sitting by the coach's wife who we loved, and a woman walked up and said she'd seen DD play twice and wanted to know if she'd be interested in joining their 14U-B team. DD was the only one she asked and one year later DD was named their Offensive Player of the Year.
Not one girl from that 12U team still plays softball. Ahhh...feels so good.

 

[JAD]

In in reality most of those players were recruited through another team and/or age division, then joined the Gold team afterwards so the Gold team had nothing to do with it at all.

The best is when players sign their NLI at the high school with their high school coach in attendance....while the TB coaches, pitching coach, and hitting instructor are no where to be found!

 

[cuzmail]

The best is when players sign their NLI at the high school with their high school coach in attendance....while the TB coaches, pitching coach, and hitting instructor are no where to be found!

Yep! Never understood that one.

Local HS coach was upset that an incoming 9th grader verbally committed in August just before her first day of school. Guess he felt he couldn't take any credit, but you can bet he'll be in the NLI picture in 4 years.

 

[MonkeyAbs]

Revenge story with several twists. My DD plays 4 years 10U and we leave at the end of the last 10U year because the head coach plays mommy ball to the hilt with her DD that frankly should not have been on that team. Assistant coach plays daddy ball with his DD as the pitcher even though my DD passed her by as #1 pitcher late in the 9U season. At 10U NSA Nationals, we are last 10U or 12U team from our state to leave the tourney, my DD is voted team MVP for carrying the team with her arm and bat. But because of the stubbornness and idiocy of the coaches, we leave and move onto a well-known regional team last year. This is 11U team and frankly not that good but it’s a start on one of the most recognized orgs in the Midwest at the 14-16U levels, time to get to work. We play in the 12U B states as 11U team and her old team comes over to watch us win easily in a pool game. The two assistants come over and congratulate us, I hear back from another player parent later that as they talked amongst themselves, they did not want to even play us. Next day, they get mercied and are out, we win in an international tie breaker at the same time. They come over and watch my DD pitch one of her best games last summer to beat the team they just got mercied by and was considered one of the favorites to win the 12U B’s. Later, the mommy ball head coach admits to others, big mistake to have let my DD go.

Fast forward to end of 11U season last fall, her old team does so bad, the two assistants attempt a coaching coup but are rebuffed by the org president. The mommy ball head coach finds out, tells them they are no longer welcomed on the team. They have to leave with tails between their legs to find another team, unfortunately some of the long time players simply quit playing altogether because the parents have managed to take all the fun out of the sport for these girls (sad). The mommy ball head coach is advertising for players to be on a team that seeks to “improve these girls skill set while teaching them integrity, character, and goal setting “. That I find to be a big crock since she played mommy ball the last 5 years and because of that, blew a chance to have a good team with years of continuity.

Today, my DD is now part of a 12U team that has better average talent across the board than I’ve ever seen, has to work her butt off to compete on that team for playing time and has a head coach who seems to have a clue, which is VERY RARE at any level, any sport.

My takeaways are a) what goes around comes around – Karma is a b*tch b) hard work, honesty and not just looking out for oneself will sometimes pay off, note the “sometimes”, no guarantees in life! c) Selfish coaching for the wrong reasons is pervasive, unfortunately, have to deal with it…..