Tiny strike zone

[grcsftbll]

My dd got a great lesson this weekend. It was her first time pitching with an ump who doesn't have a standard strike zone. His was about mid-thigh to belly button. She tends to hum them in about knee level a lot on her fast ball. He also didn't call strikes for anything on the outside corner. Her strength is her location, and she can hit the corners really well. But he would call them balls unless they were closer to the middle. She's usually so cool in the circle but I could see her getting frustrated. When it was over she complained about it (it didn't help the championship ended at midnight and she was exhausted and cranky). She was pissed even though we won in the end - he called the other team the same way so it's not like it was just us.

So I told her that part of being a pitcher is figuring out where the ump is calling strikes and adjusting. But it's not fair! she said. Yes well, that's the case often in life. You adapt or you go nuts. Sorry, kiddo. We've talked about this before but this was the first time we've seen it in a game where she was pitching. She's observed it before, when a teammate was pitching, and it annoyed her then but nothing like the frustration she felt when she was the one trying to strike out batters.

Though it did give me a taste of why, perhaps, pitchers' parents tend to be a little crazy, I'm glad it happened. I think she'll be a stronger pitcher for it and hopefully next time, it'll be a lot less frustrating for her. Or maybe not

On another note, the team we faced in the championship, I'd noticed their pitcher was really good. I clocked her early in the day because she looked so fast (47mph). She was impressive. Only she was still pitching in the championship. We got there halfway through the day but all 3 games I saw parts of, she was the one pitching. By the championship you could tell she was beat. She was walking girls left and right, and her speed was noticeably slower. I felt really bad for her. They obviously were relying on her pretty much exclusively. It's not only a lot of pressure mentally but it seems like it would be a strain physically for a 10 year old to pitch so many games in one day.

 

[ScottyDont]

As a parent, you never adjust to a bad strike zone when your kid is pitching. At least I never have.

Pitching two or even three games on a Sunday is pretty commonplace around here (not that I would advocate it). It may have just been that she pitched parts of all three. I would hope so, at least, at 10U.

 

[grcsftbll]

That is very possible. I know she pitched all of one game, because I watched it pretty much all the way through. The rest I just saw off and on so they may have pitched someone else too. If they're conditioned for it I'm sure it's fine, I just felt bad for her because she was pretty clearly struggling by that last game. Regardless though, if she sticks with pitching I think she's got a pretty bright future.

 

[Ken Krause]

That's still too much for a 19 year old. They shouldn't be pitching three games in a day in my opinion. What good is it to win a 10U championship or five if you can't pitch anymore by the time you're 16? I've seen that happen.

Now, maybe the other team only has one pitcher. In that case it's still bad but you can understand it. But if they have other options and just ride the one that's not a good thing. Develop the others, even if it means going home early now and then. The team and all the players - including the Ace - will benefit in the long run.

You are right that your daughter learned a valuable lesson, by the way. A hard one, but valuable. You work so hard on nipping the corners and then the corners get taken away. All you can do is establish that you can throw strikes to the umpire's zone, then see if you can push it out some from there. Or at least get hitters to swing at pitches more on the edges.

 

[cvsoftball]

I tell my players that the pitcher can own the plate or the batter can own the plate but the ump always owns the plate. And I make sure before every game to ask the ump to just be consistent, whatever his strike zone is.
Out here, we have an inning or pitch count for 10U pitchers. I'm not sure about TB but that a lot of throwing for a 10U player.

 

[grcsftbll]

So it's not just my amateur opinion then. It sure seemed like a lot of pitching for one so young. I hope they don't injure her The first time my dd pitched 2 games in one day she could barely walk the next day, her push leg was so sore. But I worry more about her arm/shoulder.

 

[BobInMadison]

Two things:

Yes, the differences in strike zones can really be annoying to pitchers. I remember watching a tournament game once, and I knew the umpire. He had umped some of DD 3's rec ball games. (He was not permitted to ump her TB games in that tournament, because his sister was on DD 3's old team.) DD 3 really liked having him as an umpire, because he tended to call marginal pitches as strikes. Esp. since he called the low ones, with DD 3's bread and butter being a peel drop fastball. Two tough teams with great hitters, but the final score was 2-1.

A bit later, DD 3 was pitching in her last TB game of the season, a game for 3rd place in a tourney. Her team was clearly better, and she was a much better pitcher. DD 3 had been pitching a lot of shutouts, but there was no way this ump would allow it. He was really squeezing her, but not the pitcher on the other team. Yes, they won easily. And yes, DD 3 did adapt. The runs she gave up were early in the game. Later on, she had learned the strike zone, and was getting Ks. They got far enough ahead for a relief pitcher to finish.


As for overuse of the pitcher -- there really is such a thing as too much circle time. Let's just say there is a reason why DD 3 left a team with a great group of girls where DD 3 was the only starter, for a team where DD 3 is one of two starters. Esp. when her favorite relief pitcher joined the new team as well.