10A/B or 12C
- Thread starter Alsmygal
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
There aren't very many 10A teams around here and the ones that I have talked to are full or already committed to pitchers and won't even consider a pitcher because of their commitments. We haven't gotten to see much 12B to get an idea of what it's like at that level.
At 10A, once she got with a hitting coach and worked through her slump, she was probably average. By the time she got through her slump, the 10A tourneys were almost over, but I would say that now, she would be above average as far as getting base hits. At 10B, she was dominant.
- Apr 15, 2012
- 123
- 0
I totally agree with this. Mid 40's at 35 feet with 11" ball is pretty good speed but still about average for 10u it's by no means dominant. Low 40's with 12" ball at 40 feet, I'm afraid she would get tore up, and if she doesn't then she wouldn't be playing good enough competition to improve much.
Plus, don't buy the story about teams being committed to pitchers before the season even starts. If your DD can pitch better then any given teams #2 pitcher, they will make room for her (especially if she can hit!!)
I would tryout for the best 10u teams in your area, try to find a team that plans to win a state title and attend a national tournament. The competition will be better there than playing with what you call 12c teams. Good luck to your DD on which ever way you choose to play.
If the team was 24-1, was it seeking out the best competition? In metro Atlanta, where I spent the past 4 seasons, the best teams don't go 24-1. They find somebody that can beat them. If this team can't find 10U teams as good as them, maybe they should play 12U? I'm curious about that.
And was the team committed to developing all the players? If so, why was playing time limited while going 24-1? I don't get the idea of limited playing time in 10U. Why is the development of the #1 player more important than the development of the #11 player at this age, especially in the fall?
If your daughter is a pitcher, she needs to pitch, but #1 pitcher or #3 pitcher can mean different things. Some #3 pitchers get 1/3 of the innings. Some get 1/10 the innings. My last team didn't even have a #3 pitcher. If there's a chance to get most of the innings somewhere, that's something you have to give serious thought to.
They did seek out the best competition. They started the fall season playing 10B because they were a new team and the coaches weren't sure how they would all play together, and they pleasantly surprised everyone. Before getting bumped up to A ball, they scrimmaged against some 12u teams and beat them easily and shut them out. They did say that they are going to play up in some 12u tournaments this spring to see if that could put them up against some better competition.
As far as player development, that's probably one of the biggest reasons why we were looking to move on. If we wanted to stay and collect trophies and medals, then that's where we would be, but our daughter wanted to grow as a pitcher and first baseman and the only way to do that was to find a team that needed her and could give her decent time in the circle. I'm not meaning anything bad towards the coaches from the team she left at all, because they are good with the girls and have beaten some good teams. It just wasn't the right place for our DD to learn and grow as a player.
If she hasn't started moving back, to 40 feet yet, I would keep her at 10U. Her speed will slow down considerably for a while if she jumps right to 12u.
Last edited:
This is an easy one! At this age winning is important sure, its good for the kids and keeps them interested. But i think the best thing to do is have her play for the best coach you can find. Regardless of classification or record.
You sound like my gut instinct talking! lol
Similar threads
