catchman

Riverdale man lets see can get this one or who has read the rule on this. Runners are on first and third, the pitcher has the ball inside the pitchers circle. She makes a motion to throw to first, but still is inside of the circle. When she makes the motion to throw first. Does the ball become alive when she makes the motion or stay dead. And can the runner at third steal home when she makes the motion. /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

Well last night me and ???Birdie??? were talking about the many great places that we have been and we thought of why not share with out friends the worst softball fields that we have played on, coached on, or umpired on so here is a list of single A and AA teams. Now I know you are goin to be askin what did they have to do to get on this fine list and here are some of our criteria that we came up with to share our many experiences with the good readers here on Coacht. Some of the finer teams do a great job promotin softball and the excitement that goes with comin to a game but then we have the other ones who do not put any effort into their program. But first here is a list of a few that have some of the nicer things like the folks at Riverdale, Lincoln County, Coffee County, Blackman, Oakland, Siegel, Columbia Academy, Creek Wood, Rossview, Dickson County, Shelbyville, White House, Grundy County, Warren County, DeKalb County, Greenbrier, Cookeville plus many more.

 

1. No fence

2. No press box

3. No P.A./No Music/No introduction

4. No Wind screen

5. No flag

6. Poor seating

7. No protection on top of their fence for players goin after them balls

8. Poor parking

9. Poor infield, rocks, grass, glass, too much sand

10. No lights

11. No Restrooms

 

Teams who do not have the nicer things for a softball field, this list is not in any order just some that we could remember but may be adding more as the ole brain turns!

 

Moore County

F.C. Boyd

MLK

CPA

Middle Tn. Christian

Ensworth

Friendship Christian

Santa Fe

St. Andrews Sewanee

Gordonsville

Webb School

Lewis County

Smith County

Clarksville NE

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I think we can put Station camp, Hendersonville and Beech on the top list of great fields.

I HAVE ANOTHER one that people dont seem to understand....the batter gets his base EVEN if the ball hit the ground first

Riverdaleman. I think we have started something here, Now people can discuss good topics with out getting mad,,Plus learn, /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" /> /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I am glad I brought this to everyones attention,, Seems like it has brought up some good stories and memories. Also a learning lesson for some, /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

It is a judgement call gotte remeber we are protecting runners in that situation if a player should be able to camp under it the it should be called with no problem I know the iffy ones you are talking about and they are tough to call and sometimes behind the plate the depth of the fly ball takes a moment to judge and by then you are too late ( I imagine softball is tougher because the infield is so short)

Thanks again . I have been involved with fastpich starting in the late 1950. I guess I am getting older and my old eyes can't keep up. I understand what you saying about protecting these girls, Like on the droped third strike, I wish the umps would pay attention to how many outs and how many runners are on base.. /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

Infield fly is a pop up that can or should be caught by an infielder or even an outfeilder that is close to the infield with runners on first and second or first second and third with less than 2 outs it is to protect the runners and the offense from the double play the play is not dead and the runners can advance on their own

if the balll hits the ground it is not caught...so if hit skip on the ground and into the mitt the batter must be thrown out or tagged out if there are 2 outs or less than 2 outs and no one on firstand these rules have been like this forever

Thanks riverdaleman. Maybe these old eyes are missing something, Now to get umpires to know where the runners are and how high the pop fly is. /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />

I was wondering if the infield fly call has changed. In the last 2 tourneys I have attented. I have seen this ruling called 4 times, I thought the fly ball had to be inside the bases. But on all four of these call, either the short stop or second base was in the grass trying to catch the ball. Two of these call, the ball was not caught.

Another call I seen 3 times was on droped 3rd strike. The ball would hit the ground in front of the catcher where she would have to block the ball. The batter would run to first and be safe. Has the ruleing been changed also. I always thought the ball had to be droped or poped out of the catcher mitt for it to be called a droped 3rd strike.

Am I missing something or has these rulings been changed. /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

Certainly there are Hs where there might only be 5 girls that really want to be there but I think there are HS where everyone of the girls is super committed. I have seen both types of programs.

I guess I am still up in the air on whether moving the sport to the fall is best for the "sport" or best for certain players. I also wonder about motives of "keep it in the spring" camp as well. It seems to me there is still an underlying sense that HS has become useless to some people and that summer league ball is where players should be focusing all there efforts. I wonder if this is also best for the game of softball. But I might be bringing up some things that no one else sees as issues. I wish I could say that I am 100% sure of the answer but I honestly do not know.

I am like most of the coaches, I really have not decided which season would be best. I know there are a lot of the play days are rained out, Seem like every year either Beech or HHS play days gets rained out. If the ball season was changed to the fall then the girls would come from travel ball right into School ball. That may make the High school teams better, I guess TSSAA will decided [ if it is ever brought up to them ] then we will have to work with it.

I started coaching travel ball in the earl 90s, The difference I see between High schhol Ball and travel, In most cases, the travel team has at least 8 girls on the field that really want to be there. Even some of daddy girls want to be there at times. In High school ball, you are luck to have 5 that really want to be on the field, With the hitts tourney and other exposier tourneys being held,, I think the girls may get more looks in travel ball, Just my thought.

I have used the jugs jr. for several years, A very durable machine, My first one last for about 15 years. The cost of a new machine is about 1400.00. I used the jugs seemed balls [ not dimpled]. They seem to move when they come out of the machine plus not hard on the bats. I think before you put someone in front of a pitching machine. You may want to start them on a T stand then soft toss. After they get their form down, then I like to pitch to them from behind a screen so that you can pitch different pitches to them. This way you are close enough to look at their swing and close enough to talk to them and make corrections.

The sanders girl at Station Camp High school is rising to the top quick, She will tell you quick, Her job is to make the pitcher to look good at any cost. You can tell by her moves and how she works behind the plate, she has the love of the game.

Where are these games played... bison cup

I think the edge team only lost one game, that was to the twisters in pool play. correct me if i am wrong.... [ 16u ]

Any thoughts, comments, or opinions about the hitts tourney in hendersonville this week, All i can say is thanks for giving all the girls on my team the chance to be seen. Thanks to all the people involved and the Nashville sports council. NICE JOB GUYS.. [ GO TWISTERS ]

WOW, you sure can tell the club k people, there are other instructors out there , that can teach just as well, If your not happy there , you have the right to find the other instructors . Iam sure they will be glad to help you, I have watched students from club k and other instructors, all seem pretty close to me, Club k is the biggest show in town, so there will be more of their students out there,

{ This is just an opinion on what i have seen }

Thats the way the rule reads. I have been close to being thrown out over this call. I also have never seen this call made correct. Most umps will get upset over if you question them over it. They will tell you that its a judgement call.and as always the field ump will back them up, So now we have 2 umps that dont know the rule, and as always things get tuffer for you. So reading your rule book dont help sometimes. I think the best way to handle this , is to play ball, use everything you have to beat the other team on the field, and let the umps do their job.

I think most of us know what a catchers job is. To help some of these catchers, Why dont we give them some ideas on the difference between a good catcher and a outstanding catcher. I see some that we might help by giving them tips on this.

I think white house has only one loss in the district also.

One more catcher i think needs to be added to this list, is ERICA DUKE, She is a freshman at tullahoma High School, and is the starting catcher.. Hows that for steping up, Nice job . Watch out for this one.

NIKKI BIRDSELL... WHITE HOUSE, ENOUGH SAID

Does anyone know casey teal, or does she not fit into this topic. watched her at mt julit tourney, I was impressed

As one famous coach once said, write the words, talk the talk,, Lets play the game and then we will see who wins. I agree ,on any given day anyone can win, The tourney in gallatin tn. the 16u teams were playing with pick up players and players out of position. One of the 16u teams that has just moved up, has played one of these 14u teams 6 times in the past year and has won 4 of them, So dont count anyone out yet, I also belive this, the middle tennesse aera has some of the strongest teams in the state in any age group.

WOW I didnt kmow so many people looked at this like i do, It takes 9 to make a team and when all do their part, how do you single out one or two, Pitcher cant do it without a catcher and so on on on /////,

We all know the players who are hot in the bigger schools, What about the hot players on the smaller schools that you hear very little of. Lets give them credit and list their names. Every one knows 2 or 3 that are very good players , but you never hear anything about them,

I have umpired, coached, spectated, I know what a job it is to umpire, You can never make everyone happy. I always tryed to call the game as i saw it, The remarks i hear over and over, is [ i wish all the umps would have the same strike zone ] so when i go to the next game i would know what expect. Then it wouldnt take me so long to start hitting the ball in another game. TELL JUST WHAT I HEAR.

B WHO U R