Wow What a day..

[JC heir]

Today was one of the most demoralizing defeats I have suffered to date. Two weeks ago my travel team enter d a tournament with 16 teams in our 14u division, & did very well, in fact we did well enough that I really expected to win our local tournament this weekend against much weaker opponents. Today we were luck enough to draw the weakest team (my figuring) for our first game. My normally strong pitching staffsuffered a meltdown of proportions that I have not had to deal with in years. My starter hit the leadoff batter in the a** the first pitch of the game & then walked the next 3!! To make a long sad story short, we gave up 1 marginal hit on the day, & walked 15 in 5 innings (3 pitchers) to lose 4-3.

Thanks for letting me vent!! maybe tomorrow will be better- at least we still have a shot at the playoffs.

 

[jimginas]

Good luck tomorrow! Hopefully, you AND your team ALWAYS take EVERY GAME SERIOUS and play hard to win EVERY Inning until the game is truly won......, in other words, sometimes we beat ourselves by taking teams lightly.
** I know you know that and I now you really just needed to vent and I hope your girls come out tomorrow and play at their highest level!

 

[Ken Krause]

JC, I know the feeling. Nothing worse than watching your team play below its ability. Very frustrating!

 

[Cannonball]

JC, I doubt that few of us have been able to avoid your experience. I remember my dd when she first started and I kept wondering why the coach asked us to make her a pitcher.

Stress from the circle is never easy. The walks just kill you. My dd pitched our first game today. She walked 3 or 4 and it just isn't like her. n She was full count on every hitter. I stopped to ask the Umpire how she was missing so I could tell her how to adjust. He said, "Coach, she's hitting the black." I said, "So, if she's hitting the black, is any part of the ball ever over the white?" He said, "Coach, I don't know because her ball has so much movement." I said, "movement is a good thing." He said, "Not when she constantly hits the black." We won but had to take her out with one out in the 7th. She was becoming unglued which is also not like her. I'm guessing she threw 30 pitches that were typically strikes but were called balls. Oh, my dd throws a better than average drop ball. We just were not getting that call as well. I kept my mouth shut after the posted conversation since I think saying more hurts your team. I'm walking past the plate ump and he calls me back. He called a player on the other team out to end the inning. He says, "Coach, I hope you know I gave your daughter that last drop ball. I gave you the front knee." I will say this, he was TIGHT for both teams. Consistency I guess is a good thing.

I swear these stories are true!

 

[DonnieS]

JC, I hope you have gone to bed already but I predict you are going to buzz through the losers bracket tomorrow and win it all. The reason I know is that we had an exact occurance of what you had, and then took home the trophy. Played and won a ton of games on Sunday - wore out the parents, the coaches and the blues - crazy kids were still going strong at the end.

 

[DonnieS]

Lets hope that JC hasnt been back because his girls are now playing in the championship game, via the losers bracket.

 

[llabtfos]

i have seen some of the worst pitching ever so nothing amazes me with control issues. plus one of my players has AMAZING meltdowns to boot

so i feel 4 ya

things will get better, just have to keep believing in ourself and your system

 

[JC heir]

Thanks for the great thoughts. no we did not win the tournament, but we did play bettter, & came within 1 win of the finals. My pitchers did however shake whatever was ailing them- My first inning pitcher from the day before threw 10 pitches for 3 strikeouts in her first inning of work yesterday. Thanks Lane