Play down or keep losing?

[CE98Coach]

I have a first year 14u B class team with 3 that are playing up. Most of the girls on this team are first year tb players. I have 3, including my daughter, that are in hitting lessons every week. A few more have the ability, a few will never be able to afford lessons on a regular basis. We have been beaten up pretty bad so far this season, mostly do to mental lapses and lack of mental fortitude at the end of the game. Not to mention, a .215 team avg/.357 OBP.

We've seen some glimpses of light at times but it disappears pretty quickly with an error or two. I realize now that we weren't ready to play the competition we have been playing (USFA A/B in AL) but you never know until you play. From my observation, it's not the ability of most of the girls but the maturity factor (tb experience) compared to the teams we've been playing. Should I play down a class for a tourney or two to try and get the girls confidence up or keep pushin through with the class we're in? From my observations, most all new teams, regardless of age, struggle through their first season together unless you're putting together a Gold team which is our ultimate aspiration.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Need a dab more info. What is your record? Are you being slaughter ruled or losing by 2-3 runs? How many errors do you average a game? How many k's are your pitchers getting per game? How many "hits" are the pitchers giving up? Are you getting runners on base and just not pushing them across?

 

[CE98Coach]

Need a dab more info. What is your record? Are you being slaughter ruled or losing by 2-3 runs? How many errors do you average a game? How many k's are your pitchers getting per game? How many "hits" are the pitchers giving up? Are you getting runners on base and just not pushing them across?

Our record stands at 4-13-3 with two of our wins coming against the same team. Removing our worst loss, our average margin of loss is about 3 to 4 (has increased as the season has progressed) and we're good for at least 3 maybe 4 errors per game. Our two starting pitchers are averaging about 2 K's per game and are giving up about 1.6 hits per inning and .8 walks per inning. Not so much not being able to push runners across as we are just not getting them on base consistently but yes, when we do get them on base, we're obviously gonna struggle to get them home when our current hitting averages.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Drop down for one tournament and see what happens, IMO. It can help confidence, but perhaps more importantly, it will help you assess your team better. Playing different levels helps you know what you've really got.

Also, you say that the biggest difference you see in your team and others is maturity, experience, etc. Maybe, but I suspect that if you're being outscored by 3-4 runs per game that there's a physical mismatch at play as well. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But again, I think it's important to have a realistic and honest assessment of why and how you're getting beat. Putting yourself in position to win a few games also helps you assess what it is that your team brings to the table that presents problems to other teams (albeit lesser teams.)

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Ok so your WP is .275.

3-4 errors is about average. Some games we may have only 1, sometimes 5-6. We've also had games that the team had 7-8-9 errors and still win. ( bats help a ton ) Even World Champion Bama averages over 2 errors per game.

2 K's are a little low, inning hits are little high, gotta get the walks down for sure. We played USFA class A for years in the south. Pitching is one thing you may want to look closer at in the future.

What exactly are your goals? Are you building this team for the future. ( the exact same girls? ) Are you building a "team" and in the future, recruiting and holding tryouts for better players? How far are you traveling? ( in-state, going to USFA world series? ) All these questions have to be factored in. You're not getting killed in my opinion, but no one hates to lose more than me either.

Look, USFA is pretty flexible. Play a tournament in a lower class, see what happens. Or find "easier" tournaments, enter a few smaller tourneys with teams closer to your level, and then see if you are over your head in "A" class or just need to tune up the team more.

 

[CE98Coach]

Ok so your WP is .275.

3-4 errors is about average. Some games we may have only 1, sometimes 5-6. We've also had games that the team had 7-8-9 errors and still win. ( bats help a ton ) Even World Champion Bama averages over 2 errors per game.

2 K's are a little low, inning hits are little high, gotta get the walks down for sure. We played USFA class A for years in the south. Pitching is one thing you may want to look closer at in the future.

What exactly are your goals? Are you building this team for the future. ( the exact same girls? ) Are you building a "team" and in the future, recruiting and holding tryouts for better players? How far are you traveling? ( in-state, going to USFA world series? ) All these questions have to be factored in. You're not getting killed in my opinion, but no one hates to lose more than me either.

Look, USFA is pretty flexible. Play a tournament in a lower class, see what happens. Or find "easier" tournaments, enter a few smaller tourneys with teams closer to your level, and then see if you are over your head in "A" class or just need to tune up the team more.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm basically building the team around my two pitchers. They both take hitting and pitching from one of the best instructors in the state so I know what both of their future holds as far as instruction goes. One is my daughter. She just turned 13 and is throwing mid to high 50's and the other one is as well. They both need to get better at hitting their spots and their off-speed pitches.

We were terrible in the fall and I only brought 4 back for this summer so we have made some upgrades but yes, I do believe we need to add more bats, more speed, and another legitimate catcher. We are building for the future so I can live through the growing pains but I don't want it to take 2 years!

 

[doublesteal]

I had the same issue with my team. We are pretty much a 2nd year 14u team (4 1st year 14 players) but of my 12 players only 6 have tournament ball experience. They are a solid B team but I think they have potential to be A and I like to challange them. We loaded up our front part of the Spring playing in A level tournaments. we didn't win a game in 5 straight tournaments, but we went from being run ruled to losing by only 2 or 3 runs. Than one weekend everything clicked we went 2-1 on saturday and made it to the championships on Sunday. (the best part is the team we beat twice -the host team- that weekend was the same team that beat us early 15-0 and 18-0). My girls did finally play in 2 B level tournament and they won both but told me they were bored, a few made the statement they would rather lose against a good team than win against a not so good team. My parents and players hated the idea of me putting them in A tourneys at the begining of the season now they cringe when they hear we are playing a B tourney/