How dirty do they get?

[txfirewife99]

My daughter has had her fair share of getting hit while on the field or bat. NEVER have I thought she has been hit intentionally. I just didn't think coaches/players would play that dirty at 10u or 12u.

It wasn't until a comment I made on a post and then a response to the comment that got me to questioning, would coaches/players really drop so low to intentionally try to injur a player to win a game? IMO, a good team doesn't need to stoop to such levels just to win a ball game. They are afterall just kids playing a sport they love to play.

So how dirty have you seen teams get and at what age level, just to win a ball game? (and I am not talking about the sand on the field dirty )

[DP3816]

When my son was in PONY League we had a team start a beanball war with us. Luckily we had good umpires who got it under control before it got out of hand. These were 13 year old boys. It didn't start on purpose just a kid on the mound having a bad day. Coach wouldn't pull him after several got it. Sure enough when the poor kid came to bat he got drilled directly in the middle of the back. Coach smirked and he was tossed! Never seen a beanball war in fastpitch. Doubt if you ever will. My DD is a 10U pitcher who is still learning, she has plunked her share of girls and she throws pretty hard. Never on purpose but some parents have gotten a little upset which stands to reason.

[amazing]

Bean ball or aggressive inside pitching is alive and well in the 14U and 16U age groups. Usually not so much not in the younger (they can't hit someone even if they tried) or older age groups (pay back can really hurt and the daddy ball coaches are gone).
Dirty pitching is on the coaches not the players and there are some big time asses out there. My guess is they are desperate to win something and most of these guys never made the team but are still trying.

[Joe]

It wasn't until a comment I made on a post and then a response to the comment that got me to questioning, would coaches/players really drop so low to intentionally try to injur a player to win a game? IMO, a good team doesn't need to stoop to such levels just to win a ball game. They are afterall just kids playing a sport they love to play.

So how dirty have you seen teams get and at what age level, just to win a ball game? (and I am not talking about the sand on the field dirty )

I've seen it happen and seen a few a-holes even admit it. Just like anything else in life, there are a few bad apples. It's up to the good folks to weed them out. Parents, other coaches, associations, umpires, and also players need to be the gatekeepers to keep the putzheads away from the game and our kids.

[SoCalASABlue]

A couple of years ago, in 12U All-Stars, one of our coaches was furious that the manager did not tell our pitcher to drill hitters that were peeking at the catcher. Sadly the good manager is gone and Mr. Personality is now the 14U All-Star coach...thank God DD decided this year was the time to go to travel ball...

[artomatic]

Seems to me that sometimes the players handle their own business of policing the game in the older divisions.

[DonnieS]

Seems to me that sometimes the players handle their own business of policing the game in the older divisions.

Thats what I found - after several lectures that I gave the girls about HBP to retaliate for the same, I was advised to 'stay out of it - the girls will handle this'. So I did. But I have seen intentional HBP at 10u, never would have believed it, but I saw it myself. I recently saw it in the high school playoffs by a low-life coach. Every at bat my daughter had, she was thrown at - two hbp's and then a miss (3 balls thrown at her on this one at bat), and then she put one out of the park. After the last HBP, my daughter went up to the home plate blue and said "When are you going to start doing your job.?" He said he couldnt take action unless he heard clearly someone tell the pitcher to do an intentional hbp. Needless to say, the pitcher wasnt batting.
This pissed off her team so much that her inexperienced but over achieving team rose up and took the series, in my opinion because of the HBP.
In regards to how dirty - my opinion is there is no limit, even in this most beautiful of all sports. The team that my daughter's team beat had Top D1 (wcws level) committed players - and of course we give all the thanks to that low life coach who inspired them to play above their heards.

[liveintex]

My response may not be exactly in line with this thread but I'm not sure if it's the heat or what but it appears that there a lot of coaches getting "dirty".

We stopped by the Southlake tourney this past Saturday and although we missed it, I heard that a coach or two got booted. In addition to that, one of my daughter's classmates told her that a few coaches got booted in Hillsboro also because one was making comments towards the opposing pitcher and there was some profanity involved and that caused the other coach to come out and defend her.

I'd love to hear if anyone has details that could clarify any of what I wrote because I'd hate to think that the competive nature of girls softball in NTX has taken a turn to the point where grown men are making fools of themselves over a game.

[txfirewife99]

My response may not be exactly in line with this thread but I'm not sure if it's the heat or what but it appears that there a lot of coaches getting "dirty".

We stopped by the Southlake tourney this past Saturday and although we missed it, I heard that a coach or two got booted. In addition to that, one of my daughter's classmates told her that a few coaches got booted in Hillsboro also because one was making comments towards the opposing pitcher and there was some profanity involved and that caused the other coach to come out and defend her.

I'd love to hear if anyone has details that could clarify any of what I wrote because I'd hate to think that the competive nature of girls softball in NTX has taken a turn to the point where grown men are making fools of themselves over a game.

We were there in Hillsboro last weekend, and as far as seeing or hearing of coaches getting thrown I was not witness and cannot confirm truth behind that. VTD qualification tourny.......well that is another story. Coaches were thrown right and left that weekend.

98 Cyclones coach came real close in our game to cussing his girls on the field. From what I saw of his attitude, it wouldn't surprise me if it was him that got thrown. This was the game which my daughter was hit by a pitch. **Oh and it was a rib shot and she was not crowding the plate** She shut them down her first inning out as relief filling in to close the game and maintain a 3-2 lead. Needless to say, she was pulled the next inning cause she was not able to continue after getting hit. Intentionally? I'll let someone else make that call. She is/was our only lefty batter/pitcher and the only batter hit that game. There were also questionable interference from this team. Needless to say, these girls have tallent but poor coaching. Maybe it was because of the heat. I seriously thought he was going to stroke out on his bucket.

Nothing frustrates me more than seeing a coach ridcule his/her **or opposing team**players on the field no matter what age.

[Joe]

I'd love to hear if anyone has details that could clarify any of what I wrote because I'd hate to think that the competive nature of girls softball in NTX has taken a turn to the point where grown men are making fools of themselves over a game.

NTX??? Acting like an idiot is not unique to NTX.

And yes, the older girls figure it out on their own, but some of the lessons learned along the way are the result of some half-wit, with a double-wide shed for his half inch pecker, trying to take out a 12U kid in a softball game.... by asking his pitcher to throw at her head. There's no excuse for it and the SOB teaching that should have the hair on his ass tweezered off...one by one...while his fat, Wal-mart wife watches.