Drop Dead - Score Book & Stats

[nohesitation]

There is three jobs in softball you can put your heart and sole into and still be hated: coaching, umpiring, stat keeping. Have mercy on those that do all three.

[RaeRae56]

Dont you love it when a team posts a win on their website when they score in the top of a drop dead inning (when the other team doesn't bat)...

AND...

when that same team will count a win on their website by reverting back to the last inning when the opponent does exactly what i mentioned above?

sound familiar?

[playball]

Manipulating scores to your teams advantage is dumb. But I think a far more negative sign that you're weak is when your team plays down in the fall. I'm seeing more and more teams in 12's and 14's that need to more up that continue to play girls that are 2 years+ younger. What are they gaining besides some fabricated berth? It seems like a trend and one that will hurt those teams when they are forced to play in their real division. Grow up coaches and playball in your appropriate division. Be a man/woman and put your players in front of equal aged players. Kudo's to teams that play up and challenge their players to compete against better teams. I'd rather lose 9 of 10 against older teams than win 9 of 10 versus inferior opponents!

[Clean_up]

HOW DO YOU KEEP THE CORRECT STATS WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO DROP DEAD:

Players stats should be kept as played until the time is called.
Drop dead is only for win loss info.

Then again, you have the creative coaches who manipulate the stats to their own advantage (and they do!!!!)... Like Art says...the stats are the best way to keep track on how the girls are doing... It only matters to some (egotistical?) coaches and parents that the "team looks good" by reverting back in scores or stats...(hey my best pitcher gave up a bunch of hits and runs that last inning...but since we reverted back, guess she didn't REALLY GIVE THOSE UP after all....) That happened quite a few times on our team last year...

Sad, an earned run is what is it, regardless of the time limit - We keep stats on everything the girls do, every hit, run, stolen base, passed ball, error, etc regardless of the game outcome. We also don't pay too much attention to them other than to see who hit well vs certain teams and what pitchers, how many errors we made and how we can improve our defense, what to work on in practice, etc. Batting averages are very deceiving, we keep a spreadsheet on what the player actually did in their at bats (i.e. base hit, outfield line drive, ground outs, etc.) and our coaches know who they want at the plate in any given situation and it's not based upon batting averages.

Drop-dead is for win/loss record only and again, if one team can score 10 runs in one inning, obviously it's not impossible and if the other team didn't finish their at-bats, well the score reverts back. I see nothing wrong with posting scores, wins, ties or losses under the time constraints the games were actually played under as long as you're consistent and not manipulating one way or the other just to look good. We posted a tie score of 5-5 in one of our games when we were visitors and had scored another 6 runs to go ahead 11 to 5. Time ran out and score reverted back to the tie. Big deal, we posted the tie, but all the hits and runs were credited to our team stats and a note made in our spreadsheet that the score reverted back.

In friendlies, who really cares anyways what the score is? I know some teams play every game like it's the World Series, but these are practice games and time to mix up your players a bit to give them some game situation exposure to help them prepare for the time when they will need to step up and fill a need for the team; also to give them a fair shot at earning a starting position or not....

[Demonboy]

Depends on the team.

Any top team (one that has it's sights on getting to Sunday in August in a god awful locale) that would revert a score at to get a friendly win is an embarrassment.

Get used to holding your lead in the top of the final inning. If you blow it in the 7th on Sunday in August, chances are you won't get it back in the bottom (the pitching is pretty sturdy by this point) and no time limit will save you.

[dodgerblue]

I have a scoring question and I know what I think is the answer but would like to ask your opinion. Ball hit deep in the 6 hole SS fields clean and makes the throw runner is fast and beats the throw. Base hit or E6? I don't want to to cause any problems so I just keep my mouth shut but to me that an infield single in my eyes.

[Demonboy]

Base hit.

The only person that would try and score that an E6 would be a pitcher's dad

Who it just so happens is often the score keeper.

[nohesitation]

I have a scoring question and I know what I think is the answer but would like to ask your opinion. Ball hit deep in the 6 hole SS fields clean and makes the throw runner is fast and beats the throw. Base hit or E6? I don't want to to cause any problems so I just keep my mouth shut but to me that an infield single in my eyes.

As a score keeper you must be impartial. If your scorekeeping and your daughter sits on the bench they will accuse you of scoring unfairly. If your daughter is a pitcher you will be accused scoring unfairly. The point is if you are a score keeper somebody won’t like you. You must do it for the love of the game and nothing else. Read the rule book not just the scoring part. If a Slap hit advances a runner you better know if that’s a sacrifice or not. When scoring hit or error first look at ASA Rule 11, 2, 3b:
Paraphrase: “A BASE HIT IS” (ASA) … “a fair ball which is hit with such force or such slowness or which takes such an unnatural bounce that it is impossible to field with ordinary effort in time to make an out.”
If your daughter is up to bat you must apply the same standards, judgment and attention to detail as all the other batters. If your daughter is up to bat and there is a play (in your mind) that could go either way go error. Because it probably is an error. Your not score keeping to boost or protect your DD’s stats. Your there to record the information as accurately as possible.

As far as the play you mention above, it is a base hit. A big part of scorekeeping is the timing of a play. Girls with speed will get many more base hits just because of timing. Speed also creates panic which causes a fielder to try “do or die” moves. That’s still a hit.
Anyway, stick with it and sit by your self and pay attention to the game all of it.

[dodgerblue]

Believe me I'm my DD biggest critic if it's an error than it's an error no doubt about it. I have been in this a while now and have learned to just sit back and observe.

[ddsdad]

I am definitely tougher on my own kid than any other on the team. Even if it is a hard hit that is hard for the short stop to handle, she gets an error and not a hit.