10u pitcher throws 4 straight games

[Amy in AZ.]

15 pitches per inning. But that figure comes from baseball. It works for me.

 

[riseball]

Total pitch count is only one of several criteria to use with respect to injury prevention. By assigning arbitrary pitch counts you are doing a disservice to the athlete. There is no one size fits all answer, and it will often vary from day to day with the same athlete based on game conditions. Under some circumstances my 19yo DD will coast through a 175 pitch day. Other days she may be done after 100. You need to know the capabilities of your pitchers and they need to learn to listen to their bodies. If you really think about it, to assert that some arbitrary number will keep a pitcher safe or above it is dangerous is just ludicrous.

 

[cuzmail]

It is due to pride, positioning in the elimination round and better elimination starting times.

I understand it for seeding tournaments, but what about the regular tournaments where seeding isn't a concern and brackets start off with a traditional draw?

 

[riseball]

Cuzmail, you are absolutely correct. For many teams, pool play is played to win as much as elimination games. It is due to pride, positioning in the elimination round and better elimination starting times.

The only difference I see in pool play is the batting order is more likely to be more than 9 than is elimination.

I understand it for seeding tournaments, but what about the regular tournaments where seeding isn't a concern and brackets start off with a traditional draw?

For my 18U team it is all about the start time. When you tell 16-19yo's that they are playing for a noon start on Sunday they become extremely motivated.

 

[cuzmail]

For my 18U team it is all about the start time. When you tell 16-19yo's that they are playing for a noon start on Sunday they become extremely motivated.

Interesting. I don't recall ever playing a tournament where pools dictated bracket start times. Seeded in rankings which ultimately dictated your bracket start, but never just a start time.

Rise - I bet they would do anything to sleep later!

 

[Greenmonsters]

Interesting. I don't recall ever playing a tournament where pools dictated bracket start times. Seeded in rankings which ultimately dictated your bracket start, but never just a start time.

Rise - I bet they would do anything to sleep later!

RB speaks the truth! Bracket start time normally is a function of seed and the top seeds start later. What you don't ever want to do is let them know in the rare instance when a loss would get them a later Sunday start time!

 

[cuzmail]

RB speaks the truth! Bracket start time normally is a function of seed and the top seeds start later. What you don't ever want to do is let them know in the rare instance when a loss would get them a later Sunday start time!

Ok we are talking about the same thing. You guys are looking at this from a game time point of view and I look at it from a team ranking point of view.

GM - exactly the last place team will likely get the favorable bracket game against the #1 seed, so they have the same later game time too!

 

[riseball]

...exactly the last place team will likely get the favorable bracket game against the #1 seed, so they have the same later game time too!

That is only if there are an even number of teams. Otherwise #1 will get a bye, and last seed and 2nd to last seed will most likely play at 8:00AM. Depending on the number of fields #1 - #3 could have byes into the 2nd round. Back when I was a TD I would always try to reward the higher seeds with the later start times.

 

[Lozza]

Eek I'd struggle to do that as an adult! Tournament I played with in June, only pitched three put of five games. Coach wouldn't let me pitch more due to safety concerns.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread. Being a baseball guy, until I read this I was under the same general impression that most casual fans are: no need for pitch counts in softball, arms don't get hurt, blah blah blah.

I threw my top pitcher (12U rec, thuough she probably should be in travel) 3+ games, probably around 300 pitches, during our 1 day tourney. Her mom (ex college pitcher) was an assistant for me, and I checked with her often on whether or not to pull her DD. The response I got was to let her go until she tired, which ended up being in the 1st inning of the championship game, her 4th on the day. Actually, when I consider it she really started tire in the last inning of the semifinal.

Anyway, I wish I'd found this site earlier, I'd have pulled her much sooner. Now that I know, the ability to develop pitching has moved way up my priority list for me, and keeping closer track of pitch counts.

Thanks again to everyone here!

Ray