Exactly. I focus on batting. If we lose by an error then I guarantee you there is something we could have done differently at the plate. Maybe Sally didn't hit that inside pitch but watched it instead, maybe Julie didn't get the bunt down, maybe Sarah still pulls her head even though you have told her 100+ times since tournament started, it always come back to batting costing us a game not defense.
Say sorry to the pitcher....what?
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Exactly. I focus on batting. If we lose by an error then I guarantee you there is something we could have done differently at the plate. Maybe Sally didn't hit that inside pitch but watched it instead, maybe Julie didn't get the bunt down, maybe Sarah still pulls her head even though you have told her 100+ times since tournament started, it always come back to batting costing us a game not defense.
The number one player/parent issue I find as a coach is with pitchers whose parents tell them (usually in the car but in bad behavior scenarios from the sideline with a word or a glance) that "it's not their fault" because of fielding behind them, especially that situation when what should have been a third out gets booted and that gets followed up with a couple of hits/runs.
It's a ready-made excuse for (future) failure.
When a fielder makes an error, I want our pitcher to double-down on getting us out of a situation. I want pitchers unfazed by bad play behind her and willing to take on the challenge of overcoming it. Overcome it by battling the next hitter, making good pitchers and having the team believe that they'll ALL figure out a way to overcome the mistake. That kind of toughness is an incredibly important quality in a pitcher -- a player that is always the center of attention on the mound and needs to learn to deal with success AND failure, her own, her fellow teammate's and her teams'.
Believe me, if we have a pitcher that throws a good game and a sub-par fielding effort behind her, we as coaches KNOW what happened out there. A coach/scout watching on the sideline of an exposure game can spot it too. It's not hard to separate a excellent individual pitching performance from a poor team fielding performance (or vice versa -- a pitcher missing spots/not competing and the luck and/or the team behind her bailing her out).
It's a ready-made excuse for (future) failure.
When a fielder makes an error, I want our pitcher to double-down on getting us out of a situation. I want pitchers unfazed by bad play behind her and willing to take on the challenge of overcoming it. Overcome it by battling the next hitter, making good pitchers and having the team believe that they'll ALL figure out a way to overcome the mistake. That kind of toughness is an incredibly important quality in a pitcher -- a player that is always the center of attention on the mound and needs to learn to deal with success AND failure, her own, her fellow teammate's and her teams'.
Believe me, if we have a pitcher that throws a good game and a sub-par fielding effort behind her, we as coaches KNOW what happened out there. A coach/scout watching on the sideline of an exposure game can spot it too. It's not hard to separate a excellent individual pitching performance from a poor team fielding performance (or vice versa -- a pitcher missing spots/not competing and the luck and/or the team behind her bailing her out).
Unearned versus earned runs can be misleading.
Look at the Yankee game last night. There was line shot that dipped under the 3B glove and they gave him an error. With 2 outs the P let up 4 straight hits resulting in 4 runs. Because of the error they are all unearned, but he clearly didn't have it. I doubt he'll look back and say, they were unearned so they weren't my fault.
Look at the Yankee game last night. There was line shot that dipped under the 3B glove and they gave him an error. With 2 outs the P let up 4 straight hits resulting in 4 runs. Because of the error they are all unearned, but he clearly didn't have it. I doubt he'll look back and say, they were unearned so they weren't my fault.
In my DD2's first time pitching a 14u game she went through a painfully long inning with at least 6 infield errors that probably should have been outs. My DD told me when the HC came to the circle and talked to the infielders she said my DD was throwing strikes, they just needed to execute to get out of the inning.
Was the HC wrong for saying that?
Of course the coach wasn't wrong. Like I said "we as coaches know what is going on out there," which is exactly what that coach told her team. Do your job.
And it sounds like your DD continued to do HER job, which is exactly what SHE should be doing. Good for her.
He came out and told them they need to make a play. Sounds OK to me. Good job for DD working through it.
Thanks. By the time I got to this page of this thread I lost the point of the OP, and started thinking a coach should not be commenting on the pitchers performance when the rest of the team is failing to execute. I have long known I should not be a coach and this proves I was right for not taking the LL coaching position I was offered.
Yup, I should have realized that before I posted.
