This past week while coaching a 12U baseball team in a developmental fall ball league, I was blown away about how short-sighted some coaches and teams can be. Our team was having one of those days where everything was going wrong, and we were down by more than the mercy rule and coming up to bat.
We needed to score two runs to keep the game going another inning. The game was barely past the one hour mark, and it was a beautiful autumn afternoon. Here was our chance to try to push the game to another inning.
Our boys finally woke their bats up and had bases loaded against their starting pitcher. It was the first time we had put any pressure on him at all, and we had scored a run. The other team’s coach immediately changed to one of their best pitchers. This boy came in throwing heat and completely shut us down to end the game.
From my perspective, that coach missed a couple of opportunities.
Why not let your pitcher face some adversity? The kid’s pitch count wasn’t high and here was an opportunity to try to work out of some trouble. Instead of embracing this chance for learning, their coach decides he can’t take a chance of letting our team score runs and makes the pitching change. Is winning more important than learning?
I didn’t understand what would be so bad about playing another inning. If our team scores two runs, their team gets another chance to hit. Their pitching change ended our rally and the game. They won. Or did they?
Maybe the weather was too nice. Or maybe their players had blisters and couldn’t bat again. I doubt it. The coach decided winning was more important than allowing kids to keep playing the game.
The winner? The winning coaches ego.
The loser? The players on both teams.
Another reminder to keep youth sports focused on the kids.