Share a memory when your team was clearly outclassed

[BT3100]

We all remember the good days but how about the really bad days lol.
Our first year at 14s we were convinced we were a very good team. Had a good fall and went into winter workouts with momentum. First tourney out of the shoot in spring we head to Cherry Blossoms in Virginia ready to go. It was a rainy day and the feilds were barely playable when we arrived for our first game. We were facing the Ashburn Shooting Stars and rumors were that they were good.
We saw their pitcher warm up and all looked at each other and thought we can hang. First inning we put 2 on the board and our pitcher shut em down. We were feeling good. Next inning we add one and could see that the other coaches were starting to get a little fidgety. Our feilds backed up to the woods and with the rain coming down it was hard to see anything past the benches. We're in the field when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like shotgun blasts. My first thought was is it duck season around here? Then again bang bang and I look over and see two girls warming up throwing pellets. That inning we gave up 4 runs and we proceeded to strike out in order the next 4 innings, I don't think we hit a foul ball.. Even in the rain their pitchers were spotting every pitch.
Lost 14-3 and as soon as the game ended we went into a delay and didn't play another game the rest of the weekend. Long drive home..Some good learnings that day along with a nice helping of humble pie.
Ever find your team in a lopsided contest?

 

[Eric F]

First year 14U, TCS tournament pool play. Gave up 13 runs in the first inning before making the first out. Zero errors. They just kept hitting the ball into holes. Finally made 3 outs in a row to get out of the inning. Final score was 14-1.

DD's freshman year of HS. First game agains the best team in the league. Lost 26-0. It was an improvement over the result from the previous year.

 

[Vertigo]

State Tourney for Little League, age 11U. We had won the first game by a landslide the day before and we had also seen a couple of the other teams play, so we thought we were in a great spot. We had just come off the field from taking our IF practice and the other team steps on. Crisp new uniforms, solid girls. Then they start throwing the ball around the diamond. We had never seen 11U players this big or throw as hard and as cleanly as they did. Not one ball missed that was hit to them, no bobbles, no hesitation. My other coaches and I just looked at each other and we just knew. Needless to say, that team won the State Championship that year.

 

[Lance Steckler]

playing in a 1 day friendly event to get the summer started. (May of 2019) my 18u squad was assigned to play a True "A" level 14u team. And they were LOADED with D1 prospects. Seriously, all 3 pitchers they had warming up were throwing in the low 60's. (and yes, i had 2 guns checking them, not guessing). When the lead off batter bunts to 2b and beats the throw to first by a step, your eyes open quick!!!

And since the majority of parents all 'think' they have seen D1 talent, our parents were very silent after we got SMOKED! Think we had 2 hits, in the ~14-0 beating.

Always keep that game in back of my head as a reminder to what a true A level team looks like. Many around that call themselves 'A' level, couldn't carry the water jugs of that team. I'd expect to start seeing those girls on D1 teams shortly.

 

[_MIA_]

DD's previous team (her only TB team until this season) has played a few teams which were clearly better but the worse was when they were 1st year 10's (e.g. 1st year of kid pitch around here) and played some good 2nd year teams..they could have went up with a tennis racket and not made contact

 

[Vertigo]

I can also say that there’s been games where our team has lost by several runs but never did we feel or look “outclassed” - except for that LL game. More often then not, we beat ourselves mentally - pitchers aren’t “on” and walk several, errors made on routine plays, hitting the ball right to an OF the whole game. It happens.

Oh, except for when our HS team faced a current University of Texas pitcher at our spring training trip. Best part about that game was the only player to get a hit off of her was one of our non-travel players. She was perhaps the best pitcher I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of very good pitchers over the years.

 

[ANNASDAD]

When me and I guy I go to church with and coached with decided to take our little church / rec team and try our hand at travel ball, very eye opening! Very first tournament we ever signed up for was in Salisbury NC, this team was a split between 10 and 11 year old girls so we signed up in 12U. We got the absolute brakes beat off of us!

It was a very humbling, but great learning experience, we got killed from really good pitching and small ball. BUT.....we went back home and worked our butts off after we got to see what this TB thing was all about! Beat downs make for a great teacher!

 

[Orange Socks]

Sometimes you get the Bear and sometimes the Bear gets you. We have had lots of beat downs over the years. The first one was beat downs from the same team all summer at 10U Allstars. Needless to say we got 3 2nd places finishes in those tourneys. The other team had a lefty pitcher that had pin point accuracy and Velocity! It was like the Bugs Bunny cartoon. 1, 2, 3 strikes yer out! Over and over. The coach would signal the pitch and location. At that time, I had never seen anything like that. That pitcher plays for Baylor now. They run ruled us 4 times except one time, when I pitched my 4th younger pitcher who kept them off balance. Only lost 4-0 that game.

The other game that we were truly out classed was against the So Cal A's Richardson (finished #1 that year)at Boulder IDT in a Tuesday practice game. Devyn Netz was their pitcher and everyone on the team was signed or committed to some P5 college. Got run ruled and our poor pitchers got lit up. If we lost, we wouldn't lose by much that summer. And our pitchers were pretty salty. One will be at UPenn in the fall and the other two are playing for Nationally ranked D3 teams #1 and #2. They were being recruited by D1, D2 programs.

 

[Shiloh]

12U B playoffs in a local tourney. Ahead by 5 runs with 2 outs in the last inning.
And then....balls getting smacked into holes, errors everywhere. Complete collapse.
We lost by one run and cancelled the pool party afterward. I still feel sad thinking about it.

 

[ANNASDAD]

12U B playoffs in a local tourney. Ahead by 5 runs with 2 outs in the last inning.
And then....balls getting smacked into holes, errors everywhere. Complete collapse.
We lost by one run and cancelled the pool party afterward. I still feel sad thinking about it.

Kind of a the fat lady hasn't sang yet scenario? We've all been there before, not fun!