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unitedballers
29 Posts |
 Posted - 07/27/2016 : 12:54:49
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Now that all states have been informed of the NFHS pitch count ruling (revised pitching policy in Rule 6-2-6), they have roughly six months (beginning in 2017) to develop “their own” pitch count plans. I believe the majority will probably follow the “Pitch Smart” guidelines.
So what does this mean for youth travel baseball? Only time will tell! I do believe that pitch count rules should have started & been enforced at the youth level, a long, long time ago!
When this rule change trickles down (and it will!), I believe travel ball coaches (and parents too) will be required to put more of an emphasis on pitching, thus creating league strength through team consolidations.
“Wishin or Dreamin” - my two cents.
• Teams will increase roster size = less playing time but with a lower per player cost
• Teams/programs will merge, making 9 strong and 12 deep a reality
• The disbandment of many teams (having 4-7 kids on a team that don’t pitch isn’t going to work anymore)
• Rec-ball will flourish
• County & city parks will build/add more fields
• Demand for pitching coaches/lessons will skyrocket
• Tournament costs will rise due to the reduction in the number of participating teams
• Tournaments will be more competitive (including World Series events)
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bigballer
7 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2016 : 18:17:24
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| I think Gwinnett County would be hit the hardest...too many mediocre travel teams. |
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sebaseball
101 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2016 : 07:24:41
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Yea, it's going to cause a reset in some sort of fashion. It's going to be tough sledding for coaches/acadamies/teams to manage expanded rosters; especially at 14U and below. With as much drama as there is with 11-12 man rosters, what's it gonna be with 14-15 man rosters? Kids gonna start getting pegged as a PO at age 10 or 11? Parents gonna buy into that? For me, travel ball is a development tool for HS. Anything beyond that is a bonus. So, what's going to happen to that kid who is a pitcher/postion player for his HS team, but only good enough to do one or the other for his travel team? To some degree, this already occurs, but with smaller rosters, there is still playing time opportunities for him. But his weaker position is going to get totally squeezed out on a team with a larger roster. I would be concerned about this as a parent or HS coach and would think long and hard about where to play. Would most likely cause me to take my Major pitcher down to AAA so he could still play the field and keep developing as a position player/hitter too.
I could see this creating two travel ball systems. One where you are on a team with expanded rosters and play in tournaments like today. Another where you play on an 11-12 man team that play in smaller tournaments so that there are fewer games. Maybe instead of two pool games, you have one pool game & then into SE. You could also keep the brackets to no more than 6 teams and have multiple divisions. I will say though, that we went to PG this spring with a 13 man roster (11 who could pitch) and were fine through 5 games. But I believe we got a bye on Sunday and didn't end up having to play 6 games. That extra game would have been very taxing on our pitching depth and I shudder to think who we would have had to run out there in the Championship game if that were our 6th game. |
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Crazyforbball
391 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2016 : 07:41:05
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| I like it. Levels the playing field, protects the health of the kids and gets everyone on the mound. Yes, some formerly strong teams that relied on 4 or 5 kids to win tournaments will struggle, so be it. |
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aj94
182 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2016 : 07:47:31
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quote:
Originally posted by bigballer
I think Gwinnett County would be hit the hardest...too many mediocre travel teams.
Really? If you consider GGBL teams to be travel then yes. Gwinnett has a lot of delusional daddy ball coaches that think they will have an in at the HS level because they played at the local rec association.
I guess they think little Tommy at 5'5 120 will make the HS team and play in front of the 6 foot plus studs and the 6 second 60 yard dash runners simply because he played on the local park association travel team that dad and his buddies coached. |
Edited by - aj94 on 07/29/2016 12:22:24 |
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unitedballers
29 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2016 : 19:43:31
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quote:
Originally posted by bigballer
I think Gwinnett County would be hit the hardest...too many mediocre travel teams.
I've always said that Gwinnett has the potential to field 1-2 highly competitive Major teams in each age bracket (9U - 14U) but they are handicapped by the "majority" of dad's who coach these same teams.
If you look at the Greater Gwinnet Baseball League (GGBL) they average around 13 teams in each age bracket but only a couple teams consistently dominate year round. Why is that? It's usually because the top players on these teams ARE the coaches kids. It makes it much easier to build around that scenario than the other way around! |
Edited by - unitedballers on 07/29/2016 12:22:24 |
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jaguars18
245 Posts |
Posted - 07/28/2016 : 22:06:11
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| means nothing to any travel teams now or probably later and who is keeping count anyway? home or visitor? |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2016 : 02:01:13
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quote:
Originally posted by bigballer
I think Gwinnett County would be hit the hardest...too many mediocre travel teams.
Have to agree with you here. It will also force some park teams to give up their dreams of travel ball and force them back to GGBL. |
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unitedballers
29 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2016 : 13:03:03
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quote:
Originally posted by jaguars18
means nothing to any travel teams now or probably later and who is keeping count anyway? home or visitor?
Exactly my point...who is keeping count? Who's protecting those arms? More parents need to count!! Isn't this why Rule 6-2-6 was amended? It should be renamed the "Pechin" rule! |
Edited by - unitedballers on 07/29/2016 13:35:43 |
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Crazyforbball
391 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2016 : 14:35:17
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| Perfect game's own officials are most certainly keeping count and those teams who break the rules are disqualified. |
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unitedballers
29 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 10:18:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Crazyforbball
Perfect game's own officials are most certainly keeping count and those teams who break the rules are disqualified.
I agree! I wish more would follow PG's lead!! |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 10:49:19
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| No disqualifications at PG events...pitchers are simply removed. |
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TaxiMom
149 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 13:06:32
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quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
No disqualifications at PG events...pitchers are simply removed.
A team violated the pitch count (by 1 pitch) in a PG tournament we were in (I think it was one of the first when they were implementing the new rule). The team who had violated also had won the game -- PG disqualified them from the game and gave the win to the losing team...... |
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BamaDad
188 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 14:53:41
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quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
No disqualifications at PG events...pitchers are simply removed.
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 14:57:14
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quote:
Originally posted by unitedballers
quote:
Originally posted by bigballer
I think Gwinnett County would be hit the hardest...too many mediocre travel teams.
I've always said that Gwinnett has the potential to field 1-2 highly competitive Major teams in each age bracket (9U - 14U) but they are handicapped by the "majority" of dad's who coach these same teams.
If you look at the Greater Gwinnet Baseball League (GGBL) they average around 13 teams in each age bracket but only a couple teams consistently dominate year round. Why is that? It's usually because the top players on these teams ARE the coaches kids. It makes it much easier to build around that scenario than the other way around!
Perfectly explained. Pure Dilution. |
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Crazyforbball
391 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 15:40:18
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| In the spring an 11U team was not allowed to continue in a PG tourney we were watching after they exceeded the pitch limits. |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 19:25:28
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quote:
Originally posted by TaxiMom
quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
No disqualifications at PG events...pitchers are simply removed.
A team violated the pitch count (by 1 pitch) in a PG tournament we were in (I think it was one of the first when they were implementing the new rule). The team who had violated also had won the game -- PG disqualified them from the game and gave the win to the losing team......
I heard about that but I am telling you that it's different now. The policy is that the pitcher is removed - end of story! It just happened to us yesterday. |
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brball
615 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 19:36:09
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| Shuler is right again... Saw it with my own eyes earlier this year. Pitcher pitched 20 something and then pitched 3 or so pitches next day and PG guy told the coach to simply remove the pitcher, no disqualification. This was 14U |
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BamaDad
188 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2016 : 20:31:49
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| In the 11U PG tourney game referenced above, the team was not disqualified. The pitcher exceeded the 85 pitch count on the final out of the game. A 5-0 win turned into a forfeit. However, they were allowed to continue on to play their next game. The forfeit did cost them a trip to the semifinals though. |
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in_the_know
985 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2016 : 12:09:17
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quote:
Originally posted by BamaDad
In the 11U PG tourney game referenced above, the team was not disqualified. The pitcher exceeded the 85 pitch count on the final out of the game. A 5-0 win turned into a forfeit. However, they were allowed to continue on to play their next game. The forfeit did cost them a trip to the semifinals though.
When PG instituted Pitch Smart and their own tournament rule, it originally did call for a forfeit. They realized that this was too harsh a penalty and subsequently dialed it back to the current rule of removing a pitcher.
So, all of you are correct, yes there was forfeits that you saw but if the same violation occurs today, the pitcher is simply removed. |
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Crazyforbball
391 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2016 : 20:03:05
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| Good to hear. The tournament we watched they had appeared to have disqualified the team that day, but maybe they got to play on. Still a fan of pitchsmart either way. |
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Wishin or Dreamin
