I also coach 12U rec ball and I understand your frustration. You're giving your all so you team can have the best experience and it's frustrating when the players and/or parents don't share your commitment.
That said in my opinion your penalties are too harsh for rec ball. Even though it's "your team" you may hear from the league board if the parents complain about their daughter sitting on the bench the entire game.
I would move them down in the batting order, have them play less, and when they do play it's mostly if not all in the outfield. I would explain to them and the parents that the more committed players are going to get the benefits of more playing time, infield time, etc.
In your two cases it looks like the players themselves are choosing different priorities over softball. In a lot of cases the parents are responsible for not getting the girls to practice, etc. I won't hold that against the players.
Travel ball is different. One local TB coach has the policy that there are no excused absences. If you miss practice you don't play in the next game - no exceptions. That way he doesn't have to try to determine which reasons are excused and which aren't.
That said in my opinion your penalties are too harsh for rec ball. Even though it's "your team" you may hear from the league board if the parents complain about their daughter sitting on the bench the entire game.
I would move them down in the batting order, have them play less, and when they do play it's mostly if not all in the outfield. I would explain to them and the parents that the more committed players are going to get the benefits of more playing time, infield time, etc.
In your two cases it looks like the players themselves are choosing different priorities over softball. In a lot of cases the parents are responsible for not getting the girls to practice, etc. I won't hold that against the players.
Travel ball is different. One local TB coach has the policy that there are no excused absences. If you miss practice you don't play in the next game - no exceptions. That way he doesn't have to try to determine which reasons are excused and which aren't.