2023 Youth Baseball Thread - Fungo, BP & Bullpens!

[BrazilHorn 6792]

Figured I would start a new thread for the new calendar year vs rolling over last year's.

Baseball season is here! My kids have aged out of LL but are still playing.

Here's to all the coaches, parents and kids playing the best game out there!

My oldest son pitched two innings in a scrimmage Tuesday and struck out five so he is picking off where he left off as a Freshman.

Youngest son had a scrimmage Saturday and went 2-5 with a HBP in there as well. First year playing on the big field and wearing metal spikes so he is pretty pumped.

I had dinner with the dad I had coached LL with the last couple of years and we both agree it is bittersweet not being in LL anymore. For those of you that still are, enjoy it, such a fun time.

 

[Fletch 5817]

If you need a good batting practice pitcher for kids, hit up @B00M. He's only beaned me about 40 times in the cages.

[BrazilHorn 6792]

One of my older son's teammates took a line drive to the face while throwing BP earlier this week. Had net up but I guess came off mound and somehow his face peeked out. Has to have surgery as line drive resulted in numerous broken facial bones. Really sucks for him as he will miss rest of season.

[B00M 6725]

59 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

One of my older son's teammates took a line drive to the face while throwing BP earlier this week. Had net up but I guess came off mound and somehow his face peeked out. Has to have surgery as line drive resulted in numerous broken facial bones. Really sucks for him as he will miss rest of season.

Pro tip: It’s much safer to drill the batter until they lose interest in BP

[Jshep34 2425]

That sucks. That's my biggest fear with kid pitch. Some coaches teach whip leg around to create velo but it leaves pitcher unable to defend themselves.

[Spaulding Smails 1610]

Bummer, @BrazilHorn.  I took a ricochet in the face when I was in HS throwing BP in a cage.  No fun.  Can't imagine a line drive from 30' away.

My son is officially done with LL and spring select.  On to HS baseball as a freshman.  He pitched an intersquad game this week against JV and said he went 2 IPs with a walk and 4 Ks.  Getting lots of reps at 1B and in the OF as well.  A few more scrimmages, then first tourney next weekend. 

It's bittersweet.  I do miss coaching LL and select ball was fun, but holy crap it's nice to not have to take your kid to practice twice a week or have every weekend booked solid until June.  We can actually fish this spring!  Just pick him up from the HS after practice, and show up to watch games.  Not to mention saving $$$.  He's been playing with / against this group in LL and select since he was in tee ball.  It's pretty awesome that they're all finally on the same team now.  Good bunch of kids, and I think they'll be pretty solid this year.  

[BrazilHorn 6792]

So our 13U select team should 100% be AAA. 
Welp all the AAA slots were full for this weekend’s tournament so we were slotted in AA. 
Went 5-0 and scored 81 runs while allowing 1. 
Had two games today (including championship) called in bottom of 1st with our team still batting. 
Glad boys won, glad no one got hurt but I look forward to playing AAA/Majors teams. The team is good, but not 81-1 good. 

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

38 minutes ago, BrazilHorn said:

So our 13U select team should 100% be AAA. 
Welp all the AAA slots were full for this weekend’s tournament so we were slotted in AA. 
Went 5-0 and scored 81 runs while allowing 1. 
Had two games today (including championship) called in bottom of 1st with our team still batting. 
Glad boys won, glad no one got hurt but I look forward to playing AAA/Majors teams. The team is good, but not 81-1 good. 

That sounds like a huge waste of time and money for all involved.

[BrazilHorn 6792]

12 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

That sounds like a huge waste of time and money for all involved.

100% agree. Was really boring weekend. 
Coach said AAA spots full so we played AA. Was team’s first tournament together so hopefully going forward we are put where we should be. 

[Jshep34 2425]

Played our first aaa 10u tournament. Kids went 4-1 all 4 wins by 1 run and come from behind wins. Lilshep went 5 for 10. 1 single, 3 doubles, 1 triple. Got robbed of 2 extra hits by some really great defense. Pitched 3 scoreless innings also. Beyond proud of stepping up and delivering in several clutch situations

[FigurelliPwC 115]

On 2/26/2023 at 10:43 PM, BrazilHorn said:

So our 13U select team should 100% be AAA. 
Welp all the AAA slots were full for this weekend’s tournament so we were slotted in AA. 
Went 5-0 and scored 81 runs while allowing 1. 
Had two games today (including championship) called in bottom of 1st with our team still batting. 
Glad boys won, glad no one got hurt but I look forward to playing AAA/Majors teams. The team is good, but not 81-1 good. 

Looks like our boys are playing each other on Saturday.  Let’s hope we go more than 1 inning….tell ‘em to go easy on us!

[BrazilHorn 6792]

8 minutes ago, FigurelliPwC said:

Looks like our boys are playing each other on Saturday.  Let’s hope we go more than 1 inning….tell ‘em to go easy on us!

I saw that. Last weekend was a one time deal. Couldn’t believe how diluted AA was. Looking forward to this weekend as win or lose will be competitive. Also there’s a good coffee shop down Pecan st that has good breakfast sandwich. 

[FigurelliPwC 115]

1 hour ago, BrazilHorn said:

I saw that. Last weekend was a one time deal. Couldn’t believe how diluted AA was. Looking forward to this weekend as win or lose will be competitive. Also there’s a good coffee shop down Pecan st that has good breakfast sandwich. 

The Pflugerville fields are pretty terrible, especially for the catchers.  They’ll adapt.  We hit Brotherton’s BBQ between games last weekend, good spot.  I’ll have to try the coffee shop out.

[Mez2 4041]

Good luck to all you guys playing in the NIT down in Houston this weekend, should be a great weekend for baseball. 

[Tylerocks 2580]

Cruising around social media and came across a friends nephew.  They're a baseball family.

He's 14 (8th grade) and 6'2" 190 lbs.

Wtf is in the water these days?

Edited March 3, 2023 by Tylerocks

[kmac30 416]

Went with this team in the fall. Slowly I’ve been realizing the coach has some issues.

9U, my kid thought he saw the bunt sign with a runner on 2nd. Laid down a great bunt, almost beat it out but was called out. Kid from 2nd scored. After the inning coach told me he didn’t give bunt sign. Bunt is bill of cap. He touched his cap. 9 yr old got confused. After the game he calls me to tell me how big a deal it was because “he took the bat out of our best hitters hands.” I told him what my kid said - he thought he got the sign. Let’s move on. Missed signs happen at all levels.

So this morning I have a text saying “checked the video, didn’t give the sign. Also, after he told me he didn’t get bunt sign”. (I don’t believe the second part. I spoke with my kid about it. He’s a smart kid and doesn’t miss much.)

Game is over. We have kids miss signs all day long. I replied to this last one with “ok”. We play at 3 today.

Am I crazy thinking he’s crazy? I know he hasn’t mentioned missed signs to any other parent. It’s pissing me off.

[BrazilHorn 6792]

16 minutes ago, kmac30 said:

Went with this team in the fall. Slowly I’ve been realizing the coach has some issues.

9U, my kid thought he saw the bunt sign with a runner on 2nd. Laid down a great bunt, almost beat it out but was called out. Kid from 2nd scored. After the inning coach told me he didn’t give bunt sign. Bunt is bill of cap. He touched his cap. 9 yr old got confused. After the game he calls me to tell me how big a deal it was because “he took the bat out of our best hitters hands.” I told him what my kid said - he thought he got the sign. Let’s move on. Missed signs happen at all levels.

So this morning I have a text saying “checked the video, didn’t give the sign. Also, after he told me he didn’t get bunt sign”. (I don’t believe the second part. I spoke with my kid about it. He’s a smart kid and doesn’t miss much.)

Game is over. We have kids miss signs all day long. I replied to this last one with “ok”. We play at 3 today.

Am I crazy thinking he’s crazy? I know he hasn’t mentioned missed signs to any other parent. It’s pissing me off.

You should tell him teaching kids at 9U to bunt is bitchass baseball anyway. 
Have them learn to be hitters.  When they’re older and base paths longer and runs lower there’s plenty of time for small-ball. 
Fuck bunting at 9.

Also tell him you watched the video and he still looks like a sensitive penis tip arguing over a simple mistake. 

[Tylerocks 2580]

40 minutes ago, kmac30 said:

Went with this team in the fall. Slowly I’ve been realizing the coach has some issues.

9U, my kid thought he saw the bunt sign with a runner on 2nd. Laid down a great bunt, almost beat it out but was called out. Kid from 2nd scored. After the inning coach told me he didn’t give bunt sign. Bunt is bill of cap. He touched his cap. 9 yr old got confused. After the game he calls me to tell me how big a deal it was because “he took the bat out of our best hitters hands.” I told him what my kid said - he thought he got the sign. Let’s move on. Missed signs happen at all levels.

So this morning I have a text saying “checked the video, didn’t give the sign. Also, after he told me he didn’t get bunt sign”. (I don’t believe the second part. I spoke with my kid about it. He’s a smart kid and doesn’t miss much.)

Game is over. We have kids miss signs all day long. I replied to this last one with “ok”. We play at 3 today.

Am I crazy thinking he’s crazy? I know he hasn’t mentioned missed signs to any other parent. It’s pissing me off.

This would have garnered a laughing emoji along with the "ok"

[FigurelliPwC 115]

There are quite a few select coaches that are over the top win at all costs type.  Don’t understand how the parents let them scream at their kids and shout them down in front of everyone over minor mistakes, rather than teaching them the right way in a positive manner.  Played a Canes team yesterday where the coach was like that - overly intense, mistakes made were life & death…trips to the mound he would be pointing demonstrably at a kid the entire walk, then chewing them out once he got there.  Same coach  had the game called 8 minutes early to help their seed (our team was up 3, but we had the bases loaded with no outs, so he had it called to prevent more runs from scoring.  He could have tried to get out of the inning quickly and we had time for another inning.)

We’ve been lucky to have very good, positive coaches for all but one season.  The season that went awry the coach was not retained but it was too late - all but 2 of the kids changed teams.

[BrazilHorn 6792]

Another tournament weekend in the books. Team moved to AAA after the AA Championship last week. Promptly went 0-2 on Saturday (both games lost by 1 run). Good close, winnable games that could have gone either way. Congrats to @FigurelliPwC and his son's team for beating my kiddo's team yesterday.

So team was put in Consolation bracket and won both games today fairly easily. One of the teams had a super obnoxious dad that was yelling at our kids pretty much all game and just basically acting the fool. Beating that team in the first game was pretty sweet.

For today my son had 2 Doubles, 2 Singles & 5 RBIs.

All in all good day at the office. Went 2-2 in their first AA tournament scoring 31 runs and allowing 24.

Think they will be good, solid, middle of the pack AAA team that plays some good, competitive baseball games.

Have break until 25th. Will be in Park City enjoying some snow.

Hope all had good baseball weekend!!

 

[kmac30 416]

This guy was a good coach until he got paranoid thinking parents who were trying to help him were trying to run things. Could not have been farther from the truth. So coach has started a private chat with 3 or 4 sets of parents and created a divide in our team so bad, after the first tournament we already have families talking of bailing.

We will definitely be looking for a new team after spring. Sad.

[TonyTexas 10683]

21 hours ago, kmac30 said:

This guy was a good coach until he got paranoid thinking parents who were trying to help him were trying to run things.

So you’re telling us the parents were trying to run things. 

[Had Enough 2108]

My experience is that I’m not sure how many great ones are out there. Some weird stuff happens.

[kmac30 416]

So you’re telling us the parents were trying to run things. 

No. He had a group of parents trying to help him (keeping track of $, raise $, set up separate bank account - he’s using his personal account). He thought they were trying to take things over. No one wanted to take anything over from him. He was on board for all of it. Then a parent who he trusts didn’t understand why any of this was a good idea.

[UncleBuck 6455]

8 hours ago, kmac30 said:

No. He had a group of parents trying to help him (keeping track of $, raise $, set up separate bank account - he’s using his personal account). He thought they were trying to take things over. No one wanted to take anything over from him. He was on board for all of it. Then a parent who he trusts didn’t understand why any of this was a good idea.

Just when I start thinking maybe we should get The Boy to try out for the local select team, I see it can be funky over there too, huh?

Our coach in little league (majors) this year has maybe one year experience. Drafted blind 'cos he doesn't really know any of the kids 'cos he's been out of town for a couple of years. Already had his staff picked out before talking to any of the parents who might have wanted to help, except for one. The other two assistants don't have kids on the team, and after two practices I've only seen one of them, for the last 20 minutes of the first practice. This guy has like four boys between him and his wife's kids who could play on the team, but apparently all four were not greatful enough for the things they have so they're teaching them a lesson. They're at practice and available to run bases etc... or whatever, but like, it's still really weird. 

Then the coach's son is not really good, but there's another kid on the team who is actually worse, who honestly looks like he's never played baseball before. Like EVER. Kid runs around with his glove and hand sticking out, hunched over, like he's going to shovel up the ball up from 15 feet away. Can't throw. I feel terrible for this kid, like I almost want to pull him to the side and work with him solo, because he's too far behind to really learn with where all of the other boys are at, and it's not fair to the whole team to slow down practice that much for him. I wonder if his parents really thought this through. He's probably at coach-pitch level. He at least needs to be with the minors kids. 

Then to top it all off, in the group text this week the coach says he wants us wearing the long pants because -and I'm not making this up- "we're going to be sliding!"

Luckily there's a strong group of dads here. We can help a lot. But I dunno, it's kinda scary right now. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by UncleBuck

[Jshep34 2425]

Lilshep continues to run thru 10u hitters. 27 innings 3 walks. 44 k's. Era at 1.67, whip of .88. Strike percentage 78%. He doesn't overpower teams alot. He just hits his spots at will. Throws his curve ball for strikes. At this age most kids are looking for a walk. Told him may have to change his name to lilmaddux.

[UTPhil2006 3909]

42 minutes ago, Jshep34 said:

Lilshep continues to run thru 10u hitters. 27 innings 3 walks. 44 k's. Era at 1.67, whip of .88. Strike percentage 78%. He doesn't overpower teams alot. He just hits his spots at will. Throws his curve ball for strikes. At this age most kids are looking for a walk. Told him may have to change his name to lilmaddux.

Willing to let my lil Shep autograph go for 10k. Get in now while it’s still low 

[HOOKEM4 5151]

Oops 

Edited April 25, 2023 by HOOKEM4

[Murfdogg21 4548]

There’s no 2023 Little League thread, but coaching kball and CP6 this year has been full of those moments where you know this is as good as it gets. This is my fourth season with the older one (fall/spring tball, fall/spring CP6). Every year I seem to get a disproportionate number of kids who never played before and kids with varying levels of autism. We won 2-3 games per season up until now, and they usually only give me 3 or 4 players from a previous season and the rest are noobs. This squad of misfit kindergarteners are hitting 10-12 hit off the pitch per game and learned how to turn quick outs at first and third. Last night we upset the #3 team in the second round of the playoffs. There’s no game like it. 
 

[HOOKEM4 5151]

My oldest isn't very athletic and sort of got screwed with covid cancelling everything and his parents not forcing sports so he didnt get into sports until he was on the older side. He finally started playing baseball this year and has gone from completely lost to actually decent. He is the youngest kid on his team and was literally 1 week from being able to play in 10u. So here we are, in 12u and never played baseball. He is in the playoffs and he got is first hit ever (rbi as well) today and scored the winning run. He practices every night with his brother and I am a proud dad with his efforts. My youngest is killing it in 8u and it makes me very happy his older brother is working his tail off to figure it out in the much tougher 12u division.

[Planet Houston 4949]

^^ that’s awesome. Part of what being a dad is all about. 

My son loves baseball and he’s in his last year of machine pitch. His team is really good defensively but they have never been able to get the bats in sync in a game. One kid will hit, then 3 will strike out. Next game, another kid hits and the middle of the lineup can’t do anything.

Our single-elimination playoffs started this weekend, and they finally came together like we knew they could. Won 14-3…I’m hoping we go on a run here this week. Little league is awesome. 

[HOOKEM4 5151]

Anyone else secretly happy when the season ends?  My son killed it in allstars and had a blast. They had a brutal road today because they lost their first tournament game. Pretty sure half the team spent all day in the sun before that first game because they looked tired. Two days later, they would have to win 5 games in a row (3 back to back no break) today in this heat. They won 2 and almost came back and tied the 3rd game to go into a texas ot. The boys were all cooked. We have a photo after the game and you can see they are done from a simple photo. I am just glad to be done. But gd it was a fun ride. Until next time boys.

Edited June 25, 2023 by HOOKEM4
ousux

[wood 11747]

I'm an assistant on my 17 yo's 18U team. We're in the post-season tournament as the 8th seed in the Gold bracket. We were supposed to be #1 in the Silver bracket, but then the Gold #8 team dropped out for some reason, so we were elevated to Gold #8. First round was yesterday and we played the undefeated #1 seed. Beat 'em 22-5 for their first loss of the season. They came completely off the rails, fighting amongst themselves, etc. How these guys won a single game this year is utterly baffling to me. Guys doing/not doing obvious things all over the field, and the coaches said nothing at all. It was so bad that I wanted to tell the boys what to do, but of course I kept my mouth shut. It was surreal. It was 105 at game time. Maybe the heat did 'em in. /csb
 

[Huckleberry 34407]

Majors state tournaments over the next few days. 

Texas East: 

Bellaire vs. Groves National, Washington County vs. Needville 

Texas West: 

Northside Suburban (SA) vs. Corpus Christi National, Midland Northern vs. Westside (FW)

[Jshep34 2425]

We left team we had been with for 3 years. Asst coach got to point of having a grudge. His kid was our starting ss but another kid took that spot. His kid was good for 2 to 4 errors a weekend. Add to it he would have emotional outburst , throw his equipment. I just got tired of it as did my kid.

[wood 11747]

I don't understand why so many coaches put up with shit like that and other things from the kids.

Respect the MFing game.

[bschoolprof 6335]

29 minutes ago, Jshep34 said:

We left team we had been with for 3 years. Asst coach got to point of having a grudge. His kid was our starting ss but another kid took that spot. His kid was good for 2 to 4 errors a weekend. Add to it he would have emotional outburst , throw his equipment. I just got tired of it as did my kid.

That's the main downside to Daddy ball.  

[Surly Bevo 25655]

A couple of Thursdays ago one of the FIVE coaches on the team my son's 16U team was playing in a Five Tool event got tossed for arguing balls and strikes.  This was after he had already yelled at one of his players across the field that he ran like a girl (in truth the kid should have had a triple but that's not the way to address it) Then the kid threw his batting gloves at the coach while he was also tossing away his elbow protector.  Then two parents got thrown out a few innings later for riding the ump's ass (they got a warning before)  My kid's team won 2-0.  People are assholes...it's fucking HS summer ball "pool play"

Edited July 14, 2023 by Surly Bevo

[Huckleberry 34407]

Yeah it's absolutely ridiculous. On my son's high school JV summer team an opposing parent almost got kicked out for riding the ump. A few things about that. One, their team sucks and was getting blown out anyway. Two, the ump was actually good and had called more walks on our pitchers than theirs at that point. Three, when the ump turned around and told him that was enough his accent made it hilarious when he said "I've had just about enough of your lip." Finally, you'll all be shocked to learn that the dumbass's son was pitching when he went too far. 

On the other hand sometimes it's hard not to say something. My son got rung up on a high fastball a little while back and I have a video of it crossing the plate even with his mouth. Not an exaggeration. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Huckleberry

[Surly Bevo 25655]

1 minute ago, Huckleberry said:

Yeah it's absolutely ridiculous. On my son's high school JV summer team an opposing parent almost got kicked out for riding the ump. A few things about that. One, their team sucks and was getting blown out anyway. Two, the ump was actually good and had called more walks on our pitchers than theirs at that point. Three, when the ump turned around and told him that was enough his accent made it hilarious when he said "I've had just about enough of your lip." Finally, you'll all be shocked to learn that the dumbass's son was pitching when he went too far. 

On the other hand sometimes it's hard not to say something. My son got rung up on a high fastball a little while back and I have a video of it crossing the plate even with his mouth. Not an exaggeration. 

Oh yea, the umps can be pretty bad but about all that is warranted is at most something like "c'mon blue" and then move on.  

[Huckleberry 34407]

2 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Oh yea, the umps can be pretty bad but about all that is warranted is at most something like "c'mon blue" and then move on.  

Yeah in that example I didn't even say anything, just chuckled. It helped that the pitcher gave a disbelieving laugh, the umpire kind of looked straight down at the ground when he realized his call had been so bad that even the guy who benefited from it was laughing. 

[Surly Bevo 25655]

5 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Yeah in that example I didn't even say anything, just chuckled. It helped that the pitcher gave a disbelieving laugh, the umpire kind of looked straight down at the ground when he realized his call had been so bad that even the guy who benefited from it was laughing. 

Yea a lot of them know.  My son even got the very rare mid-AB apology from an ump a few weeks back at a Showcase thing down near College Station (now he didn't retract his call of course) but after calling a strike that was just above his ankles he said, "yea I'm sorry I forgot you are 6'3"."  Most of them are weekend warriors trying to earn a little cash and doing the best that they can. 

In Keller ISD the district AD visits every baseball/softball pre-season parent meeting to say a few things, one of which is "guys we have a major ump shortage issue, they are not gonna be perfect and you are going to occasionally see some horrific calls.  I know you care but we need you to let the coaches on the field handle it." 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Surly Bevo

[Jshep34 2425]

Daddy ball is the true downfall of any youth sport.

[Huckleberry 34407]

Needville won Texas East, Midland Northern win Texas West

Southwest Region tournament starts 8/3. 

Game 1 - Needville vs. Starkville (MS)

Game 2 - Midland Northern vs. Three Rivers (CO)

Game 3 - Ascension Parish (LA) vs. Roadrunner (NM)

Game 4 - Tulsa National (OK) vs. Junior Deputy Baseball (AR)

[Huckleberry 34407]

I'm not sure if @pepper brooks's son is playing this year but West U is in the Senior League Southwest Regional championship game tonight in Seguin. They lost to Weslaco (Texas West champ) but beat New Braunfels (host team) to get to a rematch for the right to advance to the SLBWS. Yes, the last three teams in the Southwest region were all from Texas. 

https://www.littleleague.org/world-series/2023/slbws/tournaments/southwest-region/

[Huckleberry 34407]

Weslaco defeated West U last night to win the senior league Southwest Region.

[torre 1293]

LLB Southwest Region Tournament - Little League

 

Schedule for Southwest Region which started today in Waco.    As Huckleberry states above,  Needville won Texas East,  Midland Northern Texas West.

All games on LHN.

[torre 1293]

Texas East (Needville) vs Louisiana (Gonzales),  12PM*, 8 Aug, ESPN,  for a trip to Williamsport.

 

Gonzales is about half way between BR and NO.   Gonzales had to play an extra game in defeating Tulsa 8-7.   Needville is rested and ready and defeated Gonzales 3-0 Sunday.

* - verify 12PM start.  Saw other times reported.

[Jshep34 2425]

Lilshep competed in all state texas majors tournament this weekend. He made a goal to be good enough to be selected and he did. He played against some really talented 10 year-olds. He was in top 30 in Era, whip, obp, and batting average. Beyond proud of how hard he tries and works to achieve his goals.

[Steamboat1874 4282]

I am so impressed with the quality of play by these kids.

I just saw the LA 3rd baseman make a "Brooks Robinson" back handed stop and a smoking throw to first.

Amazing how good these kids are and watching the LLWS is a great way to get to the CFB season.