37 post for 16U Teams needing a Pitcher 8/18

cobb_of_fury

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In the past 5-10 years the number of teams and organizations has increased expedentially. There too many watered down teams to support the limited pool available. Each year I see more and more teams with 7-8 players, then all of the sudden they fold and screw the kids they have committed to, or merge with another org. Too many teams to support number of girls. Hopefully the number of girls can eventually fill the number of teams. Just can't start an organization or team because kid can't go anywhere else.....


Wooo... Wait a second, a thought occurred to me... If you have more and more teams with 7-8 girls all folding, Follow me here - what if you take 3 of the eight girl teams mix and match and boom!- isn't that 2 twelve girl teams?
Problem solved - Your welcome...


The biggest reason in my opinion you don't have pitching at 16U is there are not enough pitchers at 10U to last through the natural attrition.
If we encouraged all girls to at least try pitching and then let them pitch, some of them that would have never tried it would be good and might stick with it. The ones that didn't enjoy it would fall away and concentrate on other positions -
but we have 10U teams with just two girls pitching even if there are other pitchers available and that's just stupid. you'll never know what you have if you don't let them pitch.

Also - REC for girls 14U and younger or middle school balls for 14U girls and HS JV ball -let them Pitch and get reps
 

Pacerdad57

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Wooo... Wait a second, a thought occurred to me... If you have more and more teams with 7-8 girls all folding, Follow me here - what if you take 3 of the eight girl teams mix and match and boom!- isn't that 2 twelve girl teams?
Problem solved - Your welcome...


The biggest reason in my opinion you don't have pitching at 16U is there are not enough pitchers at 10U to last through the natural attrition.
If we encouraged all girls to at least try pitching and then let them pitch, some of them that would have never tried it would be good and might stick with it. The ones that didn't enjoy it would fall away and concentrate on other positions -
but we have 10U teams with just two girls pitching even if there are other pitchers available and that's just stupid. you'll never know what you have if you don't let them pitch.

Also - REC for girls 14U and younger or middle school balls for 14U girls and HS JV ball -let them Pitch and get reps

Great post Cobb, dead on point! At that age level you have to interest morbidly in that position and give them the reps to see where it goes.
 

mike_dyer

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Ah,,, Pitcher's parents.

At 10 they all want to be the pitcher. When I was 10 I wanted to be a fire truck. Not a fireman. I wanted to be the truck..

The trouble with a pitcher's parents in the younger age groups --- and even the older ages, I presume --- is that they all want the team to win just like everyone else does. They also want you to leave little Jr. in the circle long enough to hit 7 kids, throw 4 pitch walks to 15 others, and give up 10 or 15 big hits with the sacks juiced.

The choices are a team can either win or little Jr. can do those things. You're not gonna win after all that happens though.

Once upon a time I had some very specific instructions for pitchers and their parents going into the winter. They were, in order of importance:

1. Be able to hit a spot 7 out of 10 times
2. Develop an off speed pitch that takes 6-10 MPH off of your fastball speed
3. Fastball needs to be roughly X MPH -- I can't remember what it was, it was very achievable for their ages though

I had 6 or 8 kids who wanted to pitch going into the winter, but only 2 who were any where close to doing those things. When the snow melted I still had 6 or 8 kids who wanted to pitch, but still only 2 who were any where close to doing those things.
 

cobb_of_fury

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I know this sounds absolutely nuts - and I would not be surprised if I'm shunned on this board forever but I could not give a Fart in a Funnel-cloud about winning at 10U - (Yep I just said that - I know what your thinking - go ahead 10U parents hit me with - I know, I'm what's wrong with this country - the Bla Bla Everybody gets a trophy yada yada yada - could not be farther from the truth)
What I'm saying is TEACH THE DAM GAME FIRST then keep score. If you teach the game winning will come - I love winning - Winning is for winners - But NO BODY CARES if you are the best 10U team in the world NO BODY out side that team - nobody at all - Even if they pretend to care they are thinking "it's 10U" that's it - So let girls go out there and walk batters let them try positions they aren't good at teach them all the positions they are 9 and 10 years old let them fail sometimes and stay in the game. Go ahead 10u Parents now you can really bring the hate...

BOTTOM LINE -
Teach girls to pitch at 10U bring in an instructor -
The reason everybody pitches in Baseball and we cant find pitchers in Fastpitch is Dad has no idea how to pitch fastpitch. He can pitch a base ball - Man back in his day he was .... You shoulda seen.
He can show you how to Hit: "Eye's on the ball, Squish the Bug, Hips, Contact, Extension, Elevate the ball" Boom your a hitter. He can teach throwing: "T-L-C - and Chiclets in to the pocket" Boom your a thrower. Fielding: Monkeys, Watch the ball in to the glove stay in your V, Gators" Boom your a fielder but they have no idea how to windmill pitch so it doesn't get taught until a girls shows interest and they go and see a professional. Organizations should be bringing in pitching coaches to teach 8 and 10 year olds - Obviously it is the most important position on the field since so many teams are folding with out them.

The other thing - Teach pitchers to keep the ball low in the zone and teach the infielders to field - you don't need a pitcher that strikes everybody out - That's boring to everybody except that pitchers parents. If the pitcher makes the batter hit balls in the dirt NOW your playing the game.
 
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Pitchersdad10

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Dead on Cobb... We spend lots of time on our infielders and teach them correct way to field and throw. They love our pitchers cuz the whole team gets work in each game with grounders and pop fly's. Ive learned as much as my daughter has since 10U. Only thing now when i catch for her im to keep quiet and just catch. She heard enough from me for 5 yrs now..LOL
 

FastBat

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If we encouraged all girls to at least try pitching and then let them pitch, some of them that would have never tried it would be good and might stick with it. The ones
Makes perfect sense, but it would never happen. Haven't you realized, if you are a stud pitcher in 10u, you are guaranteed to be a stud pitcher in 18u? Plus, those studs need in game experience to get better, not putting the hard work in, in their basements. And those studs, certainly don't need their teammates getting encouragement from games and giving them a run for their money.
 

AceGRC

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It seems many parents put their young ones into soccer/ cheer/ dance before they try softball and once they choose softball they are behind the ones who grew up into the sport from their sisters participation leading the way. 10u a key age to start the pitching career....... 4 to 5 years with less pitchers will bring teams to fighting for any pitcher who can throw the ball near the plate. I think this falls into cycles every 5 years, I have watched when everyone wanted to pitch to when teams were sharing visitor pitchers to stay above water line. I give a high five to all pitching instructors and ten to the real deal ones, for they are the best people to keep the sport going and growing using positive support. We need to all encourage the young players to give it a try, let them decide if its their dream or the parents dream. I think most college players have all tried the circle once or twice in their way up. We need to invest in the youngest players and let them take a shot at throwing a pitch or two and not force single positions players because mom or dad played it. I see that a lot.... we need to grow more pitchers. Break out the test tubes at the university.
 

wow

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This has been discussed so much over the years. Bottom line is its about effort. You have to be a different type of player and put in more hours then a typically player. Most kids a 10U just are not gonna do that. The physical part of the game ebbs and flows at 12u but by high 14U its the kids who scarified time with friends, worked hard, went to a pitching coach weekly (sometimes 2X a week) and thats not mentioning how much time they put into their bats with tee work, machine. front toss, and mirror work, who play into 16u.

The point is you can get all the game reps you want, however its the 1000's of pitches you do outside the game, which make you able to play at 16u. Everyone can not be a pitcher and certainly not everyone wants to put the work in.

Its a commitment to pitch and not one many kids are willing to truly make. Thats the real reason there is so few pitchers at 16U. I would suspect those playing high level 16U have worked 10-11 months out the the year for the last 7-8 years.
 
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heater

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Could it be that a lot of high schools tend to pitch one pitcher every game? At our school, we have a nice pitcher who pitched most JV games as a freshman but that is the only position she can play. There is a girl who is a little better than her that is a year older, so she won't see the mound until she is a senior. That is a long time to wait. My dd took pitching lessons for 3 years and could not get the hang of it. I finally told her that we need to use this money for hitting lessons, if you can hit you can play anywhere. I am glad I did, now she plays all positions.
 

crystlemc

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Don't forget, a lot of 16u pitchers play up to 18u, as well. Particularly the committed ones.
 

streak2010

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I've seen teams mixing more 16's & 18's because they can't fill both with enough pitching. Both our 18u teams have multiple 15/16's on their teams.
 

dadofpitcher

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Here's a funny one for you. My daughter is a '00 pitcher who is not committed. She is injured and attempted a couple private tryouts but really couldn't perform due to injury. The reason she is injured is from over pitching due to a pitching shortage. The reason we are not worried about it is because she won't go to a team that is looking for that number 1 workhorse pitcher to get used and abused. With all these teams irresponsibly trying to make a team without securing 3 pitchers, there is no need for her to commit at this time. I wonder how many other 16U pitchers are holding out for a team that isn't going to use and abuse them.
 

311road

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Hopefully your DD fully recovered and finds the right fit. Best wishes.
In my opinion is probably best to be a "number 2" or be on a team with 3 "#1s" if that exists. You get plenty of mound time with time to rest, right? I would guess that most girls, and parents for that matter, want to be the ace, but if you're injured to the point that no college coaches are looking at you, what is the point? That's what most of the girls are looking for. I do think some injuries come from improper mechanics, but I also think plenty more come from over use.
 

FastBat

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The reason she is injured is from over pitching due to a pitching shortage. The reason we are not worried about it is because she won't go to a team that is looking for that number 1 workhorse pitcher to get used and abused.
Most parents haven't figured this out. They want their dd to #1 and don't care to share the spotlight. But, pitching 5-6 games in a weekend isn't the sign of a great pitcher, it's quality not quantity.

At any age, if a team only has one pitcher or no true second pitcher, run! Two to three solid (hopefully #1's) is a must and it is a sign of a true top notch team.
 

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It looks like 9 of those 37 original teams that were looking on 8/18 have added a pitcher. Only 28 team looking left.
 

wow

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I see a ton of posts about pitch count. You see it in LL and recently one about the possibility of OSHAA instituting a pitch count for HS softball. Barring the mechanics of the sport and the differences with baseball over hand throwing, travel ball pitchers will and should be able to throw multiple games a day. With that said, and agreeing with above posts you need three solid pitchers at all levels. Consider this. If you have three and one gets hurt, or God forbid is not on that day, and you have 4-6 games that day what do you do? Point is even with three solid pitchers you may need someone to step up and throw 3 maybe 4 games in a day. Yes, its rare and not ideal but it does happen.
 

FastBat

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Pitch counts are silly! There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the pitch count madness in LL, they base pitch counts on innings pitched in LLSB. So technically a pitcher could deliver 3 pitches and that would be considered an inning. The pitcher could pitch 1-6 innings/day, no day off; 7-12 innings/day, 3 days off; and no more than 12 innings/day. But, with that being said, I wouldn't have my dd play on a team with less than 3 pitchers, it's just too much pressure! My dd likes to swim in the summer too, lol! One summer she was really the only experienced pitcher, honestly, it was a sacrifice.
 
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