Benefits of playing up at 18's

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I was talking with a friend today up at Loudonville about the drawbacks or benefits of a 16 (or 14) playing 18..this is what we came up with

The defense gets more reps since the ball is into play more often
the pitchers are pitching from 43 instead of 40, so is it a true indication on what they can do at 40?
the hitters get, what a fraction of a second more to hit...i'll push if theres a benefit

i can see more of a benefit for 14s playing up...same distance, just faster game which helps them play elite teams..same for 18s?

feel free to dissect and analyze, but i dont see much benefit of playing at 18s except for the speed and playing instead of sitting at home

 

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I thought the benefit was that you had an excuse if you lost

But, really, you don't think there's a benefit to playing against more experienced (and better, hopefully) pitchers and hitters? Facing older pitchers, especially, can broaden your experience with different pitches. Not to mention that the speed of the game can be drastically different, and helps make players sharper.

But, as always, it depends on who you play - every 18U team/16U team/14U team is different.

 

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No excuses here, but we have all 15U girls except one true 16U I believe. The benefit is that my dd had no idea who she was pitching to in the 18U games at Loudonville. She didn't know that several of her opponents were college-bound this fall to play DI softball. And she didn't recognize that the girl who had a grand slam off of her was the same girl that she saw win a state championship on TV a month or so ago. Ignorance is bliss? She wants to take a look at one of the tournament programs and now that she is more aware, it will be interesting to see how tomorrow plays out.

 

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well, i do agree that ignorance is bliss..ha

i do know that when my DD gets a hit against a college girl, that smile is from ear to ear

 

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Statman - Thanks for letting your dd play "up" with us and I agree that the hits they are getting off these older girls make it all worthwhile. Be glad I was keeping the book instead of you during that last game today - wow!

 

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The speed of the game. Learning that the older girls are thinking 2 plays ahead.