Valid Reasons for Pre-Adolescent Playing Up?

[HYP]

When my son was twelve we had a kid throwing 75 on our league team. His control was anywhere between thr pipes. My son was the only one who could catch him. In all-stars sections the kid threw a no hitter with sixteen Ks, seven walks and five HBP. There was only one fair ball hit. They got one out at home on a wild pitch.

The last time my son caught him in LL all-stars, when the game was over he said, "Thank God I don't have to go through that hell again." He was black and blue on his arms after the game. My son knew his future was at short. It turns out it was center by high school. The pitcher was a dud by high school. Never acquired any control and didn't get past 82. Didn't grow much after LL.

When my son was eleven the above kid was at 70. So was a 6'2" kid (in LL) who is now a college WR, a kid who is pitching in SEC. a kid who is pitching in the Big East and another kid who is playing outfield in the Big Ten. My son was only at 65.

The team that won states when my son was eleven had two kids throwing 70+. One recently signed out of high school for 1.3M. The other is catching in the Big East. The team that won states when he was twelve had three 70+. Two are pitching in the Big South. One was a dud by high school.

Sounds like the story of a team I coached. I had a kid throwing 75 at 12. In the TOC, he struck out 16, walked only 2 and only 2 balls were put in play, which we made an error on one of them. We lost 2-1. Both runs were scored on passed balls because my catcher was struggling with catching him that day. Runner on first both times, got passed balled all the way around. Funny thing was, their pitcher had 14 K's and we scored our run on a passed ball. Not a very offensive day.

At the end of the game our catchers index finger and palm were swollen and black and blue but he didn't say anything.

[mudvnine]

Sounds like the story of a team I coached. I had a kid throwing 75 at 12. In the TOC, he struck out 16, walked only 2 and only 2 balls were put in play, which we made an error on one of them. We lost 2-1. Both runs were scored on passed balls because my catcher was struggling with catching him that day. Runner on first both times, got passed balled all the way around. Funny thing was, their pitcher had 14 K's and we scored our run on a passed ball. Not a very offensive day.

At the end of the game our catchers index finger and palm were swollen and black and blue but he didn't say anything.

Pitching is usually the difference in a winning team 12U and younger vs. those that are just "good".....hell, guess that could be said about any age group for that matter.

Our 12U Bronco team had four pitchers throw 72+ with our #1 topping out at 75 (he was 92+ last year in HS and signed with one of the best SoCal D1 programs).....only thing, all but one could pound the strike zone.

This team went 46-3 enroute to their only loss in PONY tournament play in the final game of the WS, even though it was a double-elimination format.....go figure.
Lost a lot of respect for PONY baseball after their decision, just because they only had local TV broadcasting for that final "championship" game. Travesty IMO.

[tg643]

Pitching is usually the difference in a winning team 12U and younger vs. those that are just "good".....hell, guess that could be said about any age group for that matter.

Our 12U Bronco team had four pitchers throw 72+ with our #1 topping out at 75 (he was 92+ last year in HS and signed with one of the best SoCal D1 programs).....only thing, all but one could pound the strike zone.

This team went 46-3 enroute to their only loss in PONY tournament play in the final game of the WS, even though it was a double-elimination format.....go figure.
Lost a lot of respect for PONY baseball after their decision, just because they only had local TV broadcasting for that final "championship" game. Travesty IMO.

The best defense is 10-12 strikeouts per game.

[Jake Patterson]

Posts deleted - Back to baseball please.