Converting opportunities to outs in the infield

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Apr 7, 2016
7
1
This is my first post on this board so I hope I can ask this question in a way that makes sense. What percentage of opportunities would you expect to be converted to outs for an 8u infielder (primarily 2B, 3B, & SS)? I know it is not realistic to expect a 7/8 yr old kid to make every play that comes their way, but what would you consider reasonable for that age? 40%? 50%? 70% I'm talking rec league/all star type players, not travel ball players. I'm also assuming that the 1B's glove is solid. I appreciate any thoughts you have to offer.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
I cannot put a percentage on it, but you could measure success by how much the fielding percentage increases during the season...
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
It's been waaaaay too long but I think 50% would be a big win in my book with a better percentage from 2B since they are a lot closer. Then with runners on should go up since players can just tag a close base or the runner....still 50% as long as you don't throw the ball away or have too many walks which is what usually happens at this level.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
Seriously I would say very low at SS and 3rd. second will depend on how good of a player you put there. I would put a stud there to get all the outs you can.

It also depends on the rules. If they can't steal the pcts will go up as you'll have more force plays so grounders to 3rd become outs versus hits.

I would say fielding percentage will be somewhat meaningless because you could put a SS in who makes every single stop but has no arm so the beat throws out
resulting in hits. Conversely you might have a kid that is just a stud and gets to everything but will throw one away and get some errors.

If you really have a 1B that can catch you are ahead of the game. If you want a measure have someone you trust keep track of plays he though could be made and weren't and see if you improve. Also when you hit them infield don't just hit it right to them. Make them move.
 
Apr 7, 2016
7
1
There's no stealing in our league (8u coach pitch). We are definitely not ready for that. Our 1B is pretty reliable. Like any 8 yr old she occasionally misses, but I'd say that she gets 85-90% of the catchable throws that come her way. I'm just trying to find an objective way to measure fielding success. I'm keeping track of opportunites by the scorebook. My book keeper is pretty consistent so if they say that a ball was hit to 2B I count that as an opportunity to make an out. If there's an assist or putout on the play it's an out. I divide the number of putouts + assists by the number of opportunities to get my conversion percentage. I realize that this probably isn't a flawless way to do it, but it's better than nothing.

So far, 2B is converting 49%, P is at 48%, 3B is at 43%, & SS is at 25%. It feels like they're capable of more than we're getting, but maybe this is within the normal range for 8 yr old rec ball players. I just wondered if anyone kept up with something like this for this age group. I appreciate the replies. If anyone has another idea on how to track this I'd love to hear how you do it.
 
Last edited:
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
There's no stealing in our league (8u coach pitch). We are definitely not ready for that. Our 1B is pretty reliable. Like any 8 yr old she occasionally misses, but I'd say that she gets 85-90% of the catchable throws that come her way. I'm just trying to find an objective way to measure fielding success. I'm keeping track of opportunites by the scorebook. My book keeper is pretty consistent so if they say that a ball was hit to 2B I count that as an opportunity to make an out. If there's an assist or putout on the play it's an out. I divide the number of putouts + assists by the number of opportunities to get my conversion percentage. I realize that this probably isn't a flawless way to do it, but it's better than nothing.

So far, 2B is converting 50%, P is at 45%, 3B is at 40%, & SS is at 25%. It feels like they're capable of more than we're getting, but maybe this is within the normal range for 8 yr old rec ball players. I just wondered if anyone kept up with something like this for this age group. I appreciate the replies. If anyone has another idea on how to track this I'd love to hear how you do it.

This seems about right just as a guess. I would take on posters idea and track how much they progressed from first game to last...assuming you keep stats individually and not just by position, but getting better as a team is important too. The only number that seems like it might be low is P (I just seem to remember this as the position that generated most of the outs), but again anything @ ~ 50% would be a win in my book. My guess is SS and 3B outs are mostly with runners on and them running to tag a base.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
Is it always the same kid playing these positions or do you move them around? If you are making these percentage of plays I would find a couple of pitchers
and start playing TB.
 
Apr 7, 2016
7
1
We keep everyone in the same position as much as possible. I do track this in a game log style as well as cumulative so I can go back and check their progression. Maybe that's a better way to look at it than expecting the number to be at a certain point. Good idea. Thanks for that suggestion.

P and SS are the positions that aren't passing the eye test. The issue isn't lack of ability. They just aren't doing the basic things. It's like they've forgotten the fundamentals...which I'm starting to think stems from a confidence issue because they're making so many mistakes. Snowball effect kind of thing.

As for going to TB, a few of our girls have been approached about it, but they just aren't ready for it for various reasons.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top