Mercy from the coaching position?

[Momo'sDad]

(10u rec)

Although fun, fair, and balanced competition is the desired goal, it's difficult for a rec league to set up the rules that will guarantee that result every single time out.

In today's case, I came into today's game having prepared our lineup to face the league's #1 pitcher. When I went to retrieve something from the truck, I noticed she wasn't warming up. Moments later I was informed that her parents had removed her from the team. While all the whys and wherefores can be debated ad nauseum, we still had a game to play.

Knowing that we had a lot more firepower, I went to our scorekeeper and asked that she shift the bottom of our lineup to the top. But against a brand-new pitcher, our timely hitting combined with the walks we got were too much. We were going to get 5 runs no matter what we did each inning. I couldn't make them just swing at anything, and since we'd given up 5 runs in the 2nd inning ourselves, we did not want to concede too much offensively in our final at-bat where we needed to score no less than 3 to put the game away.

Over on the other field in a later game, a team with no truly effective pitchers won a 9-8 walk-a-thon by drawing 7 or 8 walks in their final at-bat, but then had to double back to play the top team, which now has the #1 and #2 pitchers in the league.

At the end of 3, it was 13-0. So, the winning team put in their #3 pitcher. The other guys got a little rally going, but then got jobbed on a call at 2nd which completed the shutout. There were about 20 minutes left on the clock, so the home team comes back to bat with a 13-run lead. Coach gave the swing away (on anything close to 'close') instruction, but even young disciplined hitters couldn't force themselves to do what Coach was telling them to do. They managed to hold them to 4 runs that inning, but with only 2 minutes left on the clock, the umpire called the game. After all, there is no 17-point play in softball.

That's the story. Under the circumstances, should the 2nd game have been called after 3 innings? What about 3-1/2? And would you have altered your batting order to put a little less pressure on your opponent?

There will be no mercy in this week's game, though, as we get a revenge matchup against the team we let slip past us last weekend.

 

[Sparky Guy]

You're over-thinking this WAAAAY too much. The feeling I'm getting is you want parity within your league and that's a great thing. But, as you said, it doesn't always happen. There are too many things that are out of your control. The only thing you can control is your team to a greater degree. What you need to do is to coach them to play the game well and with sportsmanship. If they hit, they hit. What you do is not take the extra bases on errors and things of that nature. If the pitch is bad, it's bad. Don't make your girls swing just to try and make things happen. It's not fair to them. The kids are smarter than most adults give the credit for. They can tell when they are being pandered to.

Your league should have a mercy rule set up. Find out what it is. I'm gathering you have a 5 run limit per half inning.

Some advice for you from someone who was there a long time ago. Don't worry about the W/L columns. The kids don't when the day is done. Concentrate on teaching them how to play the game correctly. Make sure they know how to catch, throw and hit. Make sure they understand the flow of the game. At 10U you're #1 job is to lay the skill foundation for them when they are older.

 

[starsnuffer]

When we're playing games and absolutely overwhelming the other team (12u travel ball), I have the entire lineup hit left handed and call either slapping or various bunts. We do practice hitting weak side and everyone practices slapping and the various bunts, so it's not like we're just pulling this out of a hat.

The point isn't necessarily mercy, since the other team gets no benefit from leaving a game after 3 innings, they're there to play to, but rather to keep things challenging for my own team. My duty is to increase their skills.

-W

 

[Momo'sDad]

You're both right. I sent a few players up to bunt in the last inning and will get them batting lefty next time we are in a situation like this. That team is going to be ok. They only have 2 more games against us and 2 more against the top team. Their other games are against teams who aren't going to put a ton of runs on the board.

The 10-run mercy rule doesn't kick in until after 4-1/2 innings, which really should've been amended to 3-1/2 for the 1 game I mentioned above. Because our league is so pitching poor in 8u and 10u, a bad inning can take a very long time.

 

[D.G. OutLaws 16u]

In our town for 10u we don't keep score. 3 outs or 6 runs innings over. Continuous batting order, equal fielding time.....no slaughters. 10u rec ball is considered instructional. Walk-a-thons serve absolutely no purpose. Very tough to develope good pitching when most rec players touch a ball just 3 months a year. We experimented 2 years ago useing a pitching machine for half the season. Defense was making plays, batters went in expecting to hit (no walks allowed).....as defense and hitting were developing, pitchers were able to use practice time to hone skills. Parents loved it as every game was competative and each athlete was 'in the game' mentally, everyone was having fun!
IMO its sad when a kid gets in the box wanting/hoping to walk....or on defense standing in the sun getting bored and disinterested watching walk after walk seeing the scoreboard climb into a slaughter

 

[Momo'sDad]

That's a very interesting concept and one that we should probably investigate. Although the coaches who had my DD in 8u last spring and during the fall did a terrific job with helping all the girls practice basic skills, I did not feel that they were as engaged during the games as other coaches out there. Because there were no organized scrimmages with other teams, I thought the games should be treated as instructional time. Often girls just did not know where the play was.

Around here, if you've got 1 pitcher in 8u or 10u, then you're way ahead of the competition. At the draft, another coach was heartbroken that I'd drafted his pitcher from a year ago. He went into the season with just a girl or two who could try it, but then ended up finding a gem on the roster. She doesn't throw especially hard, but she throws it across the plate and fields the position well. And she struck out 9 in our first game, beating us 4-3. He has another girl who can really hum it, but rumor has it her parents won't let her pitch, because she's only been taking lessons for a few months and they want to save her until she's 'ready'.

Then you've got the other coaches who had the #2 and #3-rated (now #1 and #2, and to be honest, it's a toss-up because both are terrific) pitchers coming into the season who decided to team up.

I'm really a defensive-minded coach, but although I know they're capable of making plays, my girls aren't getting enough opportunities in the field. At the same time, I also want us to work on developing pitchers, because even in 8u, we need to be able to compete with nearby leagues, but your suggestion of going machine pitch for half the season is a really good idea.

 

[CoachKevin]

Mercy happens in all ages. Last year as a 1st year 14U team we came across a team where everything went right for us, and nothing went right for them. In the 3rd inning we scored 14 runs. I had girls bunting all 3 strikes, I had girls batting from the left side... everything kept either falling or the other team commiting errors. I even held runners at 3rd when the ball was still in the outfield. The field ump walked by and I said I believe my runners are leaving early... 1st pitch she called the runner out to end the inning.

I have also been on the other side of the fence where teams were killing us and contined to squeeze and score on passed balls... it isn't fun at that point.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Maybe I have a different perspective on things but I have never been upset with the other team if they are overwelming my team and continue to press us (running up the score). You want your team to play against tough competition and if we can't stop the other team from scoring than in most cases, I as coach, have not properly prepared my team for competition. While I think its fine to have a mercy rule so games don't become totally lopsided, I do not want the other team to "take it easy" on us. IMO, both teams need to play hard until the last out, no matter what the score is.

 

[KevinC]

It sounds like you've got a 5 run per inning rule to keep things from getting out of hand. I would not take the foot off the petal until the other team has no chance of winning. You never know when you'll have a bad inning and the other team will take advantage.

The other night our team was losing 18 - 9 after 4 innings with only time for one more inning. Even though we had no chance to win (8 run limit) I'm glad the other coach did not suggest that we quit playing or tell his girls to stop swinging. I challenged our team to finish stong and we held them to one run at their final at bat and we scored 4 at ours.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Maybe I have a different perspective on things but I have never been upset with the other team if they are overwelming my team and continue to press us (running up the score). You want your team to play against tough competition and if we can't stop the other team from scoring than in most cases, I as coach, have not properly prepared my team for competition. While I think its fine to have a mercy rule so games don't become totally lopsided, I do not want the other team to "take it easy" on us. IMO, both teams need to play hard until the last out, no matter what the score is.

I watched a girl walk 8 batters in a row the other day in the bottom of the 4th inning. They started the inning leading 8-4. They left with a 9-8 loss. What could the team have done to stop what was happening as the opponents got 1 free base after another? Sure, she needs the experience, but this was right after watching another girl walk at least that many in a 3-inning game against my team, even though my girls were instructed to swing if it even looked close.

I don't know why you are opposed to efforts to make the game fun in regions that don't have nearly as much depth at the pitching position in the 8u and 10u age divisions, but you're entitled to feel that way. If we allow rec ball to be boring, then we're not going to get girls to come back very often.