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baldy87
118 Posts |
 Posted - 05/05/2010 : 11:42:47
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| This is going to come across as sour grapes, and maybe it is, but I wanted to get truly objective opinions on this because I'm too involved to be objective. We were in a coach-pitch tourney this past weekend where we were the visiting team and were behind by 4 runs. As we went to the bottom of the 5th inning, there was about 6 or 7 minutes left on the timer, which was visible beneath the scoreboard. The home team's coach deliberately threw 4 pitches in the dirt to each batter in order to force our catcher to miss the ball, have to retrieve it, throw it back to him, and stall the time out so that a new inning could not begin. Is this a common tactic in 8U Coach Pitch? Or is this something that's considered petty or bush league? I'm of the opinion it's the latter, but of course, it was against my team. Also, our team wasn't squeaky clean either. We had argued a contraversial call against our team where the home plate umpire overruled the field ump on a call at 1B. However, throwing pitches in the dirt deliberately to run out the time in coach pitch? Is this something we should expect from other 8U Coach Pitch teams? |
Edited by - baldy87 on 05/05/2010 12:31:57 |
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ErikB
6 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2010 : 13:58:39
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I coach teams in the same age group and a year younger, I have seen much more blatant displays of stalling/milking the clock.....(i.e. having every kid walk to the plate with a cleat untied, purposely fumbiling throws back from the catcher...i could go on and on) to prevent the start of another inning.....unfortunately the umpire CANNOT tell the coach how to pitch his kids!
It has been my experience that teams will get the reputation of these tactics and if you speak with the umpire prior to the game about these situations, you're more than likely going to see the man in blue be proactive in preventing coaches from pulling these shenanigans. |
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SSBuckeye
575 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2010 : 13:46:23
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| Bush league! |
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TripleCrownAdministrator
240 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2010 : 16:26:50
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The best way to avoid all of the coaches taking advantage of these type of situations is to play KID PITCH! That way you get these type of coaches off the field and get your kids better prepared for playing great baseball. THE KIDS FIGHT FOR THE GAME ON THE FIELD WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM THE COACHES! Plus it better prepares your kids for playing better baseball at 9u and not having to catch up to the other teams that have one year of kid pitch under their belts. Come out and look at the rules for Triple Crown for 8u kid pitch. WWW.TRIPLECROWNSPORTS.COM AND GO UNDER GEORGIA BASEBALL TOURNAMENTS. Promise you will never go back to coach pitch! Great 8u kid pitch tournament from May 14th to 16th there in Marietta! Teams are listed below who plan on playing next weekend.
8 AND UNDER KID PITCH DIVISION (WILL SPLIT INTO GOLD AND SILVER BRACKETS IF WE HIT 16 PAID TEAMS):
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1. EAST COBB WARRIORS--MARIETTA, GA
2. ATLANTA ANGELS--ATLANTA, GA
3. EAST COBB BRAVES--MARIETTA, GA
4. SHARON SPRINGS SPARTANS BLUE--CUMMING, GA
5. NORTH PAULDING WOLFPACK--ACWORTH, GA
6. SIGNATURE PARK LEGENDS--DACULA, GA
7. east metro titans blue--stone mountain, ga
8. georgia team raiders--atlanta, ga
9. macedonia legends--canton, ga
10. atlanta blue jays--atlanta, ga
11. bluejays--decatur, ga
12. west forsyth diamond dawgs--cumming, ga
13. georgia bandits--cumming, ga
14. elite gamers blue--mcdonough, ga
15. elite gamers red--mcdonough, ga
16. sharon springs spartans silver--cumming, ga
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THANK YOU AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN SEE YOU GUYS ON THE DIAMOND REAL SOON!
Tony VonDolteren
GA Triple Crown Baseball |
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baldy87
118 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2010 : 15:06:49
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quote:
Originally posted by TripleCrownAdministrator
The best way to avoid all of the coaches taking advantage of these type of situations is to play KID PITCH! That way you get these type of coaches off the field and get your kids better prepared for playing great baseball. THE KIDS FIGHT FOR THE GAME ON THE FIELD WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM THE COACHES! Plus it better prepares your kids for playing better baseball at 9u and not having to catch up to the other teams that have one year of kid pitch under their belts. Come out and look at the rules for Triple Crown for 8u kid pitch. WWW.TRIPLECROWNSPORTS.COM AND GO UNDER GEORGIA BASEBALL TOURNAMENTS. Promise you will never go back to coach pitch! Great 8u kid pitch tournament from May 14th to 16th there in Marietta! Teams are listed below who plan on playing next weekend.
8 AND UNDER KID PITCH DIVISION (WILL SPLIT INTO GOLD AND SILVER BRACKETS IF WE HIT 16 PAID TEAMS):
------------------------------------------------------
1. EAST COBB WARRIORS--MARIETTA, GA
2. ATLANTA ANGELS--ATLANTA, GA
3. EAST COBB BRAVES--MARIETTA, GA
4. SHARON SPRINGS SPARTANS BLUE--CUMMING, GA
5. NORTH PAULDING WOLFPACK--ACWORTH, GA
6. SIGNATURE PARK LEGENDS--DACULA, GA
7. east metro titans blue--stone mountain, ga
8. georgia team raiders--atlanta, ga
9. macedonia legends--canton, ga
10. atlanta blue jays--atlanta, ga
11. bluejays--decatur, ga
12. west forsyth diamond dawgs--cumming, ga
13. georgia bandits--cumming, ga
14. elite gamers blue--mcdonough, ga
15. elite gamers red--mcdonough, ga
16. sharon springs spartans silver--cumming, ga
17.
THANK YOU AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN SEE YOU GUYS ON THE DIAMOND REAL SOON!
Tony VonDolteren
GA Triple Crown Baseball
It does look like you've put together a great tournament, so congratulations.
In reality, we have played several of the teams in this tournament already in kid pitch. One of them had a coach who claimed that high-fiving the first base coach after drawing a walk was an automatic out. The ump agreed, and we had an 8 year old called out for high-fiving his own coach. So, the ugliness from coaches and parents happens at all levels, I'm sure.
We've committed that we will be primarily a coach pitch team through the World Series in July, and then transition. We've experienced some great competition even at what might be considered a lower level. The kids and parents are having fun, and I think that's what matters.
Plus, we've been to 8 year old kid pitch tournaments already. If you like walks, wild pitches, automatic advancing to 3rd when you get a runner on 1st (no catchers can throw anyone out at this level) and a strike zone the size and shape of the state of Oklahoma (umps have to be liberal with the outside corner or everyone would walk) then 8 year old kid pitch is the place to be. Nothing personal, it's just a more boring game. Agreed, our kids may be behind for awhile when they try to transition to kid pitch, but heck - let them have fun for awhile. They're 8.  |
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SSBuckeye
575 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2010 : 22:23:05
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| My 8-yr old son's team will be playing in that tournament, and I have to say that after watching my oldest struggle with the transition as a 9-yr old, I'm very happy we made the move at 8. The first 6 weeks were extremely tough! But now these boys are playing real baseball. If you think it's boring, you haven't seen what I've seen. The top shelf KP teams are playing exciting baseball at 8u. Those kids have a big-time leg up going in to next year. |
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hpmudcatdad
3 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 06:01:47
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quote:
Originally posted by SSBuckeye
My 8-yr old son's team will be playing in that tournament, and I have to say that after watching my oldest struggle with the transition as a 9-yr old, I'm very happy we made the move at 8. The first 6 weeks were extremely tough! But now these boys are playing real baseball. If you think it's boring, you haven't seen what I've seen. The top shelf KP teams are playing exciting baseball at 8u. Those kids have a big-time leg up going in to next year.
I agree, there is some very good ball being played in these 8U kp tournaments. Our team played in 3 kp tournys this year and have been very please with the competition and the outcome. As long as there is a clock, in cp or kp, there will be stall tactics. A coach will be a dummy if he didn't do it. |
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SPTitans
13 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2010 : 21:31:32
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| I don’t typically chime in here as my kid is young and most of these discussions are above mine/his level. I do have to say you are off base a little bit here in regards to the ability of the 8U players to pitch and throw kids out stealing. I am not sure how many 8U kid pitch tournaments you have been to lately but I can tell they are more than capable of pitching and throwing kids out. The last game we played in my son pitched 3 innings. During that game he struck out 5 kids, walked 1 and gave up 2 runs (one of which was a homerun). He has a 67% strike ratio (not the highest on the team either). During that game our catcher threw out 1 kid stealing and the other team threw 2 of our kids out that were stealing. Nothing against you guys playing coach pitch but don’t beat on the kids pitch games as you would be surprised… Stalling is just part of the game. If they are not tying shoes the coaches are in there calling time to talk to the pitcher and then changing the pitcher. Is it bush league, yes… But it isn’t going to disappear. |
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baldy87
118 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2010 : 09:10:40
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quote:
Originally posted by SPTitans
I don’t typically chime in here as my kid is young and most of these discussions are above mine/his level. I do have to say you are off base a little bit here in regards to the ability of the 8U players to pitch and throw kids out stealing. I am not sure how many 8U kid pitch tournaments you have been to lately but I can tell they are more than capable of pitching and throwing kids out. The last game we played in my son pitched 3 innings. During that game he struck out 5 kids, walked 1 and gave up 2 runs (one of which was a homerun). He has a 67% strike ratio (not the highest on the team either). During that game our catcher threw out 1 kid stealing and the other team threw 2 of our kids out that were stealing. Nothing against you guys playing coach pitch but don’t beat on the kids pitch games as you would be surprised… Stalling is just part of the game. If they are not tying shoes the coaches are in there calling time to talk to the pitcher and then changing the pitcher. Is it bush league, yes… But it isn’t going to disappear.
I do appreciate the perspective. I think that's what I wanted to know - is this something we should expect to see or was it an abberation? - and the general answer seems to be, yes, it's something we should expect to see. Maybe next time, it won't be so suprising.
And I totally recognize that the coach pitch game is really just glorified slow pitch softball. The coach lobs one in there and kids wail away. I didn't mean to come across as beating or insulting kids who are trying to play kid pitch. The point of the post was to ask if the coaches are really going to be blatantly stalling during 8 year old coach pitch by throwing pitches in the dirt, and I think I've gotten my answer. We'll plan accordingly. Thanks. |
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