Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Pitching scholarships

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Pitching is important but....you have to have a strong defence as well.
Lets be honest without both you dont stand a chance.Every pitcher gets hit sooner or later.

Pick the best team for your DD . Look at the coaches.Look at the players.Ask yourself what can my dd get out of this.Look at the integrity of the org.Alot of factors make up a good team Ive only mentioned a few, not just the money.

Like grandma said you get what you pay for.

 

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well my opinion is that if a stud pitcher wants to come play for an org.(not one of her parents teams) and she can truely bring the level of play up for the whole team.. i say dont charge her a thing!!!....

Well here is where things become a slippery slope. You may be starting down the path to the free agency of 10 and 12 year olds. One org. offers $100 discount, another org. says hey come play for free. Third org. says, hey play for free and get a travel stipend. Now your paying players to play for your org. (for the record, I DO NOT think the Hawks are in anyway paying players with their scholarships. I'm just saying how things can spiral out of control if some unscrupulous folks get involved.)

 

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Pitchers and catchers are extremely important. They are involved in every single pitch. A stud shortstop is involved in 10-15 plays tops..on a good day. It's pretty hard for a position player to single handedly lose or win a game. It's not too rare to see a pitcher throw a no hit/1, 2, 3 hit shutout.. Granted, your team has to score to win, but hey, a pitcher can also jack one over the fence.
Replace ucla's shortstop with a d3 shortstop and they'll make it through okay. Replace their pitcher with a d3 pitcher and they're toast in almost every situation.
Every player is important, but without a good pitcher you're in trouble. And try sitting through a game with a catcher who can't catch...yeesh!

 

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I would never allow my daughter to be paid to play and jeopardize her college eligibility. For those who have sat down with their daughter and registered in the NCAA Clearinghouse, you know the wording used. I am not a whistle-blower or throwing stones in a glass house, but the $100, $200 or even $400 wouldn't be worth it. Fundraisers and sponsorships work fine and keeps everyone in the light and out of the grey areas....If I didn't agree to spend the extra money for pitching lessons, she would go without.

 

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I would never allow my daughter to be paid to play and jeopardize her college eligibility. For those who have sat down with their daughter and registered in the NCAA Clearinghouse, you know the wording used. I am not a whistle-blower or throwing stones in a glass house, but the $100, $200 or even $400 wouldn't be worth it. Fundraisers and sponsorships work fine and keeps everyone in the light and out of the grey areas....If I didn't agree to spend the extra money for pitching lessons, she would go without.

I just went through the Clearinghouse process with my DD and what you state is true Centerville FP. This "scholarship" money is asked about and could jeopardize your DD's playing status. Ask Quakerman about giving "scholarship" money away during his fall tourneys....a BIG NO NO!!

 

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We don't play for a team that offers scholarships or breaks on fees and really don't expect to. My daughter decided to be a pitcher and with that decision we took on the responsibility of the added cost.
On the other hand anybody that says or thinks they put out as much money or time as a pitchers parent is nuts!!!
I'm out with my DD usually 5-6 days a week for 1 hour a day just on pitching. Then add in another 30min to a hour a day on hitting and fielding (THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE TRAVEL TIME). Pitching lessons are around $35 a week. IN the off season, basically late October to late March we pay $20 per hour for a pitching lane at least 3 times per week. Then add in the cost to go to the batting cages and the occasional batting lesson. IN order to be an elite pitcher and keep up on the fielding and hitting the cost and time spent is unmatchable. JMO

 

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On any given team less than 1 or 2 players pay for hitting instruction on a weekly basis

This surprised me. Almost our entire starting lineup pays for private hitting instruction. It gets immeasurably more difficult to determine who is investing more when all your non-battery players take private lessons.

It's pretty hard for a position player to single handedly lose or win a game

This is definitely not the case in 16U/18U! Just one play will win or lose the game. There is no hiding that player that can really hit but can't play defense.

 

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This surprised me. Almost our entire starting lineup pays for private hitting instruction. It gets immeasurably more difficult to determine who is investing more when all your non-battery players take private lessons.



This is definitely not the case in 16U/18U! Just one play will win or lose the game. There is no hiding that player that can really hit but can't play defense.

Finally some sense has been brought to this thread. I work quite a few of the Bustos hitting clinics (which aren't free) and I see alot of the same faces over and over paying for hitting instruction. The number of dominant pitchers at all levels is quickly dwindling...and it isn't because the pitchers are outworking the hitters!!! You pitching dads better dig a lot deeper into those wallets because I'm sorry to tell you the hitters are spending and working just as hard as the pitchers. I would know...my DD's hitting coach is a 3 hour drive!!

 

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Having a weak infielder or a weak outfielder won't necessarily lose the game for you... But having a weak pitcher will almost certainly guarantee it.

The outfielder or infielder can't commit any errors or miscues unless they are involved in a play. However, the pitcher and catcher are involved in every single pitch of every game. A game can go south PRONTO if your pitcher is having an off day (such as in the Philippines vs. Mich. LL game yesterday).

Make no mistake - It takes 9 quality in-sync players on the field to provide a quality defensive effort. ANY weak links can kill everything in a tightly contested game. Competitive games are usually lost by only one single error. But you'll never even get out of the starting gate with your pitcher throwing meatballs or issuing multiple walks.

I'm a believer in a coach simply demanding his/her players ALL work on their own, not just pitchers. Honestly though, the ones who really want to succeed will work on their own without having to be told. It always shows on the field. I'm guessing everyone posting on this thread knows who is "practicing at home" and who isn't on their team.

I shelled out the big bucks for all those lessons, travel, etc. - and it culminated in a DI scholarship for the DD. But I knew every kid on her team wouldn't get there (several did), and it was no secret why.

Coaches and organizations are free to do what they see fit to attract quality talent. I see this "scholarship" as simply a fee reduction. However, I think a more noble effort would be helping a talented kid who's parents can't afford travel ball. Those are the true winners in my book.

 

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Finally some sense has been brought to this thread. I work quite a few of the Bustos hitting clinics (which aren't free) and I see alot of the same faces over and over paying for hitting instruction. The number of dominant pitchers at all levels is quickly dwindling...and it isn't because the pitchers are outworking the hitters!!! You pitching dads better dig a lot deeper into those wallets because I'm sorry to tell you the hitters are spending and working just as hard as the pitchers. I would know...my DD's hitting coach is a 3 hour drive!!

That's a pretty presumptuous and condescending post right there. I know a whole lot of pitchers whose parents not only fork out for pitching lessons, but hitting lessons as well. So there blows your theory. And I would know... my dd's pitching coach is over an hour away.

 

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The whole point is everyone is working hard and paying to get better. I just don't think it's fair to say that pitchers and catchers are working harder and therefore should get a discount. As much as some of you don't want to believe it, hitters and fielders are working just as hard and spending just as much money. I've said my piece...so can I get a scholarship for keeping this thread going and drawing attention to those teams who offer this free money??

 

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I was not there so this is just a hypothesis.

Ponder these numbers
11-0
8-0
12-0
4-1
10-0
4-3
5-0
8-0

Above is the score of 8 games, six of these games would have been won with one run by the winning team. I am sure there was some good defense but there most definitely was some dominate pitching when a team gives up only four runs in an entire tournament.

How important do you think the pitcher/pitchers are to the team above? Some believe that hitters are catching up to dominate pitchers with lessons, the move to 43' feet and etc. I believe hitters are getting better each year as well but this case study makes me wonder how much hitters are gaining on pitchers. In the scenario above there could not have been many hard hit balls for the position players to make a play/error on. 4 Runs in 8 games is only .5 runs by the opposing team per game on average.

Think that is not the case for high level travel ball or at the older age groups? The team that won all the above games is the Orange County Batbusters. The tournament: THE 16U USA/ASA National Championship!

If I had to bet our whole season on one player, it would be a darn good pitcher/s.

JMO

 

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0-0
0-0
0-0
0-1
0-0
0-3
0-0
0-0

Take away hitting and defense and your pitcher was 0-2-6 and your OC Batbuster pitcher is heading home early on Sunday if she made it that far.;&

 

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Touche LN, Touche

 

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Just for comparison...Here are the 25 highest paid baseball players in 2010. The highest is a position player and 8 out of the top 10 are position players, with 16 out of the top 25 being position players. It pays to hit the long ball, or play in NY.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/salaries/top50

Now if your playing football...You want to be a quarterback.
http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/top25.aspx?year=2009

 

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not a good comparison. pitching maybe 7 innings every 5 days.

 

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My dd is a pitcher for the HAWKS. I'm not in it for the money. That is a drop in the bucket compared to the money spent on pitching and hitting lessons. Plus I drive 4hrs every weekend to play for the HAWKS. I wouldn't be with the HAWKS if it wasn't for the other 10 girls on the team. Each one brings a level of talent way above what you see at the 12u level. That is why i'm here. Each girl has made outstanding plays every game to help support our pitchers. When my dd is struggling(hitting corners or spots). I tell her to throw it over the plate. Let your defense help you. As a pitcher you need to have confidence in your defense to be successful. For LADY KNIGHTS. I understand all you reasoning behind your posts. Let me ask you. How are the pitchers on your team? Do they give up alot of runs? Do they struggle? Are you always having to play defense? Or, do they make the game almost boring with the command of the softball. The routine grounder or lazy fly ball. I agree that everyone works hard at their positions and batting. Butthe responsibility is unmatched when it comes to the pitcher. That player will make or break any game. And that is why they are elevated above all other positions. Tell me that you would rather dive all over the field or have to score runs every inning just to keep up with the other team. Or would you rather watch your pitcher take control. And let you have the occasional routine play. I didn't mention hitting because it seemed like we either won 2-1 or lost 2-1. Putting the responsibility on the pitcher and defense.

 

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Well to answer your question I had some truly outstanding pitching this year (Thanks Jess, Alex, Megan) that kept us in nearly every ball game we played, but the wins were few and far between because of the lack of offense. I seen it firsthand all summer it doesn't matter how good your pitchers are, if you can't score runs you can't win ball games. Offense wins games and Defense wins Championships.

 

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do you stay up all KNIGHT or are you on 3rd shift? I agree with that to a point. Are team lacked run support for our pitchers. Our pitchers kept us in most every game to give us a chance to win.

 

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I just went through the Clearinghouse process with my DD and what you state is true Centerville FP. This "scholarship" money is asked about and could jeopardize your DD's playing status. Ask Quakerman about giving "scholarship" money away during his fall tourneys....a BIG NO NO!!

I think this should really be the focus of the thread....!!

And honestly, we have won games and lost games and stayed in games because of every position at one point or another. I am the dad of a pitcher and catcher and we do pay more for private instruction due to pitching and catching, but that is our choice. My daughters do not deserve any preferential treatment because of the position they play, and if at some point they did, we would be having one of my 'talks'. And anyone who may know me or either of my DD's, they would tell you that is something one does not wish to experience more than once!! :lmao: