Day 7 of a high school tryout

Good job to T-Bone. Don't let him get intimidated. Just play your game and good things will happen.

Congrats!! WOW, a 7 day tryout, that's brutal!?! Amazing that an 8th grader can deal with that emotional roller coaster! He sounds like a very special kid.

GED10DaD

quote:

WOW, a 7 day tryout, that's brutal!?!

Our high school's tryout is three days. I can name the first fourteen varsity players right now. I see three options for the last two spots. Chances are one of the three will be the starting pitcher for the JV team opening day. If anyone else makes varsity it will be a senior up from JV who's been a program player and understands his role as a cheerleader.

From a freshman team standpoint, three to five of the best players will make JV. The rest of the freshmen will be assigned to the freshman team. This is their first warning they're not varsity prospects and better step it up this year. The JV team will fall into place based on sophs and juniors cut from varsity along with the few freshmen considered future prospects.

JV ball is not as good as 14U USSSA Majors. Freshman ball is unwatchable. Middle school kids play middle school baseball. In areas that don't have middle school ball, their USSSA teams will start play in April. In 8th grade my son was playing middle school ball and USSSA similtaneously.

Yes, this tryout is taking alot longer than I ever thought it would.I still don't know if he will end up on the Freshmen team, J.V. or Varsity or no team at all. What I have seen and heard, I believe he could handle J.V. and maybe Varsity ball. He did strike out some seniors 17 and 18 year old kids with beards during Fall Ball this past September when he was just 13 years old. He is about as big or bigger than most of the guys trying out for the J.V and Varsity teams ( he is above 6') 165 lbs still hasn't shaved yet, in fact he looks like a little boy with a man's body and size 13 cleats a Great Dane pup. He is left handed and throws at least in the mid to upper 70s to near 80 at times with a lot of movement and change of speeds and is seemingly getting stronger everyday. He also has been very successful in playing 1st base, the coaches have told him he had the best defensive position look than anyone else at the the tryouts. They tell him the same thing playing center field during these tryouts.He has also crushed the waterlogged practice balls about 300 ft several times during scrimmages and drills. He keeps saying all the coaches keep telling him he doing a good job. And he really doesn't seem to be intimitated by anyone. The coach told him the other day that he had great pitching mechanics. At least T-Bone's agility training this past winter is paying off now as he ran another mile with the Varsity and J.V. pitchers yesterday. I think, even if he doesn't make the high school team this year, at least he is learning what the high school tryout experience is all about and he is getting good baseball practice in and a good workout to boot.It sure does beat sitting on the couch playing video games.

Just curious - does an 8th grader playing varsity in Kentucky lose a year of high school eligibility by doing so?

In Texas, I don't believe UIL allows a player to play on varsity as an 8th grader without losing a year of their high school eligibility.

No, in Kentucky an eighth grader has 5 years elgibility.

quote:

WOW, a 7 day tryout, that's brutal!?!

7 day tryouts don't seem that long. Tryouts in our school system went 2-3 weeks that included 4-5 scrimmages (weather permitting) aginst other schools before opening day. The teams were usually set just days before the first regular season game.

The longer the tryouts the better chance for a player to show his stuff and for the coaches to evaluate---to me it is not brutal

I agree with TR...7 days gives everyone a fair shot at showing what they can do on the field. If they have one or two bad days, they can overcome them and still have a shot at making one of the squads.

Our HS's tryouts are 2 days long, and fairly irrelevant. The coaches have pretty much decided the Varsity and JV squads. In fact, the only players who are required to show up at tryouts are the Sophomores and Freshmen.

Our guys have a 3 day try-out. But they have been playing a winter schedule 6-8 games and have baseball P.E. The try-outs for the most part are a formality. Is BB P.E typical. In other parts.

While our high school only has three day tryouts, the varsity and JV sometimes practice together. There has been roster shifting between the end of tryouts and the start of the season. The only player who might get the short end of a three day tryout is one of the last potential candidates to make the freshman team.

While the player isn't going to enjoy getting cut, from a program standpoint he's probably not ever making varsity. From a development standpoint, if he has an upside, he's more likely to develop getting more playing time finding the right summer program to fit his needs than sitting on the end of the JV bench.

One thing to keep in mind here:

In most cases a kid sitting on the bench on JV and or Varsity is going to have trouble finding a spot on a strong summer team--I am not saying he can't but it will bne tough to make one of the better summer teams

Sometimes the way a player gets his reps is playing on a lesser team and competing against the better teams. While it won't be a winning season, it can be a season of development.

That's why I referenced it in terms of the cut freshman player. There's all kinds of travel ball at 15U or possibly a strong rec program available.

If I have a say on our HS BB try-out, I would suggest the coaching staffs that keep the team "lean & mean". Don't worry about the "donation" base or parents complains, cut as many as you want, If you put kids who don't deserve to be in, you are asking for trouble for the future. I actually feel nervous for the head coach, life is not fair, he got a hand of **** cards after a big class of seniors graduate. I can barely pick out 12 players that are talented enough to play HS ball. Never the less he has to put 3 teams (v/jv/fro) together. I would like him to put 10-12 kids for each team, then even they won't do well this year, but every kid will have enough playing time, thus there will be no politics BS from the parents, I will keep my fingers crossed, I hope he do the right thing.

quote:

rain delay quote:this tryout is taking alot longer than I ever thought it would.I still don't know if he will end up on the Freshmen team, J.V. or Varsity or no team at all

Obviously hoping the best for t-bone but making the Freshman team seems to me to have a lot of up-side even if it appears to be the less of a couple options.

Not only does he probably get more pt but he gets a chance to blend with future varsity players that are a year older than him. IMHO, gaining the respect of those players is huge in the long term development of a team and player relationships. Jumping past them may cause some animosity with players who can't accept the realities or are unable to visualize the big picture.

quote:

Originally posted by dswann:
Is BB P.E typical. In other parts.

No

quote:

Originally posted by rain delay:

No, in Kentucky an eighth grader has 5 years elgibility.

Wow! That is absolutely amazing. I know here in Georgia a kid is only allowed to play 4yrs of high school varsity ball. They can make the 9th grade/JV team as an 8th grader, but that's it.

I know kids are growing bigger much faster these days but I've never personally seen an 8th grader ready for Varsity baseball. I may be on the verge of seeing it happen.

quote:

Originally posted by bbking:
If I have a say on our HS BB try-out, I would suggest the coaching staffs that keep the team "lean & mean". Don't worry about the "donation" base or parents complains, cut as many as you want, If you put kids who don't deserve to be in, you are asking for trouble for the future. I actually feel nervous for the head coach, life is not fair, he got a hand of **** cards after a big class of seniors graduate. I can barely pick out 12 players that talented enough to play HS ball. Never the less he have to put 3 teams (v/jv/fro) together. I would like he put 10-12 kids for each team, then even they won't do well this year, but every kid will have enough playing time, thus there will be no politics BS from the parents, I will keep my fingers crossed, I hope he do the right thing.

I'm speechless.

quote:

Originally posted by justbaseball:

I'm speechless.

Please say something Just..., what's wrong with my last post? I would enjoy your comments.

BTW, what's the final verdict, Rain Delay? Did your son make it?

UPDATE...... Yes, T-bone has made the Freshmen team as a position player and pitcher for sure, with a very good possibility of him pitching in a relief (limited) role for experience with the junior varsity and varsity teams in the middle of the season and into the post season when needed . Thanks guys for all of your support. What a nice group of friends!!!!

Congratulations!!! We wish him and the teams the best of luck this season!

your post is a little confusing he made the freshman team as a position player but he might go up to jv or varsity later in the season to pitch, why wouldnt they pitch him on the freshman team if they plan to use him later this year on one of the other teams as a pitcher?

Sorry, I left out pitching in last post.....This is what I was told today. My understanding is that T-bone when he is not pitching for the Freshman team will have more playing time rotating between 1B and outfield by being a starter on the Freshman team. In other words, that is where he is starting his high school career playing 1B, outfield and pitching. He has also been told by the coaches, depending how he does, there is a very good chance he will be called up by mid season to play with either the J.V. or an outside chance the varsity team and will be coming over to those teams as a bench player on days when the Freshmen are not playing a game during the early part of the season. His role with the older boys if this works out, will be mainly some outfield and an inning here and there pitching, to allow him to get some experience with the older teams. To me it seemed like the best of all worlds for him. We'll see if all this pans out. However, if nothing else, he did make the Freshman team and I am proud of him.

that is great news and it is very common when a player is on a freshman or jv team that they are also asked to go to the jv or varsity games when they do not have a game with their freshman team. It is the best of both worlds. Good Luck

Congrats Raindelay! Awesome news!

The freedom of movement between JV and varsity is tough today , at least in our region where the Varsity and JV play on the same day---back in the day when I played HS ball they played on separate days---in fact as a soph I played behind an All State senior---played JV for experience and coached third on the varsity days when I did not play---great experience and best of both worlds---played a full spring and also got coaching experience

Congrats Rain on your son's accomplishment!

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
played a full spring and also got coaching experience

Bet you had no idea how far THAT path would lead!

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
The freedom of movement between JV and varsity is tough today , at least in our region where the Varsity and JV play on the same day

Wouldn't that make movement easier? In our area, JV and V play the same time and travel together while freshman teams have their own schedule. Freshman players don't make JV or V squads. They only play freshman ball unless in the rare instance a freshman is that good or maybe has an older brother on the varsity that might help move a good freshman up sooner.

Since JV and V play the same time at the same place, it's common that a couple of JV players are called over from the JV game by the varsity coach during a game. Sometimes, certain players would be sent over to the varsity game after the JV game ended to be possibly put in games. Also, non-senior varsity bench players could be sent over to the JV game to get in the game and grt some innings in.

My guess with this is that parents of varsity bench players weren't to thrilled when a JV player comes over and gets inserted into a game while the V player is still sitting.

Does your state allow this type of player movement between games or do rules prohibit it?

My son is in this situation. As a freshman, he is on both the varsity and JV rosters. He is a pitcher on the varsity and will play position for JV. Once our region starts, the games are on the same day with one being home, one away. When his time in the rotation comes, he will pitch for the varsity, when he is not pitching, he will play JV. No pitching for JV. Also no field play if too close to start. He will DH on JV on those occasions.

The rule here is you can play in up to 27 games in a season. They can be split between fresh, JV and varsity. Varsity plays 27 games, JV has a 17 game schedule and freshmen have a 14 game schedule.

quote:

Originally posted by zombywoof:

Wouldn't that make movement easier? In our area, JV and V play the same time and travel together while freshman teams have their own schedule.

Not necessarily, zombywoof. At my son's school, they usually played the same school, but the JV would be home when the V traveled and vice-versa.

infidel

Same thing here

Congrats RD - I hope he has a great season. GED10DaD

I'm almost certain that around here a player can only participate in 20 regular season games, whether that's JV or varsity. In addition, no player can play in two games on one day (other than a doubleheader for either the JV or varsity). So if the JV has a 4:00 game, a player can't play in that game then play in the 7:00 varsity game. He could be a bullpen catcher or coach a base like TR, but he could not enter the game.

quote:

Originally posted by infidel_08:


Not necessarily, zombywoof. At my son's school, they usually played the same school, but the JV would be home when the V traveled and vice-versa.

Yea.. That schedule would make it difficult. I guess it all depends how each area schedules their games and whatever state rules are in place on moving up and down the levels.

That is awesome news on T-Bone!!

You should be proud!!

Just curious if your 8th grade son made varsity. In Illinois you would never have an 8th grader on varsity they can't even try out. I also have a talented son who is a freshmen 15 and is hitting 80mph with great location and change of speed personnaly I would rather him play sophomore and be more succusssful. The caliber of teams in this area is very good (even many freshmen teams are very talented). And his summer team will play many of the top teams (played East Cobb Astros WOW their 14U team could beat many varsity teams and bigger then most). Anyway best of luck hope everything worked out for the best.

Congrats Raindelay for your son and his accomplishment. By the way T-Bone is a great nickname. Can I ask what school your son is attending - you can PM me if you like or if you would rather not that is fine. I'm just curious.

As a former head coach in Kentucky I can say the state has some very liberal rules in regards to baseball. There is no age or grade limitations. There was one school - Harrison County - who several years ago had to use a 6th grader at 2nd base. Harrison County is a very small school outside of Lexington and are very successful. The head coach tossed his starting senior and back up junior off the team for goofing off during practice. He put this kid in at second and stayed with him and won a couple of state championships. The kid even got drafted.

Kentucky is allowed 36 games and you can suit up for frosh, JV and / or varsity with no limitations. Some areas play a varsity / JV doubleheader, some play varsity home - JV away and some places have completely seperate schedules.

You are so right about the rules in Ky. they are very liberal in comparison to the schools across the river in Ohio. You would never see an 8th grader playing high school ball in Ohio. I'm not sure about Indiana. I had also heard about Harrison county and their success with a very young team. In my son's situation, even though he is starting out on the Freshmen team, he was told again today by the head coach to get ready to play with the Sophmores,Juniors and Seniors before the season ends.(varsity and or junior varsity ). Again, I honestly look at this high school baseball season experience as extra practice for T-bone. He is getting outside practice alot earlier than what he would have playing for his regular summer team. The high school team he is playing for is considered a 5A school in Ky and they have had success in going through district play over the past few years.

rain delay-sorry I am knew and did not notice the previous post on your son-congrats good for him! My son also made the freshmen team .
Tryouts were 3 days--for kids like my son I think thats enough--5 minutes watching him pitch and you can tell he has talent. But for non-pitchers and marginal players I think more time would help. Also in this climate Illinois we just don't get baseball weather till April and even then it's cold so they do what they can. I feel bad for those kids over 60 tried out for 18 slots--what was the dif in the 18 to 19&20 kid? Anyway congrats good luck in the season and maybe we will meet in summer ball--we play in big 15u Cincy Flames tournament and the WWBC 15u in Marriiotte(Spelling) Ga.