Wow, great comments!
My son did not experience any animosity from other parents or kids....thank god. The varsity guys accepted him immediately, probably because he could actually play. Our team was pretty short in the pitching department and they had to get my kid prepared for this year where he will be one of two starting pitchers as a sophmore. I'm guessing that the experience will help him in the long run but it was pretty tough on me to watch him sit and then fail for 3/4ths of a season. I still wonder what would have happenned if he had played 1/2 the season in JV and teh second 1/2 on varsity. I'll never know.
Yes, his frame and strength belie his age but it doesn't mean that a kid is not going to go through the normal transitions that every child has to go through from middle school to high school.....even if your kid is considered to have a "high ceiling". The coaches frustration with his development bothered me a bit. What can you expect from a 14 year old who put on 4 inches during the year? It was a year of constant adjustment to his delivery. I'm not making excuses for him, but I think that the expectations were set a bit too high. Even I got a bit caught up in it. I just than the lord that he found it in the end or his freshman experience would have been a real wash.
We'll see if the effects of this "rapid developmenet" plan shows any results this year. He needs to step up and become a leader on the mound this year. It's a lot to ask a 15 year old, but I think he's ready for it.