Winter type storm today so DD's regular TB practice was rained out and that gave us the opportunity to go to our local community softball fields and get in some extra pitching practice. She has been struggling with her change up and this gave us the perfect opportunity to spend time focusing just on that pitch. While we were practicing a younger looking softball team started practicing on the next field. As my DD was wrapping up the coach of the other team approached and asked a favor.
He was coaching our local rec leagues Silver 10U all star team and he had a scrimmage on Saturday against a nearby town's Gold all star team. The opposing pitcher was in the low 40s and his batters had a hard time catching up to her speed. He had two pitchers on his team but they maxed out at 37 - 38. He saw DD pitching and was judging her speed was about the same as the pitcher his team had faced on Saturday. DD quickly informed him that he knew that was her change up and not fastball. I am not sure if he knew but he covered himself well and asked if she would mind pitching to his team to give them a chance for live pitching at faster speeds.
DD jumped at the chance. After making sure she knew not to throw a fastball DD took the circle and started throwing batting practice. The first batter was nervous at first but when she saw that DD was tossing the pitches down the middle she started swinging. It took about 2 or 3 pitches but she was eventually able to get the timing down and make contact. The rest of the team was pretty much the same and as she went through the line up the girls confidence grew and they started to swing and got in some pretty good hits.
About half way through DD took a water break and several of the girls started asking her questions. DD told them she had played for the same rec league until last year. One of the girls asked her if she played on the team that nearly won state and she told that not only did she play on the team she was also the pitcher. One of the girls blurted out, "You are that PITCHER???". She told her yes. The girl turned around and yelled to her mom, "Mom, I just got a hit off that pitcher who nearly won state last year". DD loved that.
She pitched for about another 15 minutes with the biggest smile on her face. It has been awhile since I say DD that happy in the circle. HS and TB are very competitive and some of the fun has gone away for her as the pressure to win keeps building. At least for today and especially for that hour today I saw the DD that I know. The DD that loves pitching so much it puts a smile on her face. It was a great day for her today.
He was coaching our local rec leagues Silver 10U all star team and he had a scrimmage on Saturday against a nearby town's Gold all star team. The opposing pitcher was in the low 40s and his batters had a hard time catching up to her speed. He had two pitchers on his team but they maxed out at 37 - 38. He saw DD pitching and was judging her speed was about the same as the pitcher his team had faced on Saturday. DD quickly informed him that he knew that was her change up and not fastball. I am not sure if he knew but he covered himself well and asked if she would mind pitching to his team to give them a chance for live pitching at faster speeds.
DD jumped at the chance. After making sure she knew not to throw a fastball DD took the circle and started throwing batting practice. The first batter was nervous at first but when she saw that DD was tossing the pitches down the middle she started swinging. It took about 2 or 3 pitches but she was eventually able to get the timing down and make contact. The rest of the team was pretty much the same and as she went through the line up the girls confidence grew and they started to swing and got in some pretty good hits.
About half way through DD took a water break and several of the girls started asking her questions. DD told them she had played for the same rec league until last year. One of the girls asked her if she played on the team that nearly won state and she told that not only did she play on the team she was also the pitcher. One of the girls blurted out, "You are that PITCHER???". She told her yes. The girl turned around and yelled to her mom, "Mom, I just got a hit off that pitcher who nearly won state last year". DD loved that.
She pitched for about another 15 minutes with the biggest smile on her face. It has been awhile since I say DD that happy in the circle. HS and TB are very competitive and some of the fun has gone away for her as the pressure to win keeps building. At least for today and especially for that hour today I saw the DD that I know. The DD that loves pitching so much it puts a smile on her face. It was a great day for her today.
