Batting Average

[smddad]

Score the game correctly, regardless of age level. They are a tool, that if used correctly can help the coach place the girls in the proper positions to help the team.

 

[CoogansBluff]

With respect to the bold above, I'd agree that you'd likely identify one of the team's best hitters; however, the competition level those stats have been achieved against is not quantifiable and may or may not be comparable. In my state, CT, the conferences are geographic, but state tourney has 4 classes based on school size. I've seen a number of "all conference players" who are completely outclassed when they play a similar sized school from another conference i.e., not unusual to see #20 something seeds run rule top 10 seed teams in the small school class.

I agree w/ that. I didn't mean that the RUNS+RBI leader for any team is a good player. I just meant Goingdeep's team. High school stats are a minefield of deception for many reasons.

 

[Country Boy]

Gamechanger's QAB, or Quality At Bats, is useless in my opinion. In last years TB and HS team, the person with the most K's also had the most QAB. My DD, who is not a patient batter, led the HS team in BA, OBP, Runs, but was next to last in QAB. So it appears that it is better to see a lot of pitches and fail than to smack the first good pitch for a hit, based on QAB.

That's a little off topic, but...

 

[SBFAMILY]

The bottom line is most college coaches don't trust stats! They know most are wrong and many have no idea how to keep them. They watch you to see what kind of hitter you are. We had a kid with a 680 plus batting average in high school try out for us. She didn't end up over 300. As college coaches will tell you, it also depends on who you play. So a 400 on one team is not the same as a 400 on another team.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

In regards to the QAB stat. I don't agree that it's useless. The girl with the most K's on her HS team has the best QAB stats, She also has the most walks, is #4 in BA, #3 in OBP, #2 in hits, #3 in RBI - etc, etc...

Wikipedia describes "Quality at bat" as:
quality at bat
An at bat in which the batter is productive in a way that fits the situation, whether that involves advancing the runner with a sacrifice bunt or even a ground ball out, getting on base, or making the pitcher throw a lot of pitches. Thus a quality at bat is not measured simply by the standard batting statistics such as batting average, on-base percentage, or slugging average. Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer: "Seeing a lot of pitches, fighting bad pitches off – basically, just waiting for a pitch you can handle. Whether you’re a power guy, or more of a slap hitter guy, if you find a pitch you’re comfortable in handling, that’s a quality at-bat. If you get on base or drive a ball up the gap, you pretty much know you had a good plate appearance. But it’s mostly about making sure you get your pitch."

 

[Country Boy]

I get what you're saying. Just don't agree that there is any value in a strikeout in Softball. Maybe MLB, where pitch counts come into play, there is a value in working the count. But of all the things I worry about during a game, pitch count is pretty far down the list.
Bases loaded, 1 out. Batter sees 7 pitches before striking out. Are you happy as a coach? I'm not. So why is it a QAB and a rocket line drive to the SS isn't?
Just a difference in perspective, I guess.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

Country Boy, I think you and I are on pretty much the same page.

I agree 100% that as a coach I would rather see a rocket anything to SS vs. a strikeout. But in your example of bases loaded, 1 out, I would rather see a strike out than a line drive out to SS; too many chances for a double play.

At the HS Varsity level, TB and college level I want my batter to be able to be able to recognize a pitch she can handle and hit hard, not necessarily go after the first pitch in the strike zone. For example, my DD couldn't hit a drop ball low in the zone if she wanted to. What she CAN hit hard is something waist level on the inside, so she will wait for it and when it comes - BAM! By using this philosophy she gets more good hits instead of weak grounders or pop ups. Yeah, she will strike out more than usual but she will also walk more than usual. In the end she will also have a higher than average batting average. Remember that a good batter will only get a hit 4 out of 6 at bats.

 

[nobrainhamster]

scorekeeping apps

Just wondering how everyone else figures the batting averages for teams. We us the IPad and game changer to score games which takes into effect ROE and FC in calculating the average. But have quickly came to realize that parents only want a bat on ball average. To me this is a very misleading number and is not a true indication of the hitting especially against a weaker team. This is at the high school level.

I have always used iscore as well, but our high school coach used Gamechanger. Neither takes ROE or FC into account for batting avg. They do give an option for using them in figuring OBP. While both do mean the batter put the ball in play, and gave thmselves a chance to reach base, I choose not to use them in calculations. It's a personal thing to me. In this age of Sabre metrics my two favorite stats are QAB (quality at bats) and RC (runs created). One tells how a player handles a bat, and the other tells how they affects the game while on base.

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

I score the old fashioned way, and I do keep stats, even for the 8U's. I don't share with anyone, but I like to make sure at bats are at least close to even, and when I'm picking All Stars I try to be as objective as possible. It's also a lot of fun to see how the girls progress, and when they start worrying about how they're doing I can use this info to tell them how they help the team.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

I get what you're saying. Just don't agree that there is any value in a strikeout in Softball. Maybe MLB, where pitch counts come into play, there is a value in working the count. But of all the things I worry about during a game, pitch count is pretty far down the list.
Bases loaded, 1 out. Batter sees 7 pitches before striking out. Are you happy as a coach? I'm not. So why is it a QAB and a rocket line drive to the SS isn't?
Just a difference in perspective, I guess.

Ted Williams would disgaree. He was a firm believer in seeing as many pitches as possible, even if that meant taking a strike or 2, even if that meant going 0 for 2 in your first 2 AB's. Looking at a single at bat doesn't tell you much of anything beyond that at bat, but a hitter with a high percentage of QAB's is doing something right, at least at 12U and up IMO.

To the OP - BA is what it is: number of hits / official at bats. Period.

I've used both GameChanger and iScore for years, they both give you excellent stats to play with. Export the GC stats to a spreadsheet and give that to the parents, let them manipulate the data however they want.