Moving up from B travel??

[Coach JV]

My niece is a 2nd year 12U pitcher and is looking for advice on moving up.
Should she move to 12A or should she move to 14B? Her bat is average,
(good contact hitter). She is a 'power' pitcher, her fastball averages 53,
her change-up needs work, but she throws a rise and drop curve as her
'go to'. PC says move up, she wants to play with her team from past 2 years.
Her travel coach wants her to stay down as she looks to be 'dominant'
I have not seen her pitch in a year, but her dad has gunned her in a scrimmage last week
with a high pitch of 55, and low of 51 over a 10 pitch sample spanning
2 middle innings.

 

[Goobie]

Just my two cents... but her dad should really consider what SHE wants to do. It is supposed to be fun for her. Faced with a similar situation last season my daughter chose to stay on her 12U "A" team and I supported her. She had a great year, pitched a lot and had time to work on her hitting, fielding, etc. Her PC liked that she got so many innings and had the opportunity to work on her other pitches. She has moved up to 14U this year and is much more prepared (in my opinion) to face a 15 Year old at the plate.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

I agree 100% that her dad should find out what SHE wants to do. I hesitate to say this at 12U and lower - BUT!!! If she is REALLY dominating in the circle and she really wants to, she should play to the highest level that she can.

We also faced a similar situation last fall. DD (1st year 14, 13 years old at that time) was on 14U B team and dominating from the circle. Her PC told her and us that she should be playing A ball. We talked to her and she decided that even though it would suck to leave her current team she didn't feel as though she was being challenged enough. She tried out for teams and was accepted on a 2nd year 14U team that played up to 16U. DD was in a 3 pitcher rotation so she got time in the circle and did so well that this summer her team is 16U and DD will continue to be in a 3 pitcher rotation. Her PC and team coaches both beleive that she will spend quite a bit of time in the circle on Sundays this summer.

It's kind of funny... After she made an "A" team that was supposed to be 14U but actually playing 16U, DD's Mom and I thought for sure that she had bit off more than she could chew and that she would get discouraged. NOT SO! When jokingly stated that DD is a 14U pitcher playing at 16U, she looked me right in the eye and said "Dad, I am a 16U starter. Don't even say that!"

 

[tojo]

IMO,stay with your age group until your 2nd yr. of 14u and then move up if you are not being challenged. Use the younger age to build confidence and experiment with pitchs that are not quite game ready. Confidence is crucial to the beginning and intermediate pitchers and use these years to get your pitching time so she can be the confident advanced pitcher. It will not do her any good to sit on the bench when she can be pitching in the younger age group.There is always the exception that needs to move up because she is "dominating" the batters in her age group, but most don't fall into this category.