Should travel ball pitchers be allowed to play Rec All-Stars?

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Our 8U team just finished its first all-star tournament this past weekend. We played well and made it to the semi-finals but got dominated by a travel ball pitcher (15 strikeouts in 18 at bats). I was told by the opposing coach that this 9yo has been clocked at 49mph (and I believe it) and that she only gave up 1 run and 2 hits (to us) in 4 games played! She is a very special pitcher.

With that said, do you think it's right for a TB pitcher to join a rec all-star team to dominate recreational softball players? Here's my argument against it:

1) What does she gain by pitching to inferior competition? She might as well been pitching to her dad on a bucket.

2) What do her teammates (fielders) gain by never having a ball put in play? This doesnt help them grow as better fielders because they never get the opportunity to make plays and learn.

Lastly, this isn't sour grapes by me and in fact if this is the level of play that we will face I am glad that our team got the opportunity to face one of the best pitchers in the area, but at some point you wonder if this is really good for the game?

 

[sluggers]

What does she gain by pitching to inferior competition?

Nothing...but her Dad had a lot of fun. After all, it is all about the Dads, isn't it?

What do her teammates (fielders) gain by never having a ball put in play?

They got to work on their tans.

is really good for the game?

Not at all.

 

[SoftSocDad]

I'm so glad you posted this, because it's a drum I feel I can only bang here online. You folks seem to understand. lol

If she's already 9 and playing on a 10U travel team, why would she even want to play down with 8u all-stars? I could see possibly playing 10u all-stars, but 8u? No way.

Relative to my situation, a few of the other parents and coaches want my DD to play 8u again next spring. They couldn't hit her in the second half of the season this year. With a year more size, strength, and experience, what exactly are they expecting? They just want a chance to draft her, can you believe that?? Neither the teams she's facing nor her OWN TEAM will gain anything from having a completely dominant pitcher on the mound playing rec ball in her age division. My child already misses her friends, so she's actually happy about playing 8u this fall, but she WANTS to play up in the spring and is excited about the challenge.

In both our cases, IMO, it's far better to move her up. Even if the level of play isn't as high as you'd get on a TB team, it's still much better than she'd see playing in her own age division in a rec league.

Overall, though, the answer is 'no', a 9yo on playing on a 10u travel team should not be pitching against 8u rec players, especially if she's throwing that hard.

Did anyone protest?

 

[fivepotsogold]

We are considering Juniors level All Stars (13-14 year olds). Both pitchers on our team play 14U Travel (both 8th grade). We will be playing with and against teams with 8th and 9th graders. In the past, there have been some weak teams ...but by the time Sectionals comes ... the pitching is typically very strong with a mix of LL players, Middle School, HS, and Travel players.
I'm not sure it is a negative at this level...at least here.

Guess it might depend on situation.


We do have coaches Dads here that like their kids/eams playing down so they can kill other teams .. win record & Stats come first. EGO EGO EGO.
My personal opinion is that the Reg Juniors season for us was a negative due to the fact thatthis yerar our District was very weak and it is not fun to keep mercying teams.
MY DD says she would rather lose by 1 than win by 10 (boring) .. I have to agree.

Whether Travel players should play All STars more depends on each situation, rather than a blanket yes or no.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Overall, though, the answer is 'no', a 9yo on playing on a 10u travel team should not be pitching against 8u rec players, especially if she's throwing that hard.

Did anyone protest?

The way our rec league works is if you are 8 as of 12/31/09 you can play 8U in the spring (including summer all-stars) even if you turn 9 during the season. She is perfectly within the rec rules which states that you cannot be on a travel team AFTER Feb 1st 2010. Apparently she only played Fall TB and is eligible for rec all-stars this summer.

Unfortunately, our rec league (and probably hers?) does not allow players to "play up" for the all-stars (only for the regular season). I'm sure we will be facing this team again over the next several weeks, so we need to find a way to put the ball in play against her? Any suggestions would be welcomed!

 

[SoCalDad]

SoCalSoftballdad,

Back in 10U I faced a similar team. Their ace pitcher had come down from TB to play rec all-stars. This girl was supposedly unhittable. The week prior to facing this team I spent a significant amount of my practice time on bunting. Come game time the rumors I heard about this girl were true. Easily throwing in the very high 40's and perhaps touching 50. First inning I sent all my girls up to bunt. 6 batters came to the plate and we put 2 runs across. Her defense was so used to dominating pitching that playing fundamental bunt defense was their weakness. Rattled her pretty bad. Second and third inning same strategy with similar results, we put up another 3 runs total. Going into the top of the 4th inning we were up 3 - 5. This girl had thrown about 70 pitches through the first 3 innings and she tired. In that 4th inning we ran a streak of 5 consecutive hits off her (we no longer had to bunt). We 6 run ruled her that inning and knocked them into the losers bracket for the tournament. They had to play 2 more games that day as a result and got knocked out of the tournament.

Bottom line to this story? At least in SoCal TB players will play in all-stars as long as the yellow book allows so. There are strategies that can be used to counter dominating pitching and even rec players can be coached to use these strategies.

 

[SoftSocDad]

You took the words right out of my mouth - teach the kids to bunt.

If you don't have anyone who can pitch that fast to them in practice, go to the cages and move up a speed level.

Good luck!

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

You took the words right out of my mouth - teach the kids to bunt.

If you don't have anyone who can pitch that fast to them in practice, go to the cages and move up a speed level.

Good luck!

I agree you with guys, I think bunting will be key. We tried it somewhat yesterday in the game but failed to get one down. We also have a couple of lefties who will continue to work on drag & slap bunting. We will definately be cranking up the speed on the machine in the batting cages.

 

[halskinner]

Fastpitch softball - a great sport, not everyone can play it.

Slow pitch softball - a great recreational activity, anyone can play it.

Travel ball softball - great sport, not everyone will accel at it.

Rec league softball - a great recreational activity and still not everyone will accel at it.

Travel ball vs rec league = completely different game for the most part.

Travel ball vs soccer = completely different game.

You gonna tell a travel ball player she shouldnt play soccer? It would be just like telling a travel ball player she cant play rec.

The very first day I worked with a new student and they said she would be playing rec league, I said "I'm sorry, I dont train pitchers to be good rec league pitchers, I train them to be winning travel ball pitchers. Ya still want to work with me?" Never had one say no. Even the little kids know there is a difference.

 

[amanda_cake]

Around here, all TB players play rec. Our rec All Stars is nothing more than a travel team.