I know this may be early for some, but it is first day of practice/tryouts here in Texas so, I thought I would start this years thread.
Looking forward to a good year (I hope).
For 2025's school, I think this will be a rebuilding year. We lost 9 seniors (7 starters) the whole starting infield and the top two starting pitchers.
Only a couple seniors this year so the Juniors and sophomores will need to step up.
When does everyone else start? What do you think the seasons will look like.
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Texas also here. So starting today. Son's team is looking strong. Ranked pre-season top 10 in 6A.
We've been having offseason indoor practices since December. Our high school tryouts begin February 20 and last one week. 96 are trying out this year. Our first game is scheduled March 25. I'll be honest, it must be nice to be in Texas this time of year to be having tryouts already. All the best to all our kids, parents, and families this year.
Even though I don't have a kid on the team anymore (last graduated in '22), the dogs and I will take our annual (10 years running) trek to the HS to watch the 1st practice from the stands.
1st year in a long time that the coach is unsure about the team (and they are not ranked).
Always look forward to this day, but this one will be a little bittersweet, but I look forward as in 2 weeks as the youngest's JC team visits Texas for a weekend series.
First time to comment but longtime "listener" to sage advice. Texas also here. Son's team is top ranked pre-season team in 6A.
I was hoping I would be here chiming in on my 2025 kid but he retired from the greatest sport as a 11 year old for the grid iron. I am proud to be a junior member of team "pearl droppers", oddly I am probably older than some of the senior pearl dropping parents. Best of luck to your kids' upcoming season and I look forward to venting, crying, laughing and sharing the upcoming months. The therapy in here is awesome.
Ditto to @2022NYC's words. Well the part about good luck and we will be cheering your boys on. As for the rest...not sure I qualify as a pearl dropper....nor do I want to guess where I fall on the age spectrum. Lol
@FS713 posted:First time to comment but longtime "listener" to sage advice. Texas also here. Son's team is top ranked pre-season team in 6A.
FS713 - That is an interesting nugget you posted. For starters, I didn't have a clue what 6A meant being in Ohio, but I googled and came up with this:
CONFERENCE CUTOFFS
6A 2190 and Above 252 Schools
5A 1150 - 2189 252 schools
4A 505-1149 182 schools
3A 225 - 504 211 schools
2A 105 - 224 187 schools
1A 104.9 and below 142 schools
Question: Is 2190 and above grades 9 through 12 and also includes both boys and girls who are enrolled? Either way, being the top-ranked school in 6A is saying a lot and your son's team must be fun to watch.
I can provide a little context by how they classify here in Ohio. They go from D1 to D6 - with D1 being the most populous schools. In 2005, when my son graduated, his school had the highest enrollment in the state. His graduating class was 1105 meaning from grades 9 through 12, there were over 4000 (boys and girls) enrolled. It was not easy getting on the field back then with the large number of players competing for spots. He did not become a starter until his junior year, for example. Thus, when people say they made varsity as a freshmen, I have in the back of my mind - things are relative. Now with my grandson, our school has shrunk somewhat and is now the fifth largest in the state. His current class enrollment is about 650 meaning there are about 2600 enrolled (boys and girls) in grades 9 through 12. If my reading is right, our school would be a 6A school in Texas but you (or someone else) can set me straight on that. If 2190 for 6A is just the number of boys, those are enormous schools.
https://community.hsbaseballwe...25#75221024803693125
Your school would be classified as 6A in Texas.
The smallest 6A school in Texas has around 2,300 student population (grades 9 through 12). We have some 6A schools in our region (Houston) at 5,500+ student population. My 2025's school is around 3,900 now.
Below is the Texas High School Baseball Preseason Top 10. Any of those schools could be listed as #1. Many kids that get cut in these programs would definitely be starters at other schools. The student population fluctuates, but all of them are "big" schools.
1. Pearland Oilers 2. Austin Westlake Chaparrals 3. San Antonio Reagan Rattlers 4. Southlake Carroll Dragons 5. Hebron Hawks 6. Ft. Bend Ridge Point Panthers 7. Lake Travis Cavaliers 8. San Antonio Johnson 9. The Woodlands Highlanders 10. Flower Mound Marcus
Good luck to all in tryouts! We are still in indoor open gym mode, with tryouts not until the end of February (not Texas 
). Our high school is in the largest population bracket in the state and will have frosh, frosh/soph, JV, and varsity. Baseball is so popular here that the community where the high school is located supported 4 travel teams at son's age level alone last year (not including other travel programs that sprung up in neighboring communities that a couple of boys played for) - not all of these boys will make a team and this does not even account for the other age levels. Son is a 2026 and hopes to make a team (he's been on the most competitive of the age level teams for a few years now), knowing many boys currently working out with him will be cut, and that freshmen are simply not put on JV or varsity. He is optimistic, but he appreciates the realities of playing baseball at his very large high school.
HS varsity season officially started Jan 9 here in Atlanta. Had tryouts Jan 9 and 10, practice everyday since then. My son goes to a small private school but with a decent baseball program. Varsity team is looking good with 9 seniors, almost all starters returning, all of pitchers returning, 5 D1 commits (and counting), 4 other college commits (Juco to D2), and most importantly, a group of really good kids that truly enjoys each other with no drama in the locker room (and not much drama with the parents also last year). The team is aiming to make a run again at states. Everyone is excited for the season to start. First game Feb 8.
Classifications are based on total enrollment. If it’s an all boys or all girls school the enrollment is doubled for the classification.
I'm envious; next season will mark ten years since my son's HS senior season…
At the end of my son's soph season ('12), his team was three rounds deep in the playoffs but down one game in a best-of-three series. In game two, my son hit a 3-run bomb in the top of the 6th (photo of him rounding 1st) to give his team a 3-run lead. That should have been my most vivid memory of the game, but it wasn't (even with the photo).
Montgomery loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and hit a walk-off grand slam. The raw emotion from the seniors and their parents was overwhelming and one of my most memorable baseball moments. There wasn't a single senior with dry eyes coming off the field, and they had parents in the stands to match. The finality of that moment hit, and those seniors never played together again, and it hurt.
That's when I understood there's an expiration date on this baseball journey and not to take that for granted. There's no guarantee if or how long anyone will be on the field at any level. It goes by so fast, and you never know when it will end. Enjoy the journey and stay in the moment!
Good luck to all the athletes and their families!
JucoDad - great, great story and memory. Only true baseball people get this type of stuff. It's not just about winning and losing. It's about competing. Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes it eats you. I always kid with people, that team on the other side have parents and grandparents who want to see their kids win equally as well as you do. That memory you describe, however, is just as fine a memory as the winning team had only a few moments later. Before the final blow of the game, the three run homer simply had to feel like it was your year and it must have been absolute elation. I believe both teams can "win" in a game and I'll never back down from that feeling. Who would have thunk a four-run, walk-off homer would have beaten you before it actually happened? Of course it hurt at the time, but that is the way baseball is.
I saw an excellent documentary on MLB network about Dennis Ekersley. There were the highest of highs in his life and the lowest of lows. I thought they asked him a dumb question about the famous Kirk Gibson homerun in the World Series. They asked him if he wished he would not have played in that game knowing how it turned out or something like that. He said something like absolutely not, it was one of the greatest moments in MLB history and he was glad to be a part of it. Obviously, he wished it had gone the other way but he was still grateful for the opportunity. I have great memories from winning and losing. Have experienced the low points like you describe. I wouldn't trade the experience however regardless of the outcome.
Great post @JucoDad! And I might add that your son (in the posted photo) was sporting a tremendous number on the back of his jersey.
@adbono posted:Great post @JucoDad! And I might add that your son (in the posted photo) was sporting a tremendous number on the back of his jersey.
You might be a Ryno or Gibson fan... I'd actually not though of the Gibson correlation and especially the photograph until you mentioned the number. I was a A's fan back then, so this image still irks me a bit... lol!
@JucoDad posted:You might be a Ryno or Gibson fan... I'd actually not though of the Gibson correlation and especially the photograph until you mentioned the number. I was a A's fan back then, so this image still irks me a bit... lol!
My reasons are a little more personal:
Me during Senior year of college:
My son in his Junior year of HS :
adbono - good #23 stuff. Who was your coach at Texas A&M? Did you get a chance to play in the College World Series?
@JucoDad posted:Like the stirrups, but love the HS image of your son - great work. Did the HS commission the image?
The HS Booster Club hired a local photographer to create images like the one I posted for each game day. He did a really good job with some of them.
@ClevelandDad posted:adbono - good #23 stuff. Who was your coach at Texas A&M? Did you get a chance to play in the College World Series?
I played for Tom Chandler. We were very good (SWC champs twice) but never got to Omaha. Got beat in Regionals both years.
Third day of trouts here. Looking pretty good so far. Two more cuts to make. Mine is a freshman, so I think he’s a lock for the sophomore (lowest) team and maybe a flier for JV. I’m not sure how our varsity will do this year. I think they have a lot of talent returning so could be a good year for them. They usually get to the 2nd round and get bounced 😁
Son just completed his 4th day of tryouts(here in Coastal South Texas). He knows he made the cut, but probably got JV and not Varsity(he's a Soph). He's so competitive that he's a bit hurt, but I know he'll shake it off. Varsity has 13 returning seniors and three returning underclassmen and three Junior or Senior transfers, so there wasn't much room on a 18-19 man roster. I'll enjoy him getting more play time on JV anyway. I just hope he'll see it that way, in the days to come. Plus, I told him there are several kids that he's played with for years that didn't make the cut, so he should be proud of where he's at. We're going to miss those friends, though.
Good luck to all the kids out there and to their parents and grandparents who will be biting nails during each game!
@Adams Baseball posted:I'll enjoy him getting more play time on JV anyway. I just hope he'll see it that way, in the days to come. Plus, I told him there are several kids that he's played with for years that didn't make the cut, so he should be proud of where he's at. We're going to miss those friends, though.
Good luck to all the kids out there and to their parents and grandparents who will be biting nails during each game!
It is the right way to look at it. Playing time is more valuable for sure. Reminded me of my dad’s story. He played basketball. He wasn’t good enough to make JV first two years (didn’t even make any team as a freshman) but kept grinding. Chose to play JV as a junior for playing time. Ended up starting varsity point guard as a senior and went on to play in college at a D1 school. He attributes it to being on the floor when his soph and especially his jr buddies were mostly riding the bench on varsity.
And your son should be proud to be on any squad in your area. It’s extremely competitive in many parts of Texas, just about all of them. 😁 Congrats!
Thx Lefty! I will pass your information along, to him. Our district has a #6 Ranked team, and our first scrimmage game is against a Highshool whose Varsity is ranked in the top 20. So we'll see how it goes. Trial By Fire! LOL
Update: Scrimmages are going pretty well. This years defense is strong, even with the large number of underclassmen. Pitching and offence could use some work (consistency). I think both will come around with more innings. 2025 son has started every scrimmage at catcher. I just wish they would release the varsity roster, but it is looking good so far.
Tryouts start Feb 27, first game is March 17th. 18 seniors are going out and they will be cutting some of them. There are going to be lots of upset parents.
@Master P posted:Tryouts start Feb 27, first game is March 17th. 18 seniors are going out and they will be cutting some of them. There are going to be lots of upset parents.
The players that get cut (and their parents) may well be upset, but what your coach is doing is in the best interests of the team and the program in general. My opinion may not be in the majority but I believe HS sports should be a meritocracy. And the best players should play regardless of their age. Keeping a bunch of seniors that aren’t good enough to get on the field is a recipe for disaster. Some inevitably turn into malcontents and team chemistry is destroyed. It boggles my mind that so many families think their kids are entitled to be part of a HS sports team just because they are a student in the school. And giving in to that nonsense is not doing kids any favors. It sets them up to fail.
@adbono posted:The players that get cut (and their parents) may well be upset, but what your coach is doing is in the best interests of the team and the program in general. My opinion may not be in the majority but I believe HS sports should be a meritocracy. And the best players should play regardless of their age. Keeping a bunch of seniors that aren’t good enough to get on the field is a recipe for disaster. Some inevitably turn into malcontents and team chemistry is destroyed. It boggles my mind that so many families think their kids are entitled to be part of a HS sports team just because they are a student in the school. And giving in to that nonsense is not doing kids any favors. It sets them up to fail.
You're exactly right. I had a mom tell me, "No senior should ever get cut if they have been in the program for 3 years, even if they wont play." All I could do was smile and nod. The coach has been telling all the seniors for 6 months that he would be making cuts, so its no surprise. He's even having a meeting with all the senior parents before tryouts.
@adbono posted:The players that get cut (and their parents) may well be upset, but what your coach is doing is in the best interests of the team and the program in general. My opinion may not be in the majority but I believe HS sports should be a meritocracy. And the best players should play regardless of their age. Keeping a bunch of seniors that aren’t good enough to get on the field is a recipe for disaster. Some inevitably turn into malcontents and team chemistry is destroyed. It boggles my mind that so many families think their kids are entitled to be part of a HS sports team just because they are a student in the school. And giving in to that nonsense is not doing kids any favors. It sets them up to fail.
We experience this in my son's high school team. Adbono, I am pretty sure you are familiar with the reputation of my son's school carrying an army for a varsity team. The 2023 class is one of the largest classes to come through in while. I believe we have 36 kids on the varsity team this year. That is up from 34 last year. There will be only 12-13 players that actually play. You have a half a team of parents in the stands questioning every move by coaches and players. The program has historically been one of the more successful in the state, so as long as the teams keep winning, it is hard to argue with how coach manages the roster. Never understood why coach carries that many. It almost feels like coach "rewards" them with a roster spot for part of being part of the program up to that point.
Our coach doesn't cut seniors. The roster is usually 25ish players and there's always 4-5 seniors who only play in the handful of the reserves games they have. These are the guys who were marginal players on JV their junior year. He tells the ones from that group after tryouts what their role will be & they can decide.
@ARCEKU21 posted:We experience this in my son's high school team. Adbono, I am pretty sure you are familiar with the reputation of my son's school carrying an army for a varsity team. The 2023 class is one of the largest classes to come through in while. I believe we have 36 kids on the varsity team this year. That is up from 34 last year. There will be only 12-13 players that actually play. You have a half a team of parents in the stands questioning every move by coaches and players. The program has historically been one of the more successful in the state, so as long as the teams keep winning, it is hard to argue with how coach manages the roster. Never understood why coach carries that many. It almost feels like coach "rewards" them with a roster spot for part of being part of the program up to that point.
I share your sentiments. Seems to go on the most at the more affluent High Schools
Last year older kid's HS coach cut a few seniors, one was a D3 committed pitcher. With 30 kids on the roster many kids never played. The practices and scrimmages were not that good so I doubt those players got any work in. I am sure it was hard explaining to the D3 coach on getting cut, hopefully the kid used the time training to get better.
WoW 30+ players on the HS Varsity team, that just seems like a nightmare (dealing with HS parents especially). Son's school carries 14-15 on the roster and just pulls JV starters up when/if they need additional players for tournaments at the beginning of the season. They only took 20 to districts and area playoffs last year.
Total number of players in the program is about 45 between the 3 teams (15 each). They also cut a lot of players from tryouts. A pretty good number come back, tryout again, and make it in a year or two.
@TxballDad posted:WoW 30+ players on the HS Varsity team, that just seems like a nightmare (dealing with HS parents especially). Son's school carries 14-15 on the roster and just pulls JV starters up when/if they need additional players for tournaments at the beginning of the season. They only took 20 to districts and area playoffs last year.
Total number of players in the program is about 45 between the 3 teams (15 each). They also cut a lot of players from tryouts. A pretty good number come back, tryout again, and make it in a year or two.
That’s the difference between a 4A HS program in Texas and a big 6A program that has 4000-5000 students.
@adbono posted:I share your sentiments. Seems to go on the most at the more affluent High Schools
there is a program in the metroplex (maybe the one that you are referring to) that has a huge roster. My youngest played with many of the kids on that team during summer ball from ages 12-16, and yes................just follow the money trail to see why those kids are not cut.
The larger roster size might also generate considerable donations to the booster club. A few schools in my area had over 20k in donations on day 1 of the donation drive. Add another 30 kids to the rosters and that could’ve been 30k on day 1 😁
My son’s high school team kept any extra seniors who wanted to be on varsity with some stipulations. These were typically players who were on JV as juniors and not playing all the time. The idea was they never quit.
They were to be positive cheerleaders. Have no expectations of playing (they might get to pinch hit in a non conference game). Retrieve foul balls. The parents must understand and accept the situation. The three years my son was on varsity two or three seniors accepted the circumstances. One of these seniors my son’s soph year was so well liked he was a team leader even on the bench.
One of these players in his only at bat all year came within inches of hitting a pinch hit homer.
First Non-district game tonight (soph team) vs a very talented opponent. From what my son tells me, they are doing 2IP Max per pitcher through non district. Not that district record even matters in the long run either at this level. My son was the starting pitcher and I probably haven’t been that nervous for him in years. Pretty cool feeling. He did really well btw, so it worked out for him. Season is gonna be fun win, lose, or extra innings 😆
Finally found out which teams everyone made yesterday. Son received his Varsity uniforms. They will open the season with a tournament Thu, Fri, and Sat this week, with another three day tournament next week. They went 5-0 (2 4A teams and 3 5A teams) in the preseason scrimmages. Looking good so far.
Regular season started in FL this week. I have a 2025 playing his first year on varsity.
I've been Game Changer stalking a lot of our future opponents and one thing has stood out to me.... Really surprised at how many 85-95 pitch starts I am seeing in week one.
Now I get we only have around 25 games but you can't win or lose a district title in week one. Seems a bit extreme for a first outing. Hopefully these kids have prepared for that kind of workload.
@DaddyBaller posted:Regular season started in FL this week. I have a 2025 playing his first year on varsity.
I've been Game Changer stalking a lot of our future opponents and one thing has stood out to me.... Really surprised at how many 85-95 pitch starts I am seeing in week one.
Now I get we only have around 25 games but you can't win or lose a district title in week one. Seems a bit extreme for a first outing. Hopefully these kids have prepared for that kind of workload.
I saw one of the best 6A teams in Texas play twice yesterday. Their HC (who is one of the best HS HCs in Texas) was very responsible about managing pitch counts. In the 2 games they played I don’t think any of his 4 pitchers threw more than 60 pitches each. If that. Both were close games and in both games his starters were 89 - 92 with FB velo. Scouts were there and it would have been easy for some coaches to get caught up in those games and extend those outings. But not this coach. His game one opponent was different however. In a 1-0 game on Feb 23 he let his best starting pitcher (OU commit) throw 90 pitches in 48 degree weather. Within the rules? Yes. Being concerned about the long term best interest of his players? Not so much. The HC that did it right won both his games btw and the 4 pitchers that he used responsibly combined to throw 2 no hitters on the day. So doing it right early in the season doesn’t compromise a team’s chances to win. It provides opportunities to see what more kids can do.
We will be facing a real DUDE tonight. One of the top 2024's in the country making his first start Sits 94-96 with secondary stuff.... Excited to see him up close and I pray he has the right people around him to not run him into the ground this season.
How is it going for everyone so far?
Much to my surprise, 2026 son made JV (school with 4 teams). This is pretty rare at this very large school. They specifically told him NOT to change his approach at the plate (another thread). Should make for an interesting spring.
@ILoveBaseball04 posted:How is it going for everyone so far?
Much to my surprise, 2026 son made JV (school with 4 teams). This is pretty rare at this very large school. They specifically told him NOT to change his approach at the plate (another thread). Should make for an interesting spring.
Congrats on making JV (or any team)! How big are your teams? Would be nice to have that extra team at our school to help more kids get on the field. We have a lot of kids that could develop but won’t unless they put in work outside of the team.
Season is so much fun so far but I guess it would depend on who you ask. Luckily my son has turned it on and is a big contributor. There are only 10 kids that play more than 80% of the innings and probably will be a higher % going forward, with the rest riding the pine.
Well my son's program kept all 18 seniors. They told 4-5 that they would be on a "practice squad" and wouldn't be on the roster for regionals and state, that they wouldn't get as much BP etc. 3 underclassmen are on Varsity and they will have 2 more floaters. There are 4 teams total and I think there are 60-70 total in the program, they cut about 15-20 kids.
First game is March 17th and the boy is on the bump for game 1.
@TexasLefty posted:Congrats on making JV (or any team)! How big are your teams?
Congrats to your son - glad he is seeing playing time! The team is still working out some PO players (which will not include our son), so the final roster has some play. Still, from years past it looks like a roster of 20ish players for JV, which is much larger than what we are used to from travel. I do wonder whether our 2026 will see much playing time, but this is not our call. We are simply hoping for the best at this point! I do think practicing with some of the players on this team will push him to continue to get better (but of course we all like to see our sons play).
I agree about the teams, as it allows the development of a deep pool of talent. We are very fortunate that so many want to play baseball in our community. Some of the freshman will undoubtedly get bigger, stronger, and better this year and the fact that there are teams for them to develop on only helps the school program in the future.
@Master P posted:Well my son's program kept all 18 seniors. They told 4-5 that they would be on a "practice squad" and wouldn't be on the roster for regionals and state, that they wouldn't get as much BP etc. 3 underclassmen are on Varsity and they will have 2 more floaters. There are 4 teams total and I think there are 60-70 total in the program, they cut about 15-20 kids.
First game is March 17th and the boy is on the bump for game 1.
Man, keeping 18 seniors is a recipe for disaster. There will be at least one who is a malcontent and figures he has nothing to lose. All it takes is one of those to ruin team chemistry. And teams with bad chemistry always underperform. That’s the dilemma that HS coaches face at large schools. If they keep all the seniors they have to deal with an unruly player or two that can ruin a season. If they cut seniors they have to deal with rogue parents that might go after their job. That’s a thin line to walk and almost impossible for it to work out good for the majority.
@adbono posted:Man, keeping 18 seniors is a recipe for disaster. There will be at least one who is a malcontent and figures he has nothing to lose. All it takes is one of those to ruin team chemistry. And teams with bad chemistry always underperform. That’s the dilemma that HS coaches face at large schools. If they keep all the seniors they have to deal with an unruly player or two that can ruin a season. If they cut seniors they have to deal with rogue parents that might go after their job. That’s a thin line to walk and almost impossible for it to work out good for the majority.
It will be very interesting to see how the first few weeks of the season go.
@adbono posted:Man, keeping 18 seniors is a recipe for disaster. There will be at least one who is a malcontent and figures he has nothing to lose. All it takes is one of those to ruin team chemistry. And teams with bad chemistry always underperform. That’s the dilemma that HS coaches face at large schools. If they keep all the seniors they have to deal with an unruly player or two that can ruin a season. If they cut seniors they have to deal with rogue parents that might go after their job. That’s a thin line to walk and almost impossible for it to work out good for the majority.
Our high school kept seniors who hang in there all four years. The coach had a talk with them to understand they are cheerleaders and ball chasers. They were typically not playing full time on JV as juniors. One or two per year would agree to stay on the team. Some would quit midseason.
One was a genuine leader from the bench. I can still picture he was about the fourth player in the championship dog pile sprinting from the bullpen.
tryouts are tonight and tomorrow, teams announced wed. Should be a very interesting week.
Our first scrimmage is March 15. When my grandson was on his first travel team at 10 years old, he was assigned #9 without being asked and where most of the other players were given a choice. Obviously, numbers are not going to change the price of rice in China. I remember telling him at the time, make #9 special regardless of how that number came to you. He has been #9 ever since on every travel team he has been on. The only exception was last year on JV where a senior varsity player already had the number. He let me know yesterday his number this year is #9 yet, we would have been thrilled with any number. That being said, we are happy this number came back to him. Did not realize at the time that #9 was Ted Williams number.
So 2027 made the freshman team! Coach said a lot of positives and has pretty high expectations for him.
Season still going good. 3-0 in district play. Son has been playing well, splitting time behind the plate with a Junior.
It’s opening day of the HS season! 39 degrees with 15mph winds, “feels like” 30. But the sun is shining! The team has strong bats down the line-up and solid defense; with average pitching. Very excited to see what this season brings!
The wind was angry that day. Like an old man returning soup at a deli.
varsity won their first two games. my 2023 had a walk off single for the scrimmage and had a great scoop at first to end the non-conference game. another game today. high of 48 but windy, sunny. But the game is on! 2027 has his first game tomorrow. They still don't know the lineup. Freshman baseball is second fiddle. I get it.
@RJM posted:The wind was angry that day. Like an old man returning soup at a deli.
NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Son's team is off to a 12-5 start. Their starting pitching has been excellent. The bats are Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde. Runs have been a premium. Also seems that they get up for big games, and lowly teams they just go through the motions. They have knocked off two teams that were nationally ranked at the time and two other teams that were top 20 state ranked. But then they go up against a team that should not be on the same field as them and it's like they are sleep walking.
Individual wise, 2023 son is closing in on a couple of milestones for his varsity career (4 year starter). He is on the bump tonight and if he can get the W, it will be his 20th varsity win. He is six hits away from 100 career hits. These were two of his goals coming into the season. So good to see that he should hopefully accomplish both, especially since he only played 7 games freshman year because of the shutdown.
I marvel at how blessed other states are with how many baseball games you all can play. We are only allowed 20 regular season games, with a max of 25 if you go to the state championship.
Writing this more for myself as a humbling reminder how hard baseball is, and that one learns more from "failure". Hopefully, son will learn from this, and turn it into a positive moving forward. Season had been goin very well, esp from pitching perspective. Came up against bigger, stronger, good hitting team. Usual approaches against hitters didn't work as well. Lots of errors and soft contact that ended up as hits, and some HHBs that brought runs in. Suboptimal adjustment off of particular pitch that hitters were getting contact on despite movement. Loss of emotional control, lack of focus and garbage body language after things snowballed. He's been summarily punished, not for end result or errors, but for inexcusable & selfish body language leading to loss of focus. Tale of the tape reveals much that can be improved upon as far as approach to hitters. Execution was there, mental focus and adjustment were not. What's the definition of insanity? Repeating the same... no it's a 15yo. Often times seemingly, the WORST thing that can happen to a young mind is success out of the gate, much like winning the first time in a casino...
HS baseball in PA starts this week. Today is opening day for my son.
I'm just glad that it will be 60F temp today, not the 30F that we had on Sunday.
Last night in the 50's with cold northerly breeze... today in the 70s... tomorrow 80s... I was very glad to have learned taking the layering approach and that my outer shell could accommodate a tshirt, underarmor, jersey, and "cold weather" jacket... My friends from up north say I've gone soft now - there's something to be said about getting used to a certain temperature.
@Grateful NTX lurker
I was talking to one of my son's coaches the other day. He's got well over 25 years experience coaching at a collegiate level. We were talking about batting averages and other stats. and how I don't share my son's with him during the season. ( He has since figured out how to get them on game changer). He said it's important never to get too wrapped up in the highs and lows of game and try to remain on even keel. Easier said than done.
Also the 14/15 yo brain is still very much learning emotional regulation no matter how much they appear mature on the outside. Our sons are so driven and motivated that occasionally frustration and disappointment poke through. After all no one is perfect. But it's just part of learning experience of growing up. It's just tough to watch sometimes. But I think we tend to learn much more from our failures than our successes.
I feel the pain, 15 year old brains are hard to deal with sometimes. Mine is very hard on himself and it has been leading to confidence issues. He can hit a left center gap double on a second pitch and on the car ride home he talks about the swing and miss he had on the first pitch of the at bat that he says was a better pitch.
We are playing our first outdoor scrimmage today. The item of note today is where we are playing - League Park. You might say, League Park - so what? League Park opened in 1891 in Cleveland and the first pitch was thrown by Cy Young. Babe Ruth had some of his greatest games at League Park. As far as I am aware, only three parks still exist where Babe Ruth played and that is Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and League Park (new Yankee Stadium is not where the old one was). League Park is on the same grounds but in no way does it remotely resemble the way it looked when Ruth played as most of the original structure has long since been torn down. There is a museum there and surrounding the park is some of the old stone walls that were there when the park was built. My Paul Harvey story for the day as it relates to this thread...
Here is a nice article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Ruth at League Park.
Update: our season is going really well, which is totally a subjective thing to say. It’s going really well for my 2026 (fr) and the starters, that is. Personally, I’d like to see more game time for some quality players not on the first team, but I hear there are other factors contributing to their lack of playing time like being in time or attitude.
My son has done really well and I’m really enjoying seeing him progress. Everyone started the season as mostly unknowns and things have worked themselves out for him by proving it on the field and in practices. His progression so far - he started at the bottom in every category possible:
Fielding: a non starter in preseason to shared time to owning 1B. He has shown he’s the man to dig out nearly everything thrown his way and made some heads up plays. His hitting probably a big factor here too.
Batting: non starter, nearly last in line up in preseason (everyone hit in scrimmages, all 18) to hitting 7-8th in lineup, to batting cleanup as a starter. His stats are great but I personally like that he changed his approach on his own or by listening to the coaches. I like to talk about stuff with him but I’m not knowledgeable enough to give advice, and when I ask about something, he usually chuckles and says I still don’t know anything 🤣. From my eyes, I like that he barrels more 1st pitch strikes and also has the best QAB stats.
Pitching: middle of the pack in preseason, worked up the ranking pretty fast. He’s middle of the pack in velo, so could’ve been a factor early on. He is a command/control guy and that proved to be what gets outs. The other successful pitchers are also better at command/control too. The varsity coach randomly struck up a conversation with me recently and commented that he likes to see his pitchers work efficiently and that too many of the younger pitchers are chasing strikeouts rather than weak contact, which gets them deep in counts most of the time (I’m paraphrasing). My son chases Ks as do all the rest. The most challenging part of pitching in HS for him is understanding he isn’t going to pitch every inning. He gets to start but the coaches hold them to 50-60 pitches and sometimes just 2 innings. There are a lot of arms that need to get work and I like that approach.
We are about 3 weeks into district play. What I’m really interested in seeing is if he can maintain this level of success through the next month or if he fails somewhere, how he handles it. He failed in some categories in 14u and did well to adjust but hated not being near the top, which is great motivation.
One last note, there are a few players that belittle or talk s$$t to their teammates. None of them are starters. All of them probably think they should be starting. I don’t think the coaches know because I think it happens away from the field. Coach is very adamant about being a great teammate and supporting your team. Son and I talked about it because there’s a lot of social BS that happens at this age (14-15) and through HS. So it’s not all about baseball.
And in some parts of the country, the HS season is just about to start!
Temperatures with the wind have felt like 30s for games - brutal. To my surprise, son, a 2026, has been lucky to start in nearly every game for the JV team at his very large school (roster is the largest by far of any team we've ever been on, so we certainly did not expect this). He has been contributing and has helped win games. Now hoping for warmer weather!
@TexasLefty posted:One last note, there are a few players that belittle or talk s$$t to their teammates. None of them are starters. All of them probably think they should be starting. I don’t think the coaches know because I think it happens away from the field. Coach is very adamant about being a great teammate and supporting your team. Son and I talked about it because there’s a lot of social BS that happens at this age (14-15) and through HS. So it’s not all about baseball.
Congrats to your son on his good season. With respect to your quote above, I suspect it is happening in every dugout in the country because the same things are happening here. Maybe a kid is not gracious enough to actually pull for a teammate when they are sitting on the bench - I get that. At least don't open your mouth then and say negative things to someone. Of course, I forget, the guys sitting all would be hitting 1000, never make an error in the field, and all have 0.00 ERA's if only the coach were smart enough to play them.
@ClevelandDad exactly🤣🤣🤣
The dugout talk can be tough. Here's another sort of talk. Son is a starter and is one of the top performers in AVG, OBP, RBI, SB, etc. Yet, he's the only one pulled in the 4/5th inning for unknown reasons. Son is pondering in silence "why him"? The dugout talk is all about his situation. Teammates repetitively saying, "Why'd you get pulled?", "I had no idea it was possible for someone that is 2 for 2 to be benched", "I have no shot at ever playing if this guy's not even getting to play", "Does Coach hate you?"
@Momball11 posted:The dugout talk can be tough. Here's another sort of talk. Son is a starter and is one of the top performers in AVG, OBP, RBI, SB, etc. Yet, he's the only one pulled in the 4/5th inning for unknown reasons. Son is pondering in silence "why him"? The dugout talk is all about his situation. Teammates repetitively saying, "Why'd you get pulled?", "I had no idea it was possible for someone that is 2 for 2 to be benched", "I have no shot at ever playing if this guy's not even getting to play", "Does Coach hate you?"
Just watching our games and from what we have observed, is this possibly when his team has a healthy lead? I have observed early on in the season that the coaches are giving more kids opportunities than they have in the most recent games. We saw a bit of this early on, but it is gradually diminishing as coaches seem to be settling into a lineup with starters.
@ILoveBaseball04 posted:Just watching our games and from what we have observed, is this possibly when his team has a healthy lead? I have observed early on in the season that the coaches are giving more kids opportunities than they have in the most recent games. We saw a bit of this early on, but it is gradually diminishing as coaches seem to be settling into a lineup with starters.
Yes, still early on in the season for sure. Inconsistent with the "healthy" lead though. I would say justifiable if the lead was comfortable because that's a perfectly good time to let players on the bench get some playing time. But that hasn't always been the case. Last year son was in the first man off the bench position, but when the team had a healthy lead he didn't get put in. Guess the coach has changed his tactics, but it's definitely odd that my son is the only one that gets pulled. I question if maybe it's attitude/behavior...but no, that's something we/he gets complimented on the most. I sort of wonder if it's to appease the parents of the one replacing him and they figure my son will be "understanding" and/or his parents won't throw a stink. I just tell myself and son that sometimes life just isn't fair, keep working, support your teammates and make sure you encourage positive conversations/talk in the dugout.
@Momball11 posted:I sort of wonder if it's to appease the parents of the one replacing him and they figure my son will be "understanding" and/or his parents won't throw a stink. I just tell myself and son that sometimes life just isn't fair, keep working, support your teammates and make sure you encourage positive conversations/talk in the dugout.
Your intuition is probably right. There are only two things a player can control - his attitude and his effort. Your son's attitude sounds great and that reflects nicely on his parents as well. It is up to him if he wants to be the hardest worker on the team but it sounds like he checks that box very nicely as well. You cannot control what other parents or players say and it can be ugly at times. Cannot control a coach's decision. I encourage kids that even in practice, if you are shagging balls on the infield or outfield, dive for a ball if you can get to it. Carry the water cooler if necessary with a smile on your face. I gave my son that same advice when he was originally redshirted in college. In high school, he had to scratch and claw his way into the lineup as a junior. Might only see one at bat in two games. That is the lot he had. He had to produce with one at bat and it was the same in college. Imagine your whole career depending on what you did with one at bat.
One of the most frustrating things about HS baseball is trying to understand what is going on in the coach's mind. They don't explain much - and, given how much guff they take, you can't really blame them, since anything they said would probably be misinterpreted by someone. But that leads to even more frustration and speculation.
We understood some of it better by the end of senior year. Some of it we have never understood. But you know what, we see the coach occasionally and I could now ask him about those things - but it never even crosses my mind!
I read an article about the do’s and don’ts about getting drafted back when my son was around 10 or 11. I wasn’t being prophetic, just one of those reads that sticks with you.
There was a bunch about not wearing your college gear, don’t bring a car if you can avoid it, and strategies for eating healthy. What really stuck with me was “Don’t play the GM game”. Which boiled down to keeping a positive mental attitude while others advanced and you didn’t, even if your stats seemed to indicate you should. I still feel like this is great advice for parents and players.
@JucoDad posted:What really stuck with me was “Don’t play the GM game”. Which boiled down to keeping a positive mental attitude while others advanced and you didn’t, even if your stats seemed to indicate you should. I still feel like this is great advice for parents and players.
From fighting his way back into the baseball class after playing basketball as a freshman, not making JV, only pitching 12 innings his juco freshman season and the host of setbacks that most every competitive athlete suffers, he stayed driven and positive. .
Thanks for sharing this. I’m not as knowledgeable as most of you and my son is just getting started in the high school realm but I think these words are gold. Thanks
Got some nice words from one of the assistants about both of my boys. Hard workers, great kids, and least important, good ball players. 2023 hit the ball real hard yesterday but a diving catch by the cf robbed him of a hit. Played a great game in the field. 2027 ( playing on freshman) is going very well. Game tonight, weather permitting 🤞
@Momball11 posted:Yes, still early on in the season for sure. Inconsistent with the "healthy" lead though. I would say justifiable if the lead was comfortable because that's a perfectly good time to let players on the bench get some playing time. But that hasn't always been the case. Last year son was in the first man off the bench position, but when the team had a healthy lead he didn't get put in. Guess the coach has changed his tactics, but it's definitely odd that my son is the only one that gets pulled. I question if maybe it's attitude/behavior...but no, that's something we/he gets complimented on the most. I sort of wonder if it's to appease the parents of the one replacing him and they figure my son will be "understanding" and/or his parents won't throw a stink. I just tell myself and son that sometimes life just isn't fair, keep working, support your teammates and make sure you encourage positive conversations/talk in the dugout.
The frustrations with play time are providing my son and the other player that he is swapped out with opportunities to work on their mental game. The other guy had some great at bats recently, so I'd say he deserves to play over my son, but obviously it'shard to say with such a small sample size. Both my son and the "other guy" that swaps places with him have been put into this tough situation. I do believe things might be changing up this year. Did see some other substitutions, so I'm going to be optimistic.
PT has to be one of the toughest parts of these teams - and I am saying that as the parent of a son who has been fortunate in that department so far. How can you have a team of 20+ kids, with about 10-12 of them getting the most PT and NOT have some disgruntled teammates in the dugout? I actually feel quite badly for some of the kids not playing very often and we have not been in such a drastic situation before.
Our team has kids on it that don’t play. They are told that when the team is selected though, and asked if they still want to be on the team. Most say yes because they want to be part of and support the team.
@Dadof3 posted:Our team has kids on it that don’t play. They are told that when the team is selected though, and asked if they still want to be on the team. Most say yes because they want to be part of and support the team.
Once at a certain level, only the coach’s perception of the best 9 are on the field. At 13U-14U my son was bench depth for a pretty good independent dad managed select team (3 currently in the MLB, 2 more in the next couple years). He had the choice to play elsewhere (my preference) and get more playing time, but he loved the dynamics of the team.
The most memorable and cherished part of baseball are the interactions with teammates, opposing players and sometimes coaches – as parents sometimes we forget this. You don’t need to be on the field to be part of that, there are many ways to contribute, although getting time between the chalk lines is every player’s goal.
@ILoveBaseball04 posted:PT has to be one of the toughest parts of these teams - and I am saying that as the parent of a son who has been fortunate in that department so far. How can you have a team of 20+ kids, with about 10-12 of them getting the most PT and NOT have some disgruntled teammates in the dugout? I actually feel quite badly for some of the kids not playing very often and we have not been in such a drastic situation before.
Our Varsity team has 18 seniors. 18 !!!! We also have 4 underclassman who are the starting pitchers and 3rd baseman. From what my son says, the kids aren't the problem....its the parents. The minute we get up a lot or down a lot you start hearing parents talking about, "Getting the other kids some reps".
One mom looked at me and said, "I wish my son would have been cut. I hate having to explain why he's not playing." SMH.
@Master P posted:Our Varsity team has 18 seniors. 18 !!!! We also have 4 underclassman who are the starting pitchers and 3rd baseman. From what my son says, the kids aren't the problem....its the parents. The minute we get up a lot or down a lot you start hearing parents talking about, "Getting the other kids some reps".
One mom looked at me and said, "I wish my son would have been cut. I hate having to explain why he's not playing." SMH.
I will one up you. My son's team has 25 seniors. 7 juniors and 1 sophomore round out the team. With another sophomore pitcher on his way up soon.
@ARCEKU21 posted:I will one up you. My son's team has 25 seniors. 7 juniors and 1 sophomore round out the team. With another sophomore pitcher on his way up soon.
Wow. Does this mean that all position players are seniors?
@ARCEKU21 posted:I will one up you. My son's team has 25 seniors. 7 juniors and 1 sophomore round out the team. With another sophomore pitcher on his way up soon.
That is insanity. No way that they can all fit in the dugout.
@Momball11 posted:Wow. Does this mean that all position players are seniors?
One of the starting outfielders is a junior. We do have four seniors who are injured and out for the year. Three of them pitchers. So that puts a junior as our #2 starter.
@adbono posted:That is insanity. No way that they can all fit in the dugout.
Our dugouts are larger than some NY city apartments. LOL. But yes, at away games, it does sometimes become a challenge.
The large rosters really create an interesting dynamic. I can see pros and cons to it, honestly.
Son, a 2026, hit his first high school home run this week. Very special moment, indeed!
Rained out for all three boys today☹️
@ClevelandDad posted:Congrats to your son on his good season. With respect to your quote above, I suspect it is happening in every dugout in the country because the same things are happening here. Maybe a kid is not gracious enough to actually pull for a teammate when they are sitting on the bench - I get that. At least don't open your mouth then and say negative things to someone. Of course, I forget, the guys sitting all would be hitting 1000, never make an error in the field, and all have 0.00 ERA's if only the coach were smart enough to play them.
These days, even if they don't say the negative things in the dugout, they still say it behind the kid's back in practice, or they text it to them later (or at least that has been our experience). Maturity is in short supply everywhere, so I guess it's not surprising that it's even harder to come by at 15 or 16.
@Dadof3 posted:Rained out for all three boys today☹️
We had the good ol "a sprinkler broke on the field" rain out today when the opposing school had no pitchers to throw today. Our coach offered to host the game and their AD gave it a quick no.
@ARCEKU21 posted:We had the good ol "a sprinkler broke on the field" rain out today when the opposing school had no pitchers to throw today. Our coach offered to host the game and their AD gave it a quick no.
Wow...that was allowed to fly?
I noticed the other day that there are some players that stand so close to the plate that their heels are the only part of the foot in the box.
@Momball11 posted:I noticed the other day that there are some players that stand so close to the plate that their heels are the only part of the foot in the box.
You can’t assume that the chalk lines that define the batter’s box where put down correctly.
Son's team started slow. Lost a handful of 1 run games, oftentimes giving up 2 to 5 unearned runs. The team's performance in the first 3 weeks of the season did not meet the preseason ranking and expectation. I was actually very optimistic as the issues in the first 3 weeks were things I felt are easy to address.
Fast forward to now as the last week of regular season is winding down. We sealed our first region championship the other day and completed region play w/o any loss for the first time! Now, hopefully, the momentum carries over to state playoff. My son is a senior so he wants to finish strong. We were so close last year - lost in the state championship game.
@Momball11 posted:I noticed the other day that there are some players that stand so close to the plate that their heels are the only part of the foot in the box.
NFHS rules state that your foot can't be touching the ground outside of the chalk box. On the line is ok, but not over the line. Like @adbono says, maybe the box was so poorly placed that the ump let it go... or maybe he just didn't care.
@MidAtlanticDad posted:NFHS rules state that your foot can't be touching the ground outside of the chalk box. On the line is ok, but not over the line. Like @adbono says, maybe the box was so poorly placed that the ump let it go... or maybe he just didn't care.
Chalk lines looked good to me, so it was probably that they just didn't care. This umpire is notoriously bad for both teams...lol. I imagine it's not something he's looking for.
