justbaseball posted:Our younger son's HS coaches taught him more than I would have ever imagined. He was so prepared for college baseball both on the field and off - it would be hard to overstate it. There isn't a single thing I would change about it.
In fact, so good that I don't think he woulda played D1 baseball without that HS program. So many folks seem to take credit about how many of 'their players' have moved onto higher levels. Some of that is poppycock to me. But this program could very legitimately take tons of credit for their players - yet they rarely seem to do that.
Archbishop Mitty HS, San Jose, CA. Coach Bill Hutton (now retired) and staff.
I feel similarly about 2019Son's high school program.
This thread has been kinda, sorta a coaches vs. players thing (players show up unprepared, or coaches don't teach the little things), but the little things involve teammates and umpires, too. Case in point: JV game yesterday against a talented team that is part of a good program (Varsity currently ranked in Top 50 in the country), runner rounding third and heading home, the on-deck batter says nothing, no indication that the kid should slide, get down, nothing . . . throw comes in and runner is tagged right before be touches home plate (standing up). The runner then went over to the on-deck batter and had a, uh, let's say conversation before heading into the dugout.
Another example is when the umpire takes a foul tip -- on a team that does the little things right the catcher will ask for time and go visit his pitcher.
Etc., etc.