Summer Softball

The girls started Summer softball last night.  Going to be hard to just be a spectator, not a coach.  Last night was worse, since I was the fill-in for the no-show umpire.  Hard to keep objectivity when it's your own kids.  The change in rules was confusing for some of the girls.  As they get older, the rules get closer to "real" rules; stealing, advancing on overthrows, bunting, etc.  They are still modified right now, but it's less modified than the in-town recreational league.

It's not an All-Star team in any way.  This is just a group of kids that have expressed a desire to play more.  I wonder if the desire comes from the parents in some of the kids.  I watch them stand in the field and have no reaction as a ball is missed by a teammate and rolls past them.  The coach reminded one player at 3rd base that if the ball went past the catcher, the runner could steal 3rd and the player would need to be ready to receive the ball from the catcher and make the tag.  Next pitch went by the catcher, runner advanced to 3rd, catcher started to make the throw, then stopped, since the 3rd baseman never moved from her spot to cover the bag.  She looked bewildered that the ball hadn't gone back to the pitcher yet.  Given that, I suppose the fact that the left fielder never moved into position as a backup on the throw is understandable.  Our SS, (S) did move to be the backup and then went to the bag, when she saw that the 3rd baseman hadn't moved, but it was too late at that point.

Yeah, I'm going to be sticking myself into this team one way or another, I can tell.

Lineups Matter

Thanks to a lightning storm, our Thursday game was cancelled.  This gave us the 1st place seed overall and allowed me to play the lesser experienced girls in the key positions on Friday.  I was also missing one of my top players, so effectively, two strong players would be out for each inning as I would have 11 players available for just 10 spots.  We struggled to put together outs in a consistent manner and fell behind quickly due to a 6-run 2nd inning.  I admit that started to waiver on my strategy and let some of the top kids play the infield for the last two innings, to see if we could come back.  This combination of 3rd & 4th graders was able to hold the team to just 1 run in the last two innings, but our bats fell short by one run in the big comeback.

The next day, we played the same team in the Semi-final game of the playoffs.  Using a lineup designed to put the players in their best positions (but still sitting everyone equally, as I'd have 12 players for 10 spots), we were up early and it was never close.  11-3 after four innings and the game was called at that point due to time limit and rain.

The rain forced the championship game to be moved to Sunday.  This had an unexpected benefit to me as my weakest player failed to show.  This would allow me to not sit anyone from my top 5 fielders.  As the other team had all 12 players, their top players would need to sit for one inning each.  The combination of good defense from both sides and that lineup difference led to a 5-2 victory.  The final game was a nail-biter, as no one scored more than two runs in an inning.  We had the bases loaded with no outs, but a base running boo-boo on a pop fly put us at 1st and 3rd with two outs.  We were able to get one run from the inning, but it wasn't enough to make us feel comfortable.

Speaking of feeling comfortable....This was the 1st time that the girls had experienced playing for a "championship" and you could tell (and they admitted to) the girls were nervous.  No one wanted to make a mistake that cost the game.  It was interesting to see the effect of competition on a team that was designed for instructional/recreational games.  The close score added to the intensity, so it was up to the coaches to keep the girls relaxed and "brushing off" any mistakes.  Of course, that meant calming our own competitive nerves.  I think we did okay.

Last week of Softball

Been on vacation and just slowly catching up.

We're now in our last week of softball.  The results from other teams and our own games almost worked out perfectly.  We haven't lost in awhile and if last night's game between #2 and #3 had gone the other way, we would have been assured of the #1 spot for the season.  Now, we have to win/tie one of our last two games.  Should be possible, but I was really hoping to go into these games with no expectations and simply let the less experienced kids play all the key positions.  I'll go with a balanced line-up for the 1st night and then adjust based on the results.

Saturday is the big playoff.  We will be going for the win, not a balanced team.  Will be a new thing for the girls as these games will have a strict time limit.  Therefore, need to get a lead early, as there won't be a lot of innings.