Different world. Son's school varsity has one starter that sits 88-89 and has touched 91. Another that sits mid 80's and touches 88-89. JV team has three freshman over 80, one who touched 85. Leader in District has 3 kids who have touched 90. Another school has two. Third school has one D1 commit that has touched 94, another that is at 87-88.
These velocities are from their perfect game profiles or me peeking over someone's shoulder at their stalker.
CaCO3Girl posted:#1 Assistant Coach posted:I coach JV at a 3-A high school (1200 kids). Over the past few years one thing I have enjoyed doing is after my JV game is concluded I go up to the press box and watch the varsity game. I often have my radar gun with me and discreetly take readings during the game.
I can confidently say the average high school pitcher that I see tops out somewhere between 72 and 78. Sophomore's playing varsity tend to be the 72 to 74 range and juniors and seniors anywhere from 75 to 78. It is a very rare occasion that I see any velocity 80 or higher.
But once in a while I will see a kid hitting 85. And I can guarantee you that is a kid who puts a lot of time in, studies the game, and works very hard to hit that number. Most of our kids where I teach and coach do not play year around. They are 3 to 6 months players at most. That being HS season, then Legion ball then put the glove away at the end of July and not take it out again until high school tryouts next spring.
Do you think the shorter baseball season has any effect on the velo? I have to say it sounds on the low side.
The shorter baseball season definitely has an effect. But it is a self-imposed shorter baseball season due to distractions here like surfing, fishing, hunting, or simply partying at the beach. I believe that those types of distractions are why our county, located in the Outer Banks, always struggles to produce college bound athletes. In our entire baseball program of 40 players currently on varsity and JV, 2 have played PG events. That's a bumper crop this year! I'd say most years we have zero kids with PG profiles.
That being said, my high school baseball program has produced one first round draft pick in the last 10-years who was a starter in last fall's World Series. And our county arch rival also produced a #1 pick (#1 PICK) a "few" years ago when he was drafted by the Yankees out of high school with a record signing bonus. I'm sure some of you will remember him or remember hearing on the radio that his career had come to an end.
It goes without saying that neither of these two players were distracted by the beach and surfing! They were "down east" coastal country boys who could flat out play ball. Cut from the same cloth as fellow Tar Heel staters Mad-Bum and Josh Hamilton.
And for the record, they were were both 90+ off the mound in HS.
Fascinating story here about the rise, and fall, of one of our county legends Brien Taylor:
http://www.espn.com/new-york/m...pitcher-brien-taylor
I think we are between Go44Dad's world and the 70's world. Our top 2 pitchers this year are mid 80's, but the rest are slower. In league, the toughest guy we've faced sits only around 81-82, but he has great movement and he really paints. Second toughest has been clocked over 90 at PG events but word is that he has fallen off some. But we also see plenty of guys in the 70's, usually throwing nothing but junk. They can be very effective, especially with a generous umpire. Out of league the team gets to face some top talent. Last year a potential first rounder no-hit us for 5 innings, getting up to 97-98. He's a Friday night starter at a D1 now. At our next game we're likely to see a guy who is ranked in the top 100 recruits by Baseball America. PG has him topping out at 93, but supposedly he's been up to 97 this spring.
This year: two top FB speeds for Varsity are 85, and 87, both by seniors. One is a midwest D2 recruit....
Last year: two top FB speeds were 95 and 89 by two D1 recruits, one a top recruit one of the top NCAA ranked schools (top 5 currently).
Other recruit was recruited by a mid D1 academic: coach didn't like his attitude and he was cut after the first 5 weeks.
Interesting thread dating back to 2003. Seems velocity hasn't changed much over the 14 yrs...
As the dad of a 2019 pitcher, I am finding judging velocity by eye is very deceiving. Even while watching a HS pitcher when he is being gunned I am off from pitch to pitch. Say a kid is living around 82. The next pitch looks hard and you check the gun and it's 80. Than the next pitch looks soft and you check the gun and it's 83. I have come to the conclusion until I see it on a gun I have no idea how hard someone is throwing.
I count the number of radar guns in the stands. Anything over 2 means the guy is throwing gas.
real green posted:I have come to the conclusion until I see it on a gun I have no idea how hard someone is throwing.
Exactly. I have had a gun for years, and nobody can guess it from pitch to pitch without a gun.
Loud pops into the mitt, 4S vs 2S, high pitch vs low pitch, swing hard or not, grunting, easy action vs rushed, 'wow' from the stands, all contribute to bad guesses.
SultanofSwat posted:real green posted:I have come to the conclusion until I see it on a gun I have no idea how hard someone is throwing.
Exactly. I have had a gun for years, and nobody can guess it from pitch to pitch without a gun.
Loud pops into the mitt, 4S vs 2S, high pitch vs low pitch, swing hard or not, grunting, easy action vs rushed, 'wow' from the stands, all contribute to bad guesses.
All that, and also how far you are from the plate. A field with 60 feet behind the catcher vs a field with 15 feet behind the catcher -- at the latter it will seem a lot faster.
My guess is sitting high 70's to mid 80's based on our the pitchers we had who were not our starters over the 4 years my son attended his 6-A school.
92,91,91,91,90 LHP,90,90,88 LHP,88,87 LHP, 85 LHP, 84,84,82 LHP...Top recorded velo's of the pitchers in our league who had the ball in their hands in meaningful games this past season or will have the ball next season...most sat 3-4 MPH below top recorded...
