The value of great outfielders

We have had games where our CF has made more outs than SS or 2B, and she is very often the difference-maker in a close game. Her dad still thinks she should be playing 2B.

Eric F said:

We have had games where our CF has made more outs than SS or 2B, and she is very often the difference-maker in a close game. Her dad still thinks she should be playing 2B.

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We've got one on our team who mostly plays 2B. But she has a very hard time fielding grounders and makes a lot of errors there. But she's SO FAST and can track a fly ball like nobody's business. She's a stud in the outfield. Has made some catches you wouldn't believe a kid her size could make. She's wasted at 2B. I don't get it.

One of the coaches from DD's fall all-star team wants to groom DD and another girl as center fielders (it's 8U so at this age there are four outfielders). DD isn't really great at tracking fly balls (yet), but almost everything she sees in the outfield is a grounder. But she hustles, and she's good at figuring out the angles to cut a ball off, she deals with hops and bounces well, and she has a great arm.

After all-stars was done, coach told me he was excited because he sees how DD plays at 8 and thinks that if she works on it, she'll be amazing in a couple of years. She was fun to watch, because she was hustling and trying to make plays (she had several throws from the outfield beat a runner to second, but the middle infielders never quite understood why DD kept throwing to them and would either hold the ball or throw to pitcher).

Of course DD still thinks outfield is a punishment. Her all-star coach finally told her that he wasn't putting her in center because he didn't think she could play the infield, but he put her in center because he didn't think anyone else could play center. Hopefully she'll get it, probably not this season. I hope that once the middle infield figures out how to tag a runner out at second, DD will understand why they want her out there.

A good outfielder can change games. In spectacular fashion.

Just like baserunning it is under coached and under valued by coaches parents and players

And it might be a players golden ticket to playing time

One time DD 1 tried out for a TB team.
DD 1 had played rec league for this coach, and mostly wound up 3B, but outfield in all-star tournaments.

DD 1 decided she would have a better chance to make the team if she requested OF. So she did. She was the only freshman on a 16U team, and the ONLY girl to request OF. (She was also the fastest girl on the team).

DD 1 quit the team early, so another girl had to move to OF.
That other girl wound up as a great OF, and made all-conference 2nd team one year.

Would you rather be all-conference 2nd team, or warm the bench?

My DD has played pretty much every position except for first. She was the center fielder for her select team for the last couple years. She loves it. High school season has not yet started, but the HC of the high school told her that she was going to be the SS this year. DD is very displeased lol, and says she will be trying to talk him out of it. She loves to track down the fly balls in the outfield.

Over the weekend DD got asked to fill in for another team's scrimmage and they usually put subs in the outfield. League rules for her level are still 4 in the OF but they were down enough that they could only field 2. On one play, ball was hit towards CF/RF and DD hustles to get to the ball and throws to pitcher who makes the throw to 3b who tags the runner who was going for 3. Most of the time however she was very bored since there still weren't a ton of balls hit to the OF. She said she liked it though because she could sing or talk to herself w/o anyone hearing her

When she actually played on her own team's scrimmage later, she was pitching and a girl on the other team could hit pretty well and of course it went to the OF :/

An error in the infield is usually a single...an error in the outfield is almost always a double.

This young lady is the reason my daughter takes so much pride in playing outfield. She is also a great role model for young ball players to look up to and comes from a great family. My DD is a big fan of hers and is lucky enough to have followed in her foot steps. First as a small lefty being shuffled to the OF as a Viper and now playing for the same HS. There will never be another one like her but DD is trying.

McCleney and the group she came through with helped softball take off in our town. They got us 3 state titles in four years. She played with six other girls that went on to play in the NCAA tourney and three made it to the WCWS with one winning it. It was pretty cool to go to the regional in Auburn a couple of years ago and have three of the six outfielders in the final game from our HS.

No better feeling play to make than an outfield assist.