The Cycle

Had a game against one of the lesser experienced teams recently.  As usual, I tried to overweight my infield to be my players needing more development, to try to keep the game competitive.  There's not much I can do about our hitting.  I'm not going to tell the girls to miss on purpose or not take extra bases when the ball's in the outfield.  They need to practice the right base-running skills when appropriate.

The game was more lopsided than expected.  We won 25-1.  S had a big day at the plate.  She started with a double.  2nd at bat was a home run.  Given that there is no fence, you have to just keep running to get the home run and it was hit so far back, that it took them two relays to make it into the infield.  At that point, she was already crossing home.  Actually, it was a Grand Slam.  This allowed us to get 9 runs in the inning, as we had 5, bases loaded and two outs, so her at bat would end the inning no matter what happened (6 run rule).
Later in the game, she was held to a single, as the outfielder stopped the ball just into the grass and no one could safely advance beyond one base.  She was put out on a sharp hit to 2nd, that the player made a nice stop on during her next at bat.  In the final at bat, she completed the cycle with another long hit to the outfield resulting in a triple.  It still took two relays to get the ball back and if it had been a close game, we'd have been telling her to go home.  She rounded 3rd and saw the ball coming in to the cutoff and stopped.  She claims that she knew she had hit for the cycle, but when I mentioned that she had a grand slam, she didn't know that.

Was an exciting day, but it only lasts until the next game, sometimes.

K's Big Day

K had a big Mother's Day.  She went for a run/jog with mom, a pitching clinic with dad and then a lacrosse game in the afternoon.  During that lacrosse game, she made great passes, hustled to the ball and had her first ever goal (two actually) and an assist.  Her 1st goal created the 1st lead that her young team has had all season.  It didn't lead to a win, but they stayed close.  No crazy lacrosse coaches to complain about.  Despite the very chilly, windy conditions, it was a pleasure to be out there watching her play.  She gave mom a terrific Mother's Day.

The View from the Sidelines

Spent the weekend on the sidelines.  This allowed me to watch other coaches and indulge one of my other hobbies, sports photography. 

The girls and I went to watch a couple soccer games of some of their classmates/former teammates.  We happened to see two games where our teams were significantly better than their opponents.  Despite this, the games were not a showcase of soccer talent.  The A-level team played sloppily, but still won 5-1.  Relatively easy scoring chances were missed due to inaccurate shots or literally missing the ball during the attempt.  It was their first win (one loss and two ties), so they were happy with it, but I could see that the coaches were frustrated.

The C-level team (who seem to be in the wrong level, based on their comfortable wins in each game) had an ugly game.  The girls played well and the ball spent 95%+ of the time in their offensive end.  The half-time score was only 3-0, but it was clear that they were better.  One player on the other team seemed to be quickly frustrated by the game and started to "lead with the elbow" as she came into each play.  She essentially tackled and layed on one player to stop her from getting a shot, tugged on the shirts and had some general rough play.  In the 2nd half, she took a full kick at the ball, as our keeper had it in her hands.  That was enough for the young referee to pull her aside and explain the rules.  She didn't give her a yellow card, but it was clear that the message was received, as the player started to cry and needed to be replaced.  I hope the coach was able to use this as an opportunity to improve the player's respect for the rules, opponents, officials and teammates.

In that 2nd half, the our team purposely played with one less player, to try to even out the game.  I was okay with that, but it was also clear that the coach had told the girls not to shoot unless right in front of the goal.  I think that trying to manipulate the natural tendencies of the players at this age is a mistake.  I liked the "man-down" adjustment, but to get mad at a player for scoring on a breakaway is wrong.  When it happened, he pulled the player and she sat out for the rest of the game.

The game is for the kids, give them a challenge and let them play.

Rain/Bug outs

Due to some sort of stinging insect/bee infestation at the field and then a rain out, we had no softball games this week.  With the missed game last week due to the band event, it will be two weeks between games for us.  Feels like forever.

Another Over-coaching LAX game

Another game of LAX for K.  Another game against a much stronger opponent.  Another game in which the other coach refused to let the girls figure out the game for themselves.  He was literally on the field telling them which player to pass to and when.  They were up by 3-4 goals early and he continued to follow the play and give direction, 'pass to Susie.  go behind the net and pass to Jane.  now pass to Mia.  Mia, go shoot".  Our coaches are much more hands off.  There's probably a good middle ground, but seeing this obvious inequity was driving the spectating parents crazy.  I'm typically a very "into it" kind of coach/parent, but I had to be the one calming down the parents and explaining that we don't want a coach like we saw out there.  Had he been out there "coaching" them, 'look around for a pass.  what can you do with it to help out?  three passes before shooting', etc, I wouldn't have had an issue with it, even if our coaches said nothing.

Expected & Unexpected Victories

This week we had two softball games.  I expected a victory in the first one and it turned out to be better than expected, though that may not be a good thing. (more on that later)  The 2nd victory took place when I, nor K or S and another player could be at the game.  As the other team still had it's top players, I expected it to be a tough game.  The girls pulled it out.

Game 1

Playing a team of mostly 3rd graders, so I expected to win.  During the 1st two innings, with the coaches pitching, we were consistently hitting it harder than them and were leading 10-7 at the end.  It would have been 10-4, but one girl dropped three straight balls at 1st base, allowing the bases to get loaded and the inning to continue.
As we were playing against the team coached by the guy who runs the pitching clinics for the league, I knew we would be having the girls pitch at least two batters per inning.  S started the 3rd at pitcher and proceeded to strike out the 1st two batters she faced.  Considering that we have had trouble getting anyone to pitch it over the plate, this was big.  I then asked the other coach to start pitching, but he said that S should continue, since she was throwing strikes.  She then struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Unfortunately, because S pitched to more than the standard 2 batters, the other coach felt it okay to have his girl pitch to more than 2.  She was not as controlled and struck out one, then walked three straight.  The other coach then started pitching to my team and struck out a 2nd batter, before realizing that I should be pitching.  I then struck out the next batter.  Not our finest hour.
In the 4th, it was more of the same.  S struck out the 1st batter, walked the next after the 3rd strike was fouled off, got the next to ground to 1st and then struck out the next batter to end the inning.  The other coach's daughter then got to the mound and we got a single, a walk, a hit by pitch and a walk, before switching back to coach pitch and scored the max 6 runs in the inning.
In the 5th, K walked the 1st, got a ground out, then walked the next two before we switched.  We ended up getting out of that inning without a run scored and decided to call the game after 4.5 innings, with us winning 16-7.
S was great as a pitcher.  Unfortunately, neither she nor I want her to become a pitcher.  This led to some battles about attending future pitching clinics, since she is afraid that if they see her pitching, she won't be allowed to play a position (SS) during the travel team season.  They've mentioned how much they'd love to have S try pitching, because she has a strong arm and her results seem to play right into their very overt desires.  I've tried to tell her that I won't let that happen and we'd just find another team if necessary, but she's adamant about not pitching now.

Game 2

Game 2, in abstentia.  S&K and another strong player involved in school band, so we missed the game.  The remaining girls came through with a 17-14 win against a very strong team.  Wish I was there to see it, but I was still excited by the news.  I had already chalked it up to a loss, but the team held them scoreless in a couple innings (including the last) and that made the difference.  Their strongest player did some pitching for them and while she was throwing very hard, it wasn't controlled.  She hit a few batters and that caused some issues for our younger players.  They were afraid to face her.  Luckily, we limit the number of batters they face, so it was a temporary problem.