competitive little kid sports

[wetwillie]

we have played in 7 tourneys and have finished with a winning record in 5 of them and a .500 record in 2 of them. feel really good about that because 2 seasons ago this team struggled to finish in the top half of 9U tourneys most of the time. they've come a long way. also we are almost assured of finishing in the top end of our final tournament given who we drew in pool play. should go into brackets with a 2-0 record and first round bye unless we lay an absolute egg. also have confirmed 100% of my team is coming back for next season which is really rare at this age in the soap opera that is travel baseball and I feel really puffed up as coach about that.

Are you last few players just cool riding the bench on a team that has a bunch of their friends?

[steve dave]

We play everyone roughly equally and carry 11. They weren’t friends ahead of bringing them on to play for us. We certainly have a log jam at 2B and shuffle OF around a lot because we have a clear starting SS and 3B but it’s a nice mix. 2 whose best spot is C, 2 primary 1B but both pitch a lot for us.


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[steve dave]

Also we have two who are clear cut great OF and don’t want to play infield anyway so everyone wins there.


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[nicname]

Nicname jr was in Taikwando for a few years when he was little. The trophies were hilarious almost to the point of absurdity. Like, you could enter an even with four other people, take third and receive a 2’ trophy with three columns and a karate guy kicking on top of it.

[steve dave]

Nicname jr was in Taikwando for a few years when he was little. The trophies were hilarious almost to the point of absurdity. Like, you could enter an even with four other people, take third and receive a 2’ trophy with three columns and a karate guy kicking on top of it.

lmao


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[Cartierfor3]

SD with 11 kids, how many can pitch? I would guess you need like 5 for a weekend tournament? Maybe 6?

Also, at 11u I'm guessing these are most important positions on defense besides pitcher in descending order. Feel free to correct me tho.

C
SS
1B
3B
CF
2B
LF
RF

[wetwillie]

We play everyone roughly equally and carry 11. They weren’t friends ahead of bringing them on to play for us. We certainly have a log jam at 2B and shuffle OF around a lot because we have a clear starting SS and 3B but it’s a nice mix. 2 whose best spot is C, 2 primary 1B but both pitch a lot for us.


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It always seemed like catcher was point of contention my sons teams had. Second fiddle almost always left.

[steve dave]

SD with 11 kids, how many can pitch? I would guess you need like 5 for a weekend tournament? Maybe 6?

Also, at 11u I'm guessing these are most important positions on defense besides pitcher in descending order. Feel free to correct me tho.

C
SS
1B
3B
CF
2B
LF
RF

We have 4 front line starters. 4 others can and do throw. 2 are catchers. 1 is the HCs kid, lmao.


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[steve dave]

Catcher by far the most important position


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[nicname]

Catcher
SS
CF
3B
1B

All the rest have negligible difference.

Catcher is by far the most important in youth baseball. If you have a guy that can catch most balls and actually frame that’s great. If he can block/dig most balls in the dirt, that’s a bonus. If he can also throw out base runners, well you’ve got yourself a real chance to win a lot of games.

[chum1]

My boy, 13, played a girl, 12, in a tennis match today. The girl's Karen mom "helped" with a couple line calls. She also told my kid to update the scoreboard thing at a time it wouldn't usually be updated. The girl's grandmother tried to correct the score once in the girl's favor and was off by a lot. (It was 40-30 and she tried to say it was 15-30.) The kids did a good job of quickly shutting her down. The girl kept saying that her wrist hurt and her mom would tell her to shake it off and try pouring some water on it. Wtf? As expected, my kid won by a lot. I could hear the girl getting upset right after the match. Then, heard her mom loudly say, "I know, I know, it's my fault you lost!" SO AWKWARD. I walked straight out after that to guarantee that I wouldn't have to talk to them. My kid has said three separate times since that he feels bad for the girl.

[steve dave]

Catcher
SS
CF
3B
1B

All the rest have negligible difference.

Catcher is by far the most important in youth baseball. If you have a guy that can catch most balls and actually frame that’s great. If he can block/dig most balls in the dirt, that’s a bonus. If he can also throw out base runners, well you’ve got yourself a real chance to win a lot of games.

lil sd is our #1 catcher and he gets recruited by everyone in town to join their team. He could play on better teams for sure and I 100% defer to him but thankfully he always decides to continue playing with our squad.


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[steve dave]

https://x.com/BaseballBros/status/1808820782585274826

[Stupid Fitz]

we have played in 7 tourneys and have finished with a winning record in 5 of them and a .500 record in 2 of them. feel really good about that because 2 seasons ago this team struggled to finish in the top half of 9U tourneys most of the time. they've come a long way. also we are almost assured of finishing in the top end of our final tournament given who we drew in pool play. should go into brackets with a 2-0 record and first round bye unless we lay an absolute egg. also have confirmed 100% of my team is coming back for next season which is really rare at this age in the soap opera that is travel baseball and I feel really puffed up as coach about that.

Are you last few players just cool riding the bench on a team that has a bunch of their friends?

Our coach does a good job of rotating, but there are 3 kids including mine that rotate mostly outfield. We have 4-5 kids that are legit kids that could play on some of the best travel teams, 3-4 that are good but just below and the 3 rotational kids. It works pretty good for our team, because we aren't 100% travel/competitive. We pretty much are, but our coach is pretty awesome and is all about teaching/coaching. We def try to win and win a lot, but we don't do tryouts. He asked everyone back this year and I thought maybe some cuts were coming. I think a big reason is that our last 3 kids are pretty good players and wouldn't sit much on a lot of the other teams we play at least in league play, but an even bigger reason is that they are good kids and don't complain. They understand their role for the most part. Like, Lil SF would love to play infield more, but we've talked and he understands that if he is there, the other kid that he knows is way better is sitting which doesn't make sense at this age. It's def a bummer some times, but being with this group, whipping major ass, and having a great coach helps. He will rotate even more in league games when we are stomping people. He even flips the order sometimes to get the kids at the bottom more ABs if he can. The alternatives are stop playing baseball or join a random rec team where he plays second base and bats further up in the order but they get the living crap kicked out of them most of the time.

[Stupid Fitz]

My boy, 13, played a girl, 12, in a tennis match today. The girl's Karen mom "helped" with a couple line calls. She also told my kid to update the scoreboard thing at a time it wouldn't usually be updated. The girl's grandmother tried to correct the score once in the girl's favor and was off by a lot. (It was 40-30 and she tried to say it was 15-30.) The kids did a good job of quickly shutting her down. The girl kept saying that her wrist hurt and her mom would tell her to shake it off and try pouring some water on it. Wtf? As expected, my kid won by a lot. I could hear the girl getting upset right after the match. Then, heard her mom loudly say, "I know, I know, it's my fault you lost!" SO AWKWARD. I walked straight out after that to guarantee that I wouldn't have to talk to them. My kid has said three separate times since that he feels bad for the girl.

My kids do club tennis and this is the norm. Most of the matches are during the day so I can't make it, but we tell our sitter she has to be there for this reason so they don't get bullied by some lunatic soccer mom. Some of these Karens are just brutal and will get their kids to say a ball was out when it was clearly in or they will just yell at their kid or even the other. It's a nightmare. There is normally like one person running multiple games, but the objective is for the kids to be able to score and play fair, but some of the kids are rough ridin' cheaters and their bitch moms sit there and help them. It's the worst.

[wetwillie]

Catcher
SS
CF
3B
1B

All the rest have negligible difference.

Catcher is by far the most important in youth baseball. If you have a guy that can catch most balls and actually frame that’s great. If he can block/dig most balls in the dirt, that’s a bonus. If he can also throw out base runners, well you’ve got yourself a real chance to win a lot of games.

lil sd is our #1 catcher and he gets recruited by everyone in town to join their team. He could play on better teams for sure and I 100% defer to him but thankfully he always decides to continue playing with our squad.


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Are you at an age now that the pitcher/catcher combo can reliable hold/throw out most runners going to 2nd? I can't remember when the base path distance changes but that seemed like the time when it didn't become a steal fest.

[nicname]

Second base is a steal fest until 13u when the bases move to 80 feet. Only the very best batteries can stop kids from stealing at 60 or less. Good catchers can get a lot of guys with a good snap throw at the corners at 60 or less tho, and can also stop guys from stealing 3rd Willy nilly.

[michigancat]

My boy, 13, played a girl, 12, in a tennis match today. The girl's Karen mom "helped" with a couple line calls. She also told my kid to update the scoreboard thing at a time it wouldn't usually be updated. The girl's grandmother tried to correct the score once in the girl's favor and was off by a lot. (It was 40-30 and she tried to say it was 15-30.) The kids did a good job of quickly shutting her down. The girl kept saying that her wrist hurt and her mom would tell her to shake it off and try pouring some water on it. Wtf? As expected, my kid won by a lot. I could hear the girl getting upset right after the match. Then, heard her mom loudly say, "I know, I know, it's my fault you lost!" SO AWKWARD. I walked straight out after that to guarantee that I wouldn't have to talk to them. My kid has said three separate times since that he feels bad for the girl.

My kids do club tennis and this is the norm. Most of the matches are during the day so I can't make it, but we tell our sitter she has to be there for this reason so they don't get bullied by some lunatic soccer mom. Some of these Karens are just brutal and will get their kids to say a ball was out when it was clearly in or they will just yell at their kid or even the other. It's a nightmare. There is normally like one person running multiple games, but the objective is for the kids to be able to score and play fair, but some of the kids are rough ridin' cheaters and their bitch moms sit there and help them. It's the worst.

Seems wild but sadly not surprising

[steve dave]

Catcher
SS
CF
3B
1B

All the rest have negligible difference.

Catcher is by far the most important in youth baseball. If you have a guy that can catch most balls and actually frame that’s great. If he can block/dig most balls in the dirt, that’s a bonus. If he can also throw out base runners, well you’ve got yourself a real chance to win a lot of games.

lil sd is our #1 catcher and he gets recruited by everyone in town to join their team. He could play on better teams for sure and I 100% defer to him but thankfully he always decides to continue playing with our squad.


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Are you at an age now that the pitcher/catcher combo can reliable hold/throw out most runners going to 2nd? I can't remember when the base path distance changes but that seemed like the time when it didn't become a steal fest.

lil sd has thrown out 20 this season so far and probably 12 of those were at 3B. he will shoot most kids trying to take 3B but kids will generally take 2B. he got one at 2B last tournament to walk off the game which was pretty fun. he does the thing where he holds up his throwing hand and blows on the barrel before holstering it. full disclosure I taught him that at 9U.

[steve dave]

Second base is a steal fest until 13u when the bases move to 80 feet. Only the very best batteries can stop kids from stealing at 60 or less. Good catchers can get a lot of guys with a good snap throw at the corners at 60 or less tho, and can also stop guys from stealing 3rd Willy nilly.

yep. I am 1B coach and steal a lot of doubles from our boys playing it safe because I know we're getting to 2B either way. they hate my guts.

[steve dave]

we never coached a slide step to our pitchers before this season. it's incredible how much it helps get the ball to 2B. also lil sd will back pick anyone at anytime in any situation. our 1B and 3B have learned to never let their guard down. up one with 2 outs and 2 strikes with a man on 3B? I'm going to whip it over there. this is america. I can do what I want.

[Cartierfor3]

I'm amazed at how many teams give away outs with bad baserunning. Most of the time play for the big inning unless its later innings.

[Cartierfor3]

Like it happens all the time that kids get thrown out trying to stretch a single to a double or double to triple. I just smh looking at it

[wetwillie]

Second base is a steal fest until 13u when the bases move to 80 feet. Only the very best batteries can stop kids from stealing at 60 or less. Good catchers can get a lot of guys with a good snap throw at the corners at 60 or less tho, and can also stop guys from stealing 3rd Willy nilly.

yep. I am 1B coach and steal a lot of doubles from our boys playing it safe because I know we're getting to 2B either way. they hate my guts.

Can't do a double celly if you get cut off at 1B

[chum1]

My boy, 13, played a girl, 12, in a tennis match today. The girl's Karen mom "helped" with a couple line calls. She also told my kid to update the scoreboard thing at a time it wouldn't usually be updated. The girl's grandmother tried to correct the score once in the girl's favor and was off by a lot. (It was 40-30 and she tried to say it was 15-30.) The kids did a good job of quickly shutting her down. The girl kept saying that her wrist hurt and her mom would tell her to shake it off and try pouring some water on it. Wtf? As expected, my kid won by a lot. I could hear the girl getting upset right after the match. Then, heard her mom loudly say, "I know, I know, it's my fault you lost!" SO AWKWARD. I walked straight out after that to guarantee that I wouldn't have to talk to them. My kid has said three separate times since that he feels bad for the girl.

My kids do club tennis and this is the norm. Most of the matches are during the day so I can't make it, but we tell our sitter she has to be there for this reason so they don't get bullied by some lunatic soccer mom. Some of these Karens are just brutal and will get their kids to say a ball was out when it was clearly in or they will just yell at their kid or even the other. It's a nightmare. There is normally like one person running multiple games, but the objective is for the kids to be able to score and play fair, but some of the kids are rough ridin' cheaters and their bitch moms sit there and help them. It's the worst.

Seems wild but sadly not surprising

The other side of it is that it's a pretty great opportunity to teach your kid how to properly behave in those silly/stupid situations and keep their composure.