We have a road game with a team today who is one of our league rivals. They are well coached and do well year in and year out. We are a public school that is less than half the size of most of our seven league rivals. I was thinking this morning about the first time I coached against today's opponent at their place several years ago. We (coaching staff) had taken over a team that won a total of four games the previous year and never competed since moving to the bigger league. We lost that game 20-3. This was coming off a loss from another league rival the previous game, 30-4. But we had started something. And it took a few key players to buy in and start pushing some of the other players. We finished that season much-improved and went on from there to several years of consecutive playoff appearances, two league titles, a few deep (state) runs and an established tradition of winning HS baseball. This flies in the face of everything we should have been able to do on paper. That team we play today? Still an established power. We have beat them five of the last six. This all tracks back to those few players who bought in and led the charge -started the program turn-around. You said you only have maybe ten players who can play baseball. Guess what? You can only put nine on the line-up card.
Encourage your son to be one of those few players that "starts something". It's not going to happen overnight. But small victories can. Measure against what is realistic. Can we string together three good innings against today's opponent? We had three hits yesterday. Can we get six today? They run-ruled us last time, can we play a full seven? They scored double digits last time, can we hold them under eight? We K'd ten times last time against this guy. Can we get the bat on the ball and keep K's down to six or less? Identify these things in advance and work with coaching staff to maybe make your goals a focal point of part of the practice so the team is preparing specifically for these small victories.
What can we do to improve our practice energy? What can I do to set the tone? Which two or three other players can I pull in with me to really push us to raise the bar, to work harder, to ask for extra reps after practice, on Saturday, etc.? What can we ask from our coaching staff that will better prepare us for competition? A hard throwing guest coach with a nasty curve? As a catcher, what can I do better to help improve our pitchers? Offer extra bullpens outside of team practice? Work harder at figuring out what approach works best to allow them to perform to their potential? Assure them that they can throw any pitch and you will block or frame to the best of your ability to allow them to be successful? You say they won three last year and four so far this year. Shoot for six. Then set the goal for next year at ten or twelve. Then rally teammates to put in the work, starting today, to allow themselves to accomplish that goal. Don't worry about HS as being part of the recruiting process but do make it part of growing as a leader and facing adverse conditions head on and coming out with small victories time and time again. I'm guessing your kid already puts in the work. Let this be a test for him as to how much he can influence the rest of his team to follow his lead. Let this be a test for him to see how much he can focus on small victories and enjoy them. One successful at bat against a P that he struggled against. One successful at bat for a teammate that he helped improve his swing....
Prepare him. There will continue to be frustrations. Some guys just won't buy in. Go find others. And meanwhile, don't give up on those who aren't there yet. With this type of mental approach, ultimately, good things will happen. It may not come in the form of a championship HS team, but perhaps in more important ways for Tequila Jr.