Now I remember why I disliked rec ball

[GOINGDEEP]

Socaldad, I can't believe some of the posts on here about what you and your DD CHOSE TO DO. And sorry for all the negative responses, go out there and have fun.

I've been playing at all different levels since T-ball, up until my 30's and then switched to coaching, so here is my 2 cents. If she's talented and her friends and teammates want her to lead them to a championship, then by all means do it. And enjoy the ride. Like is too short to worry what everybody else thinks about your personal choices.

 

[Coach JV]

Unfortunately some parents forget that the game is all about the kids.
The parents need to support the team and girls in spite of personal feelings.
Every parent who is not in favor of this move is jealous of the fact that
his/her DD does not have the same skill set. Look forward to the playoffs,
have fun, hope your DD enjoys every minute. I have found that rec players
improve to their peers. It is beneficial to the entire team to have a stud player.

When my DD was 11 (playing 12U rec) she was a dominant pitcher. Her 2nd yr
of 12U the board forced her to move to 16U rec. As a result, she stopped playing
rec entirely but she goes to practices now (13 yo) and helps out the coaches with
their beginning pitchers. She is travel only but happy

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Socaldad - maybe my comments were a little harsh and I may be in the minority here but I feel that pitchers (and parents of pitchers) have an extra level of responsibility and respect to the game that other positions might not have. By the very nature of the position, the pitcher can dominate a game like no other player. When you bring in an travel ball "outsider" to play only half the rec ball season so that she can dominate and make the All-Star team to be with some of her friends that level of responsibility and respect for the game might have been compromised. You say you cannot control what the coaches do, but you have a lot of influence by agreeing with the coach and league to only pitch her two innings, etc. You and she have a lot of influence, she is by far the most dominant girl on the team. The other team saw what is going on and did not like it. How they reacted was wrong, period, but the whole situation could have been easily avoidable, for the betterment of the game. There is a reason why we have travel ball and rec ball. Maybe the two should stay separate?

 

[SoCalDad]

... but you have a lot of influence by agreeing with the coach and league to only pitch her two innings, etc. You and she have a lot of influence, she is by far the most dominant girl on the team...

A couple of last points and then I am going to move onto other threads. Neither I nor the league was involved with the decision to limit my DD to two innings pitched. That was made between my DD and her coach. He wanted her to pitch virtually all the innings. She refused as she recognized the unfairness that would bring to the other pitchers on the team.

As to the comment on most dominate player on the team I will have to disagree. Sure when she is pitching she is dominate but the other aspects of her game leave much to be desired. My DD is as slow as molasses in a Vermont winter when it comes to running. Twice this year she has been thrown out by outfielders on hits that should easily have been at least a single. Once by a right fielder and the other time by a center fielder. CENTER FIELDER!!! That was embarrassing. Also, she is the only girl I have seen on the travel squads that routinely stretches a double into a single. I mean that correctly. She will hit to the gap and should easily reach second. NOPE, too slow and makes it a single.

Fielding? Don't get me started. Several times in the past month she has made fundamental fielding errors. In the most recent instance the batter bunted, my DD jumps on the ball and if she turns 6 inches right she easily gets the tag on the runner from 3rd. NOPE!! Throws down to first and lets the tying run scores. She forgot about the runner on 3rd. Next instance, bases loaded 2 outs? Ball to pitcher? Where do you throw? First? NOPE!! She rushes the ball home and overthrows the catcher. Run scores. Had she thrown to first she would have had the runner by 10 feet.

Batting? Throw her a fastball and she will drill it to the fence. An off speed pitch? Forget it. In the last tournament she struck out 4 times, all on change-ups or drops.

If it wasn't for her pitching she would not make any of the local travel teams. Dominate pitcher, yes, dominate player, not by a long shot.

 

[Jojo]

Sometimes it isn't the rec parents that are bad.
One Season I moved my DD to a local LL team. I removed her from a 12U team after the season because she was being over pitched. The new team had 6 pitchers on it. The coach stated, take your pitchers to LL teams and get them some time on the mound. So I did, but moved her up to senior level, and became the assistant coach.

The very first game we played was against another town who was also pitching an A ball pitcher. They were used to winning all their games with her. I instructed all the hitters on how to just make contact with the ball and put the ball into play.
My DD went up and 3 up and 3 down. The other pitcher came out and I believe we were able to put 2 balls down and score one. The team couldn't field because they were used to her striking out all the batters.
The other pitchers dad became BALLISTIC! He started screaming at us and screaming at the umpire. His DD was getting rattled and started to throw some balls. her dad wanted them called strikes.
Another inning of that, a couple of more runs on our side and the next thing you knew he was threatening the umpire. The umpire told him to leave, and so he ripped off his shirt and charged the umpire. We had to call the police, he left before the cops arrived. He never brought his DD back to that team.
My DD ending up pitching for them when we combined our 2 teams for All-Stars.
That was a dad that couldn't get his glory in A-ball, so he got it in LL, and when he lost it there, he really lost it!

 

[HollowMan]

Hey I'm getting confused here. First I read:

Prior to the start of the spring season the league made it clear that a tournament team in her division was not going to be fielded this year due to a lack of pitching. That is unless she committed to return. There are 11 other girls in the league that are now going to play tournament ball because of her decision.

Then I read:

In terms of dominance the rec league has another pitcher in the same division that is 6 - 0 and has pitched a couple of shut outs. That pitcher averages 8- 10 Ks a game and has pitched every inning of every rec game this season. Should that other pitcher be required to play other positions than pitcher because she is so dominating? Perhaps but that is a decision the coach needs to make and not me. My DD will be competing against this pitcher for the starting pitcher spot on the tourney team and does not have a lock on the starting position. To keep my DD from having any pitching opportunities would put her at a competitive disadvantage and that is not fair.

See why I'm confused?

 

[SoCalDad]

...See why I'm confused?

League tournament selection rules requires two ranked pitchers on each all-star team. At the 14U level ranking = 60% innings pitched by April 30th or board approval (added for situations such as my DD who could not hit the 60% due to travel ball). That rule was put in place several years ago when a team went with one ranked pitcher. She got hurt and the rest of the all-star tournaments were a mess. The other pitchers on the team simply could not carry the load.

We have to register and pay for tournaments before we are allowed to select all-star teams (per Yellow Book rule II.B.A on page 20: If the league selects an all-star team, the all-star team may not nominate, select, tryout, practice and / or play together before May 1 of the current year.). Typically we book and pay for the all-star tournaments by April 15. This year each team in each division will be playing in 6 or 7 tournaments and hopefully state. At an average cost of $250 a tournament you are looking at about $1,800 - $2,000 per team. That is a significant cost to the league. Some tournaments will refund money if you cancel by a certain date, others will not. When the team had their one pitcher hurt several years ago we wanted to cancel the remainder of the tournaments but could not get the money back. They played the games and it was a horrible experience for all involved.

The board reviewed the available pitching in 14U this season and determined that there was only pitcher, aside from my DD, that would meet the ranking requirement. Board voted that the 14U division would not have an all-star team unless my DD returned.

Hope that clears up the confusion.

 

[stephanie]

you know...I hope to heaven above that ONE DAY other parents will be so afraid of my kid pitching to their kid that they lose their minds when she steps into the circle!

That would be so FREAKIN AWESOME!

 

[EP Dad]

you know...I hope to heaven above that ONE DAY other parents will be so afraid of my kid pitching to their kid that they lose their minds when she steps into the circle!

That would be so FREAKIN AWESOME!

I couldn't agree more. I can't wait for that day to come.

 

[fastpitch5]

I couldn't agree more. I can't wait for that day to come.

it is kinda cool. my dd is "that kid" in our rec league. i coach the team, and take quite a bit of grief when she pitches. but she has a right to play just as much as any other girl out there. i will say i occassionally do smile when she takes the other team 1-2-3 on 9 pitches and the overzealous opposing coach is furious. its a 10yo game people!!!! and quite frankly, she practices 3 nights a week. if some of the other pitchers in our leaque did the same, they would be better pitchers too.

so i don't get beat up here for stacking my roster - w/o getting into too much detail we play a rec schedule with about half of our travel team. the other half of our roster is from the draft. if my entire travel team wants to play the rec schedule, we play up a division that spring. we play a rec schedule to stay as game-tuned as possible between tourneys.