Had to post about a hilarious moment from a 10u game today.
The rec league our school's 10u team plays in is big time developmental. Coach pitch after a walk (which means no actual walks, so games are fast!), a coach in the field on defense to help players with positioning, etc. Only three teams in the league, and very few of the girls really know what they're doing. So you'll get a lot of girls not knowing exactly how/where to stand at the plate, where to throw the ball, etc.
And yet, I saw something today I never thought I'd see.
We're up 1-0 in the 4th (we play 5 only). A girl on the other team hits a ball to the pitcher. Pitcher throws to first, first baseman misses, and the batter is off to the races. Another overthrow or two later, and the girl is rounding third with the ball trickling to our left fielder. I actually had marked her run in the scorebook, and I look up and she's celebrating while running off the field. Completely off the field. She hit third base and ran directly to the opening in the fence for the dugout.
So then the 10u chaos ensues. Our pitcher is standing there waiting for her to come back so she can tag her. The poor runner has no idea what's going on. Everybody's screaming. Eventually she wanders back on the field and tries to run back to third, but she's tagged out immediately (she was, of course, out anyway).
The best part of this (and why I love the league we're connected with) is that I didn't see a single person on the other team (or parents/fans) do anything to make the girl feel bad. Yes, people were laughing at the mistake. But they were also explaining to the girl what she did wrong. The other coach didn't yell at her. No jerk parents flipped out over a mistake in a 10u game. And I'm still absolutely positive she learned the lesson and will never make that mistake again.
The rec league our school's 10u team plays in is big time developmental. Coach pitch after a walk (which means no actual walks, so games are fast!), a coach in the field on defense to help players with positioning, etc. Only three teams in the league, and very few of the girls really know what they're doing. So you'll get a lot of girls not knowing exactly how/where to stand at the plate, where to throw the ball, etc.
And yet, I saw something today I never thought I'd see.
We're up 1-0 in the 4th (we play 5 only). A girl on the other team hits a ball to the pitcher. Pitcher throws to first, first baseman misses, and the batter is off to the races. Another overthrow or two later, and the girl is rounding third with the ball trickling to our left fielder. I actually had marked her run in the scorebook, and I look up and she's celebrating while running off the field. Completely off the field. She hit third base and ran directly to the opening in the fence for the dugout.
So then the 10u chaos ensues. Our pitcher is standing there waiting for her to come back so she can tag her. The poor runner has no idea what's going on. Everybody's screaming. Eventually she wanders back on the field and tries to run back to third, but she's tagged out immediately (she was, of course, out anyway).
The best part of this (and why I love the league we're connected with) is that I didn't see a single person on the other team (or parents/fans) do anything to make the girl feel bad. Yes, people were laughing at the mistake. But they were also explaining to the girl what she did wrong. The other coach didn't yell at her. No jerk parents flipped out over a mistake in a 10u game. And I'm still absolutely positive she learned the lesson and will never make that mistake again.