1st year 14 pitcher

[Catscratch]

We live in Massachusetts. My DD has been pitching for 2 years.
She pitched on a mediocre travel team last year as a 2nd year twelve
Played middle school ball as a 7th grader but did not pitch.
Currently has been working real hard pitching three times/week and
having a lesson once/week.
Her fastball is between 51-53. She hits location 90% of the time.
Her changeup is about 36 and typically just outside the strikezone.
Currently learning a third pitch. On the mound she does not get rattled.
Just does her thing. It's now four weeks before the school and travel
season starts (on a much stronger team now practicing since September).
Based on what's out there is she going to get crushed? Does she need
to pick up the pace?
Thanks for any thoughts...

 

[Izzy's Dad]

Based on what's out there is she going to get crushed? Does she need
to pick up the pace?


Maybe she will, maybe she won't. You won't know until she tries. More importantly - it will be how she deals with it if she does get crushed. 14U ball is a much higher level than 12U (mainly because the average or not so serious players are leaving the sport). Some girls will thrive at the challenge, and some will turn away from it.

My daughter (8th grader) turned 14 two and a half months ago, is eligable to stay down in 14U one more season. She doesn't throw much faster that your daughter, but we are moving up to 16U. Will she get crushed? Probably. Especially when you consider alot of tournaments put the 16's and 18's together. But, more importantly, it will be how she handles it. We feel this will best prepare her for high school ball this fall. And we will face alot of Oklahoma teams during our travel season.

So, ultimately, if your daughter has the drive to make herself better, and can face adversity head on, she will do fine. Just go easy on her if she "falls" a couple of times. She will learn from it, and will have to figure out how to pitch smart.

P.S. - 51-53 mph is plenty fast. There are a ton of dad's who say their daugter throws 60 mph. They don't. But, trust me - you will know it when you see it, and it is amazing! It's alot different up close and personal, than it is on tv.

 

[starsnuffer]

She'll be fine. She's ahead of the curve by knowing only a few pitches, rather then knowing 7 that all look the same and never really break.

-W

 

[ArmWhip]

If she can locate the ball that well then she should be fine providing the coach calling the pitches knows what he is doing. Plus when she makes mistakes and misses her spot if the pitch is not down the middle she will be very effective. My daughter throws in the low fifties but lives on the outside corner and rarely makes a mistake down the middle, she does very well. It's very satisfying to get into the fifth inning and hear the other team's coaches grumbling about how they should be crushing this girl. In my area my experience is that good hitters can handle the inside pitch but have trouble making solid contact on the outside corner, bad hitters have trouble on the inside pitch and will have more success on pitches away just by getting lucky.

 

[EP Dad]

Wow. She sounds pretty good to me. Is there a bunch of girls ahead of her that are causing the anxiety?

 

[Catscratch]

She's been live pitching in a tunnel to her teammates over the last few months. In November, nobody could touch her, the last few times, however, the batters are hitting her. Hard for me to tell how well being it's fairly narrow. She tells me she doesn't enjoy "tunnel pitching" as she is required to use a softee which she states makes it very difficult hitting your spots.

 

[EP Dad]

Well, that's perfectly logical. The more a batter sees of a certain pitcher the better they are going to do off of her. I don't think that's any indication of the pitcher's abilities. Plus she's right about the softies. It's also harder to get the softies to spin.

 

[Coach JV]

Emphasize hitting the spots, as this becomes priority #1 as
pitchers get older

 

[Catchers43Dad]

Few things stand out for me - only having fastball and change up may be a problem.

I know you said she was developing a third pitch, but as the girls get bigger and stronger, the speed is not difficult to time, even with a good change. Movement is what matters (rise, drop, screw, curve) along with hitting spots. 90% of her pitches should really not end up in the strike zone.

Also, moving from 40ft to 43 ft will be another adjustment. Kids who rely only on speed will struggle more (typically) than kids who throw multiple pitches. The extra distance allows the pitches to break just that much more. The speed will decreasse temporarily until the arm strength is built up and that shouldn't take too long.

 

[NVfishing]

She's right about where she needs to be. Getting crushed could mean all kinds of things? Depends on team defense. If your DD hits her spots and you've got a good defensive team there shouldn't be a problem. If girls get hits and your DD's team can't field, you could get crushed. The most important thing in pitching is keeping your composure. As long as your DD can shake off a hit she should be fine.