- Jun 9, 2011
- 27
- 3
I had the worst experience last night as our girls bounced back to even the season series at 2-2.
As a matter of fact the experience was surreal.
Let me give you some background – We have 2 pitchers on the team (both about 7-9 months of once a week pro training and constant at home and team practices) and one of them is my daughter and the other is the head coach's daughter. They both throw hard for 10 years old, about a month ago they got clocked between 49 and 53 mph. over 8 pitches. They both have good action on the ball, tough to see the seams and often there is a slight "wrinkle" on the ball as it makes it's way in.
This is where the story falls apart. Because they can't consistently throw strikes, we have found ourselves giving up almost all of our runs on walks. They either strike them out or walk them in, some of the better girls can hit them. Anyway, we loose the first game of the season on walks and not getting timely hits and we loose our second game the same way. However, in one of those losses my kid comes in in relief, inherits a bases loaded no outs situation and strikes out the side on 13 pitches. Everybody, including myself, sees light at the end of the tunnel. All the work is paying off! Our third game the other pitcher goes the entire game with stellar defense playing behind her and not only a wins but wins with a no hitter! We are all excited now as we see what can be and can't wait until the next game so we can get back to even on the season. It would seem we now have 2 pitchers that are throwing hard and getting it in (or close) to the strike zone!
The fourth game of the season my daughter starts and does not even make it out of the first inning. She struck out 2, walked 2 and (ugh.) hit 3 batters. (2 in the toes, the third in the back. ugh.) She was done by rule. She got moved to first and the head coaches daughter pitched well enough to get us thru the game. We won. But I felt like we lost. After she hit the third batter I was in shock. I did not say anything, I don't yell at any of the kids during a game, but I just felt terrible. How could this have happened? What was wrong with my coaching? What was wrong with the pro I hired? What was wrong with my kid?!? Mechanics? Technique? Been thru them all. Practice? Never miss. Vacation? The pro I hired will take one but not my family. While my out of body experience was underway I questioned everything I have ever done. T-Ball, all of it rushing by...
She understood how important that start was to the team..I wonder if she understood how important it was to her? She tells me she does. A day later, typing this, I feel maybe, just maybe there is still hope...or maybe it's just the evil, magical, part of baseball that tells you everyday offers a fresh start, a chance to start again. I hope my kid gets a chance to "start" again.
As a matter of fact the experience was surreal.
Let me give you some background – We have 2 pitchers on the team (both about 7-9 months of once a week pro training and constant at home and team practices) and one of them is my daughter and the other is the head coach's daughter. They both throw hard for 10 years old, about a month ago they got clocked between 49 and 53 mph. over 8 pitches. They both have good action on the ball, tough to see the seams and often there is a slight "wrinkle" on the ball as it makes it's way in.
This is where the story falls apart. Because they can't consistently throw strikes, we have found ourselves giving up almost all of our runs on walks. They either strike them out or walk them in, some of the better girls can hit them. Anyway, we loose the first game of the season on walks and not getting timely hits and we loose our second game the same way. However, in one of those losses my kid comes in in relief, inherits a bases loaded no outs situation and strikes out the side on 13 pitches. Everybody, including myself, sees light at the end of the tunnel. All the work is paying off! Our third game the other pitcher goes the entire game with stellar defense playing behind her and not only a wins but wins with a no hitter! We are all excited now as we see what can be and can't wait until the next game so we can get back to even on the season. It would seem we now have 2 pitchers that are throwing hard and getting it in (or close) to the strike zone!
The fourth game of the season my daughter starts and does not even make it out of the first inning. She struck out 2, walked 2 and (ugh.) hit 3 batters. (2 in the toes, the third in the back. ugh.) She was done by rule. She got moved to first and the head coaches daughter pitched well enough to get us thru the game. We won. But I felt like we lost. After she hit the third batter I was in shock. I did not say anything, I don't yell at any of the kids during a game, but I just felt terrible. How could this have happened? What was wrong with my coaching? What was wrong with the pro I hired? What was wrong with my kid?!? Mechanics? Technique? Been thru them all. Practice? Never miss. Vacation? The pro I hired will take one but not my family. While my out of body experience was underway I questioned everything I have ever done. T-Ball, all of it rushing by...
She understood how important that start was to the team..I wonder if she understood how important it was to her? She tells me she does. A day later, typing this, I feel maybe, just maybe there is still hope...or maybe it's just the evil, magical, part of baseball that tells you everyday offers a fresh start, a chance to start again. I hope my kid gets a chance to "start" again.
