Hitting and Hitters Discussion Homerun Hitters??

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I'm new to this forum, but I heard something recently that maybe someone can verify. I heard there is a girl on one of the Valley Extreme 12U teams that has hit 20 HR's and almost half of those are over the fence. I find that hard to believe being that she is a 12U player. Is it possible at that age? And if so, what the heck is she swinging???

 

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I have witnessed this girl form Valley Extreme Red 12u Hit the first pitch in a game over the fence twice. I would believe that if the pitch is a strike zone fast ball, she may have 20 home runs.

 

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Did you see her drive home afterwards!

 

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Isn't technology grand!

 

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I generally am very hesitant to believe things like this and the obligatory, "My daughter has been clocked at 75 mph in third grade," comments. However, having been helping coach a 12U team in Florida for a few months, I have seen 6 of our players hit multiple balls over legit high school fences. Just a few years ago when I was coaching in Ohio, I don't remember that many different kids hitting balls out at 14U or 16U, let alone 12U. Do you think that it is just kids getting bigger, is it the bats, or is it that many more tournaments are playing on fields with fences or incorporating temp fences? I think it is a little bit of all three, but specifically the last. Atleast her in Florida, we haven't played on any fields with only the 300 foot slow pitch fences, and that makes a big difference.

 

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Softball 9295, Do you know what kind of bat she uses? I've never seen this team play. Like I said I just heard the 20 HR "rumor".

 

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I have seen a couple 12U's hit them over. The VE girl in question hit one over on the first pitch of the game against us in Boardman Fields of Dreams in April. Now I am not sure what the fence distance was but maybe someone on here might. We also had at least one (I think~I have a bad memory) put over at the CR tournament by the Tidalwaves 12U. Now from what I have read VE Red is an almost all 13 y.o.(good softball birthdays ) team. Not sure what any of them are swinging. But we have a 12 y.o. who has gotten very close (hit the fence-& not by a bounce-it hit fence before it landed) and she generally uses a Rockettech (either 05 or 07). Then we have a couple on our 14U team who have hit them out a few times this year at different parks.

 

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I saw a 12U hit one over the fence in Whitehall this year using a Synergy. Nowadays you can't necessarily rely on age alone to determine a girl's athleticism because there is such variation between girls at any age level.

 

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. .?Do you think that it is just kids getting bigger, is it the bats, or is it . ?. ??

My perspective: ?Talent, strength and conditioning in youth female sports in general is improving at a remarkable rate. ?Not that unusual today to see a 13 year old female who is 5?8? and a strong, fit 170# with reasonable speed and coordination. ? Couple that with increased playing opportunities (and increased focus on conditioning and year round coaching), and before long we will have more young ladies crushing the ball like Crystal Bustos (along with better everything else).
20 years from now, we may be talking about then moving the mound back from 47' to 50'!?!

 

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I am the scorekeeper for the Valley Extreme Red 12U. The girl in question is Haley McCallister who will be an 8th grader in the Champion school district in Trumbull County this year. In the 60 games we have played since the Boardman Spartan tournament at the end of April, she has hit 19 homeruns. 12 were on fields without fences where she drove the ball over the outfielder's head and 7 over fences which were either 190 ft. or 200 ft. These were legitimate home runs and not singles with a 3 base error because the outfielder let the ball get through her legs. She has the ability to combine great bat speed with a strong hip turn. She uses a 32 inch 2005 Rocket tech. Three other girls use the same bat which happens to be my daughter's. Several girls use a 31 inch 2005 Rocket tech and others use the Easton Synergy. We also have two other girls that have hit home runs over a fence.

 

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Harp hit it on the head. If you went to Crystall Bustos camp and saw all the young kids learning how to hit a ball correctly. Then you read about Abbey with the slammers having a personel strength trainer in the 8'th grade. It's not all about bats. In my first 8 years I saw one Home Run by a 14U team now its common. Kids are smarter, in better shape, and work on hitting 12 months a year. Indoor softball is now common..

 

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Thanks camp_txc. I retract my "rumor" statement. That's quite impressive. She sounds like a very strong girl. She must eat her Wheaties every morning! Good luck with the rest of your season!

 

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Many good points raised on conditioning and mechanics. I think that there has been a major change in the teaching and emphasis on sound hitting mechanics in the last 5-10 years. With the increased instruction, change in hitting philosphy from "just making contact" to "driving the ball with maximum bat speed", video analysis and, yes, even high-tech bats, hitting seems to be catching up with the pitching.

And pitching has to be another variable in the home run equation. Good pitching will usually win out over good hitting. Does anyone think that the explosion in the number of travel teams and fastpitch leagues has resulted in a proportional dillution of quality pitchers?

If there are twice as many teams as ten years ago, do you think that there are twice as many "top-line" pitchers. Or, are we now seeing girls pitch who might not have been deemed good enough to pitch when there were far fewer teams?

 

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Brandalle, You are correct they are a very old big 12U team Shades of last years 12U Chain Reaction team. Boy why coulndn't my Wife wait 2 more months to have my daughter.

 

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My daughter had a teammate on the 1999 Raging Thunder 12u team that hit multiple over-the-fence HR's that season. One dented the hood of a car that was supposedly parked in a safe spot. She is now playing for Mount Union College and continues to do the same thing. It was very impressive for a 12u at the time. No composite bats then; just a lot of power and bat speed from a large girl for her age. Also, she could move real well for her size.

 

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WWolff~wait 2 more months-ugh!!!You must like to be miserable because I know my DH was in the end of my pregnancies:Maybe you should have planned better. You mean you didn't know that you that softball was in your future ;D ;D Hey my son has a perfect softball birthday (Jan13) and my youngest daughter has a great baseball birthday(June). Oldest dd's birthday is just mediocre (August). Funny how things go huh.....

 

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Thats ok my 9 year olds b-day is Dec 31st Now that sucks

 

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Sportscrazy, she doesn't eat Wheaties. She eats Special K. It's a superstition thing.

 

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Yeah got to agree with you there~stinks for softball but good for taxes

 

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I also wonder if it's strength, conditioning , or the bat. My dd is a very strong hitter. her and her teammates think it's the bat( rocket tech) they call the bat precious and all kiss it before a game lol.
my dd is a very strong girl she lifts and wrestles so I tend to beleave it may be strength. The other girls started using precious after dd hit several trips and HR. a few of them started hitting farther. so they are convensed it's the bat. I now think it's all in their head if they beleave they can do it and have the confidence it can be done.