The importance of a competent catcher

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Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Today was our season opener. We won 6-5 in a 4-inning game (the temperature was right around freezing by the end). The pitcher we faced was one of the better pitchers we'll see all year. She's not great, but for our skill level, she's about as good as it gets.

Here's our second inning: K, K, ꓘ, K, ꓘ, 1B, K, K. In that inning, we scored four runs because the other team's catcher was... not good. We also had 8 stolen bases (four girls had two each) in just three innings of offense.

I wonder if seven strikeouts in an inning is some kind of high school softball record.
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
Today was our season opener. We won 6-5 in a 4-inning game (the temperature was right around freezing by the end). The pitcher we faced was one of the better pitchers we'll see all year. She's not great, but for our skill level, she's about as good as it gets.

Here's our second inning: K, K, ꓘ, K, ꓘ, 1B, K, K. In that inning, we scored four runs because the other team's catcher was... not good. We also had 8 stolen bases (four girls had two each) in just three innings of offense.

I wonder if seven strikeouts in an inning is some kind of high school softball record.

I chuckled for a moment seeing all those K's, then shook my head for the pitcher and everyone else out on the field.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
A good catcher is golden.

They are easy to ignore because if they are good they can be invisible.

We always go out of our way to compliment C.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
What age group is this?

High School. Softball in Chicago is mostly pretty bad because there just aren't a lot of playing opportunities or coaches who know what they're doing/care enough to actually coach.

It's pretty embarrassing. The school we played has a total enrollment of 730 and they had 10 girls there. We have 130 girls in our high school, and we have 26 divided up between two teams. They want to play, but they need people to actually push them to do it and to work with them to get better so they stick with it. Not to bury this other school and their coach, but we played them last year and they're not any better. But the coach would just say "swing faster" when their girls were late on a pitch, so that should tell you everything you need to know.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
There's just no real infrastructure to consistently develop quality players. There are no private pitching instructors in the city who know what they're doing as far as I can tell (I've looked, but maybe not in the right places). All the "Chicago" travel teams are really suburban teams, and the commute for a decent young player with two working parents is a deal breaker.

Then you have CPS coaches (we are not part of CPS), who actually are told at the yearly meeting how to do the bare minimum to still get paid. But, hey, at least they get paid (you'd think getting a check for coaching would motivate them to actually do a good job).

Right now I have a couple girls who I know for a fact would be much better players if they had started playing earlier or had access to better teams and competition (and coaching) earlier in their lives. Lots of natural ability, but they just haven't been put in a position to develop. And then I get girls who come to us at 14 or 15 having never held a bat before and within a year are competent, and I wonder what they could've been if they'd started earlier.
 
Apr 28, 2014
2,316
113
I love the "Italian" thing :)
Being a Piassan myself I think Italians do love ball!

Catchers so important! Last year DD was playing 8th grade ball. I asked about her catcher after the first few practices. She told me the girl was scared of the ball.. DD was mid 50's.. I went the first game and noticed the poor kid catching was using an outfielders glove that was paper thin. I went to the truck grabbed my catchers mitt and gave it to the coach (teacher). After that the kid was actually good. Poor thing was to afraid to ask for a glove.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
A good catcher is golden.

They are easy to ignore because if they are good they can be invisible.

We always go out of our way to compliment C.

If a catcher is invisible, she isn't doing all of her job. A good catcher is vocal - between batters, between pitches, during plays.

That said, I would agree that a majority of a good catcher's work - and some of their best work - goes unnoticed by most people.
 
Last edited:
Apr 26, 2015
704
43
DD was the primary catcher on her old team for the last 4 years. She changed teams this year (for a long list of reasons) and wanted to leave bad enough that she was willing to play outfield instead of catch. However, since she started with this new team she has been asked to catch for lessons for all 4 pitchers and now they all prefer her over the other 2 catchers on the team. She has also been asked to play up with the older team and their pitchers love her too...so...although she left her old team with no thought that she would see catching time, she has caught at least 2-3 games each weekend since she started playing with this team. She is on the quiet side for a catcher which she needs to work on, but she is quick and smart and can stick a pitch like none of the other catchers.

A good catcher is priceless and I think most pitchers would agree!
 

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