I saw this a while back and just needed some comments or clarifications. I thought the whole incident was funny. In USSSA 14-U play, a home team was batting their entire team which consisted of 11 players. Their main pitcher started the game on the bench, but still batted (AP). In the bottom of the 3rd inning her coach put her in to pitch. The girl who started the game as the pitcher was now sitting. In the 4th inning, he switched them again. He also did this in the 5th inning. The visiting team was complaining about all the pitching changes. All the changes came at the bottom of each inning. The head umpire said that because one player was an AP, she could play defense at any time. I found the visiting team’s comments and behaviors hilarious. They became more concerned about the pitching substitutions than their own team’s play. Was this a legal strategy by the home team’s coach? Was this a good way to get into the visiting teams heads? By the way, the home team eventually won this game. At the time it was considered a mild upset.
Pitching Changes vs. AP Substitutions
- Thread starter coach D'E
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Of course it was a legal strategy. That's the big advantage of batting the entire roster. Every other inning might be excessive, but I often wonder why teams leave a pitcher in the game 6 or 7 innings when it's obvious by the 5th inning that the pitcher is worn out. I always thought a better approach would be to alternate pitchers every 2 or 3 innings and allow both pitchers to be well rested when they are in the circle. I'm surprised I don't see more teams do this.
