Fields of Screams: 2017 youth baseball/softball thread

This explains so much

 

Watched Sis-7's game in the 8U division under coach Varsity Vinny Monday night.

With me, StarSis, older sisters Sis A and Sis B, along with our ace pitcher Aliciana and dad (also on hand to watch her younger sister), the PowerCats had quite a representation among the crowd.

Aliciana has become quite a rock star among the Starrville softball community, since among five teams and 15 games so far, she has the only real legitimate home run (as opposed to a double in the gap and three outfield errors).

Anyway, the 8U Mini-Kittens under Varsity Vinny reflect his varsity team at Starrville HS -- they suck.

Due to Vinny's time constraints coaching the varsity team, he was only able to hold one 60 minute practice prior to the first game.

This is a group which had only played tee-ball before. Now that the season has started, their only "practice" consists of 15-20 minutes of fielding warmups before the game. The only time players ever pick up a bat is when they go to bat in the game. Sis-7 gets some play in the back yard with her sisters, but that's it.

And they look exactly like a team
which has had one practice. Maybe one swing out of every 10 connects.

At one point Sis-7 is shifted to catcher, not a real crucial position in coach-pitch, but occasionally important when a play comes home.

Sis-7 decides to sit on the ground to catch. The coaching staff declines to offer any corrective advice (or maybe doesn't have any).

Shortly enough a play comes home and a throw comes toward Sis-7, but it's off target, and she's sitting on the ground, the ball rolls free, and three runs score.

In the 15-player, everybody-bats lineup, Sis-7 bats twice. She strikes out twice on 6 pitches.

They end up losing 6-3. As a coach of an older division team, and a much older uncle, I say nothing besides the usual "good game, etc etc."

I can tell StarSis is pissed walking to the parking lot.

I mean, sure, sure, it's only 8U league, it's no big deal, life goes on, everybody understands that, that's groovy, fruit pops for everybody after the game, wunnerful, wunnerful, but shit, StarSis and hubby paid $120 for Sis-7 to be on this team, they could have paid $25 and played city rec tee-ball.

So the "lahh dee dah, its only kids league, who gives a shit," attitude is not really going over too well.

So I suspect if Varsity Vinny offers his celebrity coaching services to the program next year, there's going to be a come to baby Jeezus meeting in which it's spelled out that coaching requires more than rolling the balls out on game day.

Oh well, back to 12U action with the PowerCats later today -- if the line of thunderstorms creeping across the radar misses us.

 

The thunderstorms didn't hit, but instead we got hit with an absolute dog day afternoon of a doubleheader.

Instead of thunderstorms, we got 90 degrees and dusty and hazy and for some reason a traffic jam for the ages that slows me up, half the Oak Valley team, and 3 of my 12 players.

So my meticulously planned substitution and pitching charts are out the window and we have to start the 9 players we have. Luckily that does include a pitcher and catcher and we can put together a lineup. But Aly Loud, Pitcher C from my stat line a page back, says "it's too hot. I don't want to pitch."

I had her pencilled in to go 3 innings and then we would bring in our ace, Aliciana, who is warming up in center field. The bellyaching continues and finally I say, "OK, you go play center and Aliciana will pitch." It's game time and we have to go with the 9 players on hand. Just as the first pitch is thrown, Alyanna, Pitcher B who has walked approximately a million batters, arrives and will be added to the bottom of the lineup. My plan is, she isn't going to pitch at all tonight. Lucy, our big head-case backup catcher and outfielder, also saunters in, giving us 11. Aly Vee, our rifle-armed catcher never does show (although later i notice a text message from her mom at 5:28 p.m. -- for a 5:30 game -- saying she didn't 'feel well.' OK, whatever.)

Aliciana is a little shaky at the sudden starting assignment and gives up two runs in the first inning. Oak Valley walks five of the first six batters, Twin A drives in a couple runs with a single, then another walk re-loads the bases, and Ivy, our big and less-experienced LF-1B, pokes a fly ball that sails over the drawn-in right fielder. Ivy is slug-slow, but Oak Valley tries to nail a runner at the plate, Ivy chugs to third with a triple, and we have a 6-run max inning.

Aliciana regains her form in the second inning and strikes out the side. We come back with four in our half to go up 10-2 and things are looking awesome.

Now, Aly Loud says she can pitch. My original plan was for her to go three innings anyway, so I say OK. She promptly walks in three runs and things are starting to get tight, 10-5. Big Lucy, now in at catcher, sits down hard on a play at the plate and pulls a hamstring. Little Sasshy, who had done fine in her absence, gears back up and goes back behind the plate.

We're now in the top of the fourth but thanks to the walkathon for both teams, pushing up against time limit. Aly Loud is still walking, walking, walking. Even though Aliciana is available, I want Aly Loud to ride it out; we'll need her later in the season when Aliciana is on vacation.

Aly walks in three more runs and that's enough. I bring Aliciana back to the slab. Another run scores on a dropped third strike and then she strikes out two more to close it out. It's a win, but it was an ordeal, and now I have to worry if Aly Loud is messed up for good and our overreliance on Aliciana looks worse than ever.

In the second game, my plan is for Aliciana to go three innings (pitchers can go a max of six innings per day) and then bring in Aly Loud, who assures me she is OK to pitch another game. The first game ran long on time, and odds are real good Game 2 will be five innings at most.

Big Lucy is still gimping around the dugout. She had an ice pack on her leg for about a half hour, but now says she's OK to play.

The second game starts with Oak Valley as the "official home team" for scoring purposes, so we're up first, and do nothing. Aliciana strikes out the first two batters, walks two, the next is safe on an error, loading the bases, then strikes out another. The ball comes loose and Sasshy fires it down, a decent enough throw, to Ivy at first base. Ivy hasn't really ever played before, and here it shows; she waves limply at the ball as it sails by and rolls way way out to right field as the runners take off in a mass sprint.

For only the second time all season, we enter into a nightmare keystone kops sequence, with two or three more throwing errors, and before it's all done the batter has come all the way around on the mass-cluster. We're down 4-0. Aliciana's dad is smoking hot, sputtering stuff like "the worst shit I ever saw, four runners score on a third strikeout, etc etc.," and it even spreads to Aliciana, who snaps at Ivy, "Why don't you catch the damn ball?," loud enough for the whole park to hear.

All right. I beeline out to the slab and call Aliciana and Ivy in. Ivy is already in tears. "I'm sorry I messed up," she says. I say to Aliciana, "Look, people look up to you, you're a very good pitcher and everybody knows it. You have to show leadership here."
"But I struck the girl out and they let everybody score." Ivy's even further in tears.
"Nope, nobody 'let' anybody score. Nobody is trying to make errors, they are all trying to do the best they can. They made some mistakes but that happens. Yeah, you struck the kid out and we should have been out of it, but that didn't happen. Now let's get this next kid out and get up to bat, OK?"
They're both kinda OK, I guess. So I tell Aliciana, "When I go back to the dugout, you guys shake hands."
"Why?"
"Because everybody in the park saw and heard you yell at her, so I want them to see that it's all over and you are OK."
"Does that matter?"
"Yes, it matters. You may need her to field a ground ball on this play so she has to know you trust her."

OK, so they do. And sure enough the next batter scuffs a twisting grounder down the first base line and Ivy has to scoop it up, then tags the runner at the last second. We're out of the inning down 4-0.

First up the next inning is Aliciana, who fouls a fastball hard off her left wrist. She's bent over and in pain. In this league the rule is, if you are taken out of the game you are done for the game, so she doesn't want to come out. She's still holding onto her wrist, so I order her to strike out on purpose so she can return to the dugout for an ice pack.

We score twice to close it to 4-2, but then when we get ready to go back out, Aliciana's dad says she can't go. OK, Aly Loud is back in. Hoo boy. A quick 6-run max inning and we're down 10-2.

We push across a single run to narrow the margin to 10-3, but then the walkathon continues. StarSis asks, "you think you want to go with Alyanna?" and I say, "we gotta hope Aly can battle through." Four runs score and it's 14-3. It's getting dark.

Aliciana's dad has wrapped up her wrist in an ace bandage. A couple doctor dads have looked at her and declared, "no obvious fracture, not much swelling, the ice may have kept that down, ice it overnight and go to the doctor in the morning if it's still bad."

We're up and we get a rally going. We have a couple of runners on and Aliciana's spot comes up. If she leaves the game, she's not only out of the game, but her spot in the batting order is an automatic out the rest of the night. So she goes up to the plate hoping to draw a walk, but is called out looking.

But we keep the rally going and actually push across seven runs, with the bases loaded as slugger Kaera strikes out to end the 14-10 loss in near-total gloom.

What with the hot and gritty and grimy weather, the parade of injuries, the on-field foulups and dissention, it was one of those splits that felt like about four losses. We're 3-3 and it feels like about 3-8.

I'm actually presuming Aliciana's wrist isn't really hurt bad -- if it is, we're really screwed.









.

 

Watching the 8U Mini-Kittens last night going after their first win.

They take a 4-0 lead early, but fall behind 7-6 and the game is up on time limit.

Sis-7 is at bat, bases loaded, two out. She hits a hot shot to the left fielder playing on the edge of the grass. The tying run scores.

But no! The left fielder starts to sprint toward third base, as the runner from second comes in.

The two players step on the base virtually simultaneously, although the base runner appeared a half step ahead. It was a bang bang play that certainly could have been called either way.

Varsity Vinny, the offensive team coach doing the pitching and also making calls on the bases, yells "Out!" The plate umpire making the official ruling says, "ok, if you say so, she's out." Run cannot score on a forceout. Game over, they lose.

A couple observers gently ask, "what the fudge?," on the basis:

1) The runner was safe anyway.

2) Tie goes to the runner.

Vinny responds, "it's sportsmanship. I'm the home coach, so I have to give the visiting team the benefit of the doubt on all close calls."

Uh, no, actually "sportsmanship" means you make all calls as accurately as you can.

"It was close enough so I made sure to give the visiting team the benefit of the doubt."

Even to the point of screwing your own team?

"There are more important things than winning. The left fielder made a good play and should be rewarded for it."

Yes, very nice. What about the players on your own team, who needed to make a play to get the tying run in, and made it, shouldn't they be rewarded too?

"Oh this is only 8U softball, winning doesn't really matter."

Uh huh. Getting a little easier to figure out how the varsity went 4-24 this year.

 

The Mini-Kittens finally posted a win Friday night, 9-6, with Sis-7 going 3-3 and scoring three runs and pulling off an unassisted triple play -- caught a line drive at third, tagging the runner from second, then sprinting cross diamond when the runner from first brain farted and stopped dead in her tracks midway between bases.

Varsity Vinny went back to his gracious host routine in the last inning, calling four runners from Tomsville safe on 50-50 plays, allowing them to close the margin from 9-1 to 9-6, but finally their third out struck out.

Everybody got dunked with the ice water bucket afterward, but who cares about winning, it's only 8U softball, right?

 

I love the recaps, but I think Varsity Vinny had it right on the 7-6 game. Sorry.

 

Fooey. "Sportsmanship" doesn't mean you screw your own team on all close calls.

That's screwing the kids on your own team, just as it would be screwing the visitors if you decided you were gonna give all the close calls to your team.

 

Anyway. While tomorrow night the Mini-Kitties play a return game at Tomsville, the PowerCats will be at Mohawk Hills to take on the 0-2 Chiefs.

With a lineup of 9 players. Got email today that big Kaera is out of town, so my lineup duties are much simplified.

Ace pitcher Aliciana will be here, but No. 2 pitcher Aly Loud will be gone. So No. 3 Aliyana will have to go a few innings at least.

 

Well, it was the week from hell for the PowerCats in Starrville Youth Softball, which featured:

• Last-minute drama over whether we would field a team against Mohawk Hills, and frantic last-minute GM maneuvers with League Prez Larry and Coach Mike (our St. Sissy basketball assistant) and his 10U KrazyKats for a couple of emergency call-ups to get a team on the field;
• A medium-volume rainstorm damping down the field at Mohawk;
• Aliciana continuing her dominant pitching performance with another no-hitter, and continuing to slug the ball at bat;
• Continued head-case behavior from Big Lucy, including pouting because she doesn't get to catch and dragging into the dugout 20 minutes after the game starts;
• The last-second arrival of two players for our games Wednesday, nearly resulting in a disastrous forfeit to one of the league tail-enders;
  
• A partial return to form for Alyanna, our one-time No. 2 pitcher dropped to No. 3 by about 800 walks and the emergence of No. 2 Aly Loud, off on vacation to the East Coast this week; Alyanna still walked a lot of people but did get some outs and got through a few innings. That could be a huge boost in the tourney, if we have one dominant pitcher and two serviceable ones;
  
• Four big wins over Mohawk Hills and Ramsville, boosting our record to 7-3 and into a dogfight for the division lead made even crazier by a double-tie doubleheader Thursday between Oak Valley and Dannsburg (3-3 and 5-5). That leaves Dannsburg at 6-0-2, Reese City 6-2, OV 6-2-2, and us 7-3.

This week, we'll mostly decide our own fate; we meet Reese City Monday and then Dannsburg on Tuesday. If we can win 3 of those 4 games, we'll be in the race to the end. If we sweep, we're kinda in the driver's seat. But we're battling from behind; Dannsburg has 4 games left against Mohawk Hills and Rammsville, who have proven to be the dregs of the league, so we're not likely to get any help from anybody else.

There are 29 teams altogether in the SBSA 12U Lower League, in divisions of 7, 7, 7 and 8 teams. At the end of the season they'll split into three tiers of 10-10-9 for the league tournaments (double elimination) based on regular-season record.

Right now, we're right on the borderline between Tier I and Tier II. The tourney seedings are set after the games of this week. Frankly I would much much much rather be in Tier II, because one of the three undefeated (10-0) teams in the North Division is Kaycee's Kats, who have turned out to be just as much of a juggernaut as everyone expected. I really want no part of them. Tier II we probably can win, but ain't no way we're beating Kacee's Kats if they're throwing their aces.

So even though mathematically we could still go 13-3, I'd probably be just as happy going about 11-5 and leading the top of that second tier tourney. And although we certainly are playing better, I have no delusions of grandeur that our sudden winning streak isn't mainly due to our playing the two bottom teams of the league.

 

And just as all this got under way on Tuesday night, in the drizzly rain at Mohawk Hills, the field of screams became the field of real screams as Sis B, the slightly-better of the terrible twins, the anchor of our SS-2B combo, and our leading hitter at .545 (and OBP of .722), skids on a wet and slippery home plate scoring a run and breaks both the fibia and tibia in her left leg.

I don't even really see the injury; I'm trying to get the position board straightened out amid the fire drill of late-arriving players and players called up from the 10U team. But Sis B leads off the game with a single, steals second and third, then comes in on a single by Sis A.

And then she's lying on the ground.

It's the first injury, in probably 20 seasons of sports coaching stretched over 30 years, I've ever had that required a player to be taken to the hospital. One of the team dads happens to be an orthopedic surgeon, performs the on-site exam, then helps StarSis load Sis B into the car, and they're off to the ER.

So I get to manage the rest of the doubleheader while getting text message updates on the injury, and gradually breaking the news to first Sis A and then the rest of the team.

Sis A seems steady, but I know she's shaken. It's the first time in the twins' lives that one has had to be rushed to the ER while the other stays behind.

StarSis and Sis-Hub are at the hospital nearly five hours as the ER crew and orthopedic surgeons set the bones. At about 1 a.m, they arrive home as Sis B hobbles in on a thigh-high cast. Sis A, already in bed a couple hours, sprints down the stairs and helps her sister to the couch.

We actually manage two wins, 9-8 and 13-4. Sis B's run was the go-ahead run in the first game, she reminds everybody. She asks if she can be the assistant coach now.

The doctors say she should be in the cast 4-6 weeks. School volleyball starting in September, they say "maybe." But she should be fine by the time basketball gets going in November.

The next night we're right back in action in Rammsville and take a couple more wins, 6-0 behind a 12K no-hitter by Aliciana in the first game, and 15-5 in a mercy rule romp in the second as Alyanna, who seemed a lost cause a week or so ago, pitches decently. The team records a video song for Sis B after the games.

 

I don't really know dick about coaching kids' softball, but Varsity Vinny needs to be taken out behind the woodshed.

 

He keeps going 4-24 with the varsity, he'll be coaching 8U full time.

He kind of exemplifies the clash between the Vince Lombardi/Bobby Knight Hell-bent-for-leather bunch and the lah-dee-dah everybody-gets cupcakes brigade.

It's ok to say "it's only kids softball, winning's not a big deal," but not "who gives a shit, nobody cares if you win."