No Brains No Brawn...or...Kick'em While They're Down

[CMMom1740]

One other thing to consider is that the winning team may have been concerned about their ranking in their region. We had a tie with another team and it came down to other statistics such as runs earned over the season or how many runs had been scored against us. It's not just like a TB tournament where you start over when results don't carry over. Not that they probably needed 23 runs and they absolutely should put in their subs when it starts to become a blow-out.

 

[Chris8]

Well said !



It's unfortunate we try to quantify the details in order to justify the results. A score of 23 to zero is poor sportsmanship and poor coaching.

The details DO matter. It goes to the question of the OP. Was this poor sportsmanship? Was it a case of incredibly over-matched team? Did the winning team run up the score or did it just end up that way despite the winning teams efforts? How long did it take to get to 23 runs? Was it 3 innings or 5 innings. Did those occur in the first two innings? Was it a relatively close game through 3 innings and the wheels fell off in the last couple innings? Did the starting pitcher get hurt or not play? Did the losing team really only have one pitcher and she was out?

Despite a coaches BEST efforts it can end up that way.

Example 1: I watched a JV HS game this week. The final score after 5 (10 run rule after 5) was 24 to 7. The majority of those runs were walks, HBP, overthrows, dropped throws etc. On the night only two balls were hit out of the infield. Both teams worked hard to earn outs...and celebrated each one. Everyone was playing with aluminum bats (No composites). It was NOT good softball....at all. But it was a great game. There were 26 girls who played a game. They were having a blast. They were cheering for their pitcher, hitter, base runners. When the game was over it was all smiles. Those girls had a ton of fun and it was evident in the demeanor. They JUST played a HS softball game. The reality....few if any of those girls will ever see Varsity or if they do...it's as a Senior and rarely if ever do they play.

My 14u travel team (7th and 8th graders) would not have allowed a run....I'm not sure a batter would have even reached base. The disparity in skill, softball IQ, talent can be very wide.

So the context does matter. If I told you team A lost to team B 24-7..... and hadn't told you the other details your view may be different.

Example 2: This past weekend my TB team played in a 8 team tournament. We cruised through the first four games. with margins of victory of 8, 13, 14, 16. All in 3 innings. We were up by more than 10 at least by the 2nd inning. If I told you the scores you might think the same of us. It was clear early on that we were significantly more talented. So we played the game but did our best not to embarrass the other team(s). We had pitchers throwing change-ups. Not to "fool" the other team but because they were never going to hit a drop or our fastballs. So the CU gave them an opportunity to hit and our players an opportunity to field. We didn't steal bases. We did allow girls to advance on passed balls (but not to home).

In one game the umpire stopped it in the first inning when it was 10-0. Asked both of us coaches if he could invoke a run rule limit in the inning at 10. I said yes immediately. The opposing coach had to talk to his assistant coaches if that was what they wanted to do. WTH? But he agreed. I told him we both came to play and to get better. Let's get his team up to bat so they can have a chance to hit and keep the game moving along. When we left the game he thanked us for our class for not running up the score and recognizing the talent disparity. We've been on his end in the past, we get it.

In the 16 run game, we brought 14 players to the plate in one inning. Initially we were hitting the ball all over the yard. But quickly we saw they were over matched. We started by having the biggest, slowest girls bunt so they could be thrown out. That didn't work so we went to just taking pitches. 3 walks in a row and that brings in 3 runs. Then we had runners stepping off early. I mean REALLY early...right when the pitcher came set..they'd take of 15' off the bag. NO CALL BY THE UMPIRE. So I called time, talked to the ump and pointed out MY players were leaving early. He said he couldn't see it, we were fine and to JUST play the game. So we switched to plan D and had girls swinging late to get three outs. End of that game, opposing coach thanked us for being classy. He said he saw what we were doing to keep it in check and appreciated it. His team looked a little shell shocked. I overheard part of his post game talk. He told his girls My team was a good team and they should look forward to playing teams like us...and that they needed to strive to play at the level we do....they'd go back to work and practice to up their game so the next time they play us they'd have a better showing.

The context does matter in this case. If I told you team A lost to team B 19-3 in 2 and a half innings.....and that's all the information you had it's easy to jump to the conclusion it was poor sportsmanship. In our case we did everything to NOT run up the score and the UMP didn't even help get the game done with.

I'm not complaining but standing in the 3B coaches box in this situation is not easy as you're trying desperately for YOUR team to get out so the game isn't too out of hand or an embarrassment to the other team. You are essentially coaching against yourself and against what you're wanting your team to do. Put the pedal to the metal and win a game.

I spoke with my team about recognizing the situation in the context of the game and why we are doing things, striking out on purpose, not stealing, etc etc.

There are lots of teachable moments from our situation and the OP's post...we just don't have enough details to know what they are or what the coach said to them.

AND if this was not a HS game but a TB tournament game. Run differential can matter in seeding out of pool play. We've lost games but worked to get a couple more runs on the board so that we can get a more favorable seed if it came down to runs....

More information is required to make the judgement of poor sportsmanship or not.

 

[BT3100]

Last fall we jumped in a 16u round robin as 14s. Our team had no business being there as we later learned, as we had 3 great pitchers and the other teams were "b" to "c" level. After the first inning we were up 7-0. Our coach told the girls to bunt every at bat. 2 innings later, when the score was 15-0 the coach from the other team got in our coaches face telling him he was disrespecting her team by bunting. Sometimes you can never do the right thing in the eyes of some.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Our coach told the girls to bunt every at bat. .

I have never seen that and I probably wouldn't like it either.

Just play the game....

 

[spleen1015]

DD has experienced both sides of this situation. When she was younger, I thought it was bad sportsmanship to run up the score, but as I've experienced more of the game my opinion has changed.

Every player, to reach their potential, should give 100% in every situation in every game. If a team giving 100% results in a 20-0 game, then that's the way it is.

 

[BT3100]

I have never seen that and I probably wouldn't like it either.

Just play the game....

Our coach (who was right) said to us assistants "not one girl on the other side has a mask on. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I think it was the right call

 

[Rocketech1]

In general, when I coached I never blamed the other team for scoring a lot of runs on us. It's primarily my fault as a coach for not properly preparing my players to be more competitive or I put them in a tournament, league that was too much for them. Conversely, when we have been up big on a team, I have put in my subs to get them some work and rest my starters. At the end of the day "it's much ado about nothing". It's a game, sometimes you get beat bad and get embarrassed. You move on to the next game and do better...

I remember a 10U rec game and we were beating a team like 10-1. In the last inning, not thinking anything about it, I had one of my more inexperienced players attempt a bunt as she had not had a chance to bunt much during real game situations and I wanted to get her the experience. Well after the game the other head coach pulls me aside and berates me for having a player bunt when we were up by 9 runs. I calmly told him the situation with this kid and he backed off. Things are not always so sinister as we coaches and parents think they are...

 

[dbronstein]

DD has experienced both sides of this situation. When she was younger, I thought it was bad sportsmanship to run up the score, but as I've experienced more of the game my opinion has changed.

Every player, to reach their potential, should give 100% in every situation in every game. If a team giving 100% results in a 20-0 game, then that's the way it is.

But you can try to not run up the score and still have your players give 100%, it's not either or. You can put in your lesser pitchers, move players to different positions to get them experience, sub in your weaker hitters.

Last fall, there were two travel teams playing in our rec league (10U). When we played one of the teams, they pitched their second and third pitchers and mixed up their lineup. They still beat us handily, but it was an enjoyable game. The other team pitched their ace for the allowed three innings, and it was like we were facing Jenny Finch. We hit one fair ball the whole game. The game was a total joke. I have no idea what they got out of it other than their pitcher getting some work in.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Those games are brutal on everybody involved in them: the players, the coaches, the umpires, and the fans. Unfortunately they are often hard to avoid.

The OP mentioned it was high school, and to me this is where a few of the problems lie. First, when does your mercy rule kick in? I cant speak for other states, but in Illinois the mercy rule does not kick in until the 5th inning (conferences can adopt a 4th inning policy). Getting to the 5th inning can be rough, even when a team lets off the accelerator.

Second, STOP scheduling games against “those” schools! You can’t always predict those games, but we have plenty of schools around here that have no business playing each other, but they do it every year any way.

 

[ian]

Good teams need to get work in for playoffs. They can't sand bag it all season and expect to go deep in playoffs. If they are still stealing after being up 12 runs with the pitcher throwing a no-hitter that's poor sportsmanship. Let the kids hit and hopefully the other team will make a routine play to get out of the inning.