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25LOVESTHEGAME
48 Posts |
 Posted - 07/18/2008 : 15:55:02
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| Just curious on how many players teams are carrying at the 13 U age group for 2009. Heard 11 and also up to 16. |
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wildcats9596
110 Posts |
Posted - 07/18/2008 : 17:55:58
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quote:
Originally posted by 25LOVESTHEGAME
Just curious on how many players teams are carrying at the 13 U age group for 2009. Heard 11 and also up to 16.
Probably 12. We carried 11 last Spring and had a lot of injuries and played one tournament with only 9, which was brutal. We picked up a player one weekend due to injuries and Confirmations, or would have had to forfeit Sunday morning games, i.e. we were only going to have 8 of our full-time players.
I was warned, but at the end of the season I was sure glad I wasn't juggling 12 at Cooperstown. |
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pats0809
2 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 10:17:23
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| I think it depends on the quality of the 12. I think 11 is the number unless you have a solid group come to your tryouts and the top 12 are very strong. You don't want the 12th player to be that much weaker than the other 11. |
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a1prog
164 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 11:17:35
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| i was once advised to carry the age. so at 11 have 11 and at 12 have 12 and so forth. at 13 i carried 13. it may have been one person too many but we also had many kids get hurt- and some we odd injuries not even related to baseball. in one tourney we had 9 kids- for the tournament. 13 and 14 are the ages where a lot of injuries happen. i would recommend 12 kids. |
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SportsDad
293 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2008 : 01:19:51
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| It all depends on how the coach manages playing time...we had 13 at 12 but at the end of the year to coach showed the yearly satistics, and the player with the most AB had i think less the 20 more the the player with the least...same was true with inning played in the field...We played over 70 games and also won a World Series...It's never how many kids are on the team that causes probelms...it's the disparity in playing time..You can have 11 kids, but if 9 play "all the time" and two sit out "all the time" you're going to have two unhappy people...Same with 12,13,or 14..The truest saying about baseball teams especially travel teams should be "If you're good enough to be on the team,you're good enough to play for the team" And on a TEAM all players are equal.. |
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greglomax
1031 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2008 : 19:16:22
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It gets hard to take on more than 12 without the 13th or 14th being "Pitcher's Only". Managing that many every day players becomes very difficult to keep everyone happy. Multiple catchers seems to become a bigger need, especially the more games and tournaments a team plays.
At 13 you start to see players that can pitch at a higher level than their defense, hitting, or running can provide. Parents have to decide, do we play at the level of the players defense, hitting, or running, and let them be a stud at pitching, or let them play at a higher level and pitch, but not play in the field very much, if any.
There seems to be a varying degree of opinions on what the right age is for transitioning to a specialized role. I think it depends on the team, the player, and the situation.
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SportsDad
293 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2008 : 23:56:32
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I always find "specialized" roles to be kinda silly, mainly because you find few really good pitchers that can't hit on field also, or at least not poorer than every other kid on the team. Everytime I see teams especially at 13,14,15,16 with "specialized" players it's more about winning than anything else...Heck go look at most high school teams, NONE I saw had "specialized" pitchers.(ala MLB ball or college)..most had three main starters maybe one of the three was a pitcher only, usually a he was also a back-up catcher and even thopugh they carried 17,18 or more players...there was an awful lot of bench warmers "waiting their turn", plus they were a source of income...now HS baseball needs the income, plus it's different from travel ball, in a lot of ways..like Greg said any more than 12 it becomes very difficult, and I've seen my fair share of teams with 14-15 and honestly I think they give a lot of reasons why they need that many, except for the honest one...2 more kids ofsets what we have to pay for our own "core team kids"...I've seen a lot of kids on teams who ended up playing less than 25% of the time, but who paid the same as everyone else (if not more, ever notice how the parent of the "stars" seem to do the least as far as helping the team) and I've use to wonder how these coaches slept at night...I don't anymore, I came to realize that to them, it really is "all about them." |
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greglomax
1031 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 11:07:05
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We are about to start on a slippery slope here because each parents' evaluation of their child, and their situation is different. Especially when talking about elite teams. To some people, being a pitcher only on an elite team is worth the opportuntity to be on the team. Both from a competitive level and from what you can learn. To others, it is not the right situation because they want the opportunity to play other positions full time. I believe it is hard to tell either that they are doing the wrong thing.
For a team that is carrying 14 or 15 players, to tell them that they are doing the wrong thing by having 2 or 3 pitcher's only, to me, is not right either. Every team situation is different. It has a lot to do with the expected number of games to be played, the frequency of these games, the number of regular players that can pitch, the quality of that pitching, and a hundred other things.
As for the reference to HS, keep in mind those teams have 3 years worth of players on the team at a time. Yes a freshman may pitch and play OF, but he only sees game time as a pitcher this year, with the hope and expectations to play more OF the next two years. Those younger players expect not to play as much whereas with travel teams you have to get all your parts covered out of one age group. It is a little apples and oranges.
The HS set up reminds me of the way it was when we were coming up in Little League (10, 11, & 12) and Babe Ruth (13, 14, & 15) (at least where I lived) where every team was made up of players from 3 age groups. As 10 & 13 year olds, you did not expect to play much at all. At ll and 14 you expected to play more but be more in the bottom half of the contributors, and at 12 & 15 you expected to be the major contributors. Everyone knew their role and the progressions. Now with single age teams, the progressions are different. |
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SportsDad
293 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 11:59:57
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I heard two years ago that 14U at ECB would be required to carry 15 players, I'm not sure that is a "hard in stone" fact that teams have to carry that many..I know of a 17U team that doesn't carry that many.
Saw a team last year that did something I thought was great...Kids on bench 1 was scouting pitches, another was tracking what each batter did in his at bat and the other 2 were the first base and third base coach..The coaches on the bench were talking "baseball" to the kids in the dug-out...it was nice to see the head coach,didn't need to be coaching third base.
If you're going to carry 14-15 kids...make them ones on the bench an important part of the game...give them some decision rights...seeing a kid pop out of the dugout to move fielders around, or watching a kid at third make a decision about sending a runner or putting on a hit and run, really teaches the game. Oh and let the catchers/pitchers call their own game...believe me at 13-14 kids really don't need a coach calling every pitch, if there being coached correctly. Kids learn more by figureing it out for themselves, than by being told what to do... |
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SportsDad
293 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 16:47:17
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re:HS ball...actually they have only 2 years of players on the team..very few sophomores and even fewer freshman ever play any varsity ball...with the advent of a lot of HS going with even 9 grade ball, your talking roughly 50-55 players out of each HS at any one time...most HS, now I'm sure there are some exception, don't have 50 quality ballplayers at any one time
13U and 14U teams having 2-3 quality "pitchers only" sounds good, just have never seen it. Rarely have I seen at good quality pitcher at 13 or 14, who wasn't a pretty good all around player...I guess there are some..just doubt with, lets say 6 teams from ECB in any given age group, there's 18 of them in every age group...
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baseballknowitall
17 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2008 : 21:44:01
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| I would have 12 on a 13u team and also have 2 or 3 backup players just in case of injuries. |
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ECB_Insider
54 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2008 : 15:34:40
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Question about the backup players. How do you keep a couple of players on the hook as backups? Do you tell them that there may be a need for them and if so you will call and they play on a team with the understanding that if they get called they are going to your team? Does that go over well with the other team?
I have heard of players being pitchers only on a major or elite team and play a position and hitting with another team, just to keep working on all of their skills. |
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ECB Mom
14 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2008 : 16:00:06
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If you have 12 on a 13U team, please make sure that half of them (or more) can pitch. That way you do not rely on the '3' pitchers to carry the team when you play 70+ games. Their shoulders will not be able to take it. (I am not looking for a Marshall lecture here)
I would also find out what your role is on the team, before the season starts. That way you can make an informed decision and decide if that is the team you want to be on....with hopefully no surprises. |
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greglomax
1031 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2008 : 17:22:36
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| The coaches meetings are this weekend, so I guess a verdict will come out of those. Stay tuned.... |
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Dr. Old School
314 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2008 : 20:31:05
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| So it sounds like there was NO change in the number of players required to carry on the EC teams, unless someone heard something different. The rumor of 15 players per team is now dispelled. |
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25LOVESTHEGAME
48 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2008 : 11:36:10
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| Any news on the 2009 13 U ECB coaches? |
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wildcats9596
110 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2008 : 11:45:21
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quote:
Originally posted by 25LOVESTHEGAME
Any news on the 2009 13 U ECB coaches?
Looking at the 13U "Teams Looking for Players" there are at least three new/different ones. Braves, Longhorns and Combat. Add in last year's teams, assuming they are all looking to re-up and I have to take off my shoes to count that high. :) |
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Dr. Old School
314 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2008 : 11:51:09
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Alphabetically
Astros (Tony Coward)
Braves (?)
Chargers (Stuart Guber)
Combat (John Sepnieski)
Longhorns (Dave Schmit)
Shamrocks (Chris Esposito)
Stallions (Scott Pederson)
Tigers (Dwight Schmidt)
Warriors (Jim Endres)
Rumors of one or two more. |
Edited by - Dr. Old School on 08/11/2008 12:02:54 |
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bigdog
231 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2008 : 12:07:16
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| Braves= Will Melson according to post on eteamz |
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Roster size for 2009 13 U
