Errors

ouch!

That does seem like a lot...perhaps someone made an error?

Coach - it does seem like a lot but...

I think of a couple of things....

Nerves.... adrenaline... and aluminum bats...

So if KidVictory manages to pitch D3 someday should I tell him to expect 2Es/Game behind him?

His high school team isn't averaging that many Es/game, I don't believe.

Try www.d3baseball.com

That's where I got the numbers from TR.

Is there a larger sampling/compilation of stats there?

CV

I will say that we were somewhat amazed at the number of errors that were committed by both our son's team as well as the teams they played. 3-5 per game was not unusual. One player returned from their spring trip with eleven errors already on the books... we thought for sure he was done for the season. Nope - continued to start and play almost until the very end of the season. Ended the year with 25 or 26 errors, some very costly. I'm not sure exactly what it means, or why there were so many errors, but it was definitely wide spread. I think they had one game all season that was played error-free. You definitely have to feel for the pitchers.

Wow myts,

3-5/Game is definitely higher than the average in our HS season. Of course we have been in some brutal games but for the most part the fielding is good.

Any idea why there seem to be more in D3 baseball than in HS?
Harder hit balls? More balls in play? More aggressive runners causing hurried throws?

Are the errors more fielding (catching) or throwing?

Thanks,
CV

We saw every kind of error imaginable... mental, physical, physically mental, mentally physical. It was amazing. Balls between the legs, easy fly balls dropped, throws into the dugout. We wondered if it was a result of guys playing out of their accustomed position - our team had a few key injuries that forced some changes - but every team seemed to have the same problem, both in our conference as well as the non-conference teams we played. We listened to games while holding our breath! And we did both win and lose several important games as a result of errors on both sides.

I'm sure the faster game causes some of it, but wouldn't you think the older guys would have made the adjustment? The seniors made as many errors as the rookies - the guy I mentioned earlier was a 5th year senior.

Can't explain it - just know that we saw it all season long and found it remarkable. Very, very hard on your pitchers when they have to be afraid to let anyone hit the ball!

And I agree about high school - our high school team isn't anywhere close to making that many errors per game. Our kids would be running foul poles until there was nothing but ruts in the outfield if that happened... I've never been sure what running foul poles has to do with making errors, but I know the boys do hate running them! We had an outfielder drop the ball on the 3rd out of an extra inning tie game a few weeks ago - I think he ran behind the bus all the way home.

Coach, I just checked the website for one of the very top DI programs. They have played 49 games. Combined errors total 125 or about 2.5 per game. Since these are the best players in college, and scholarship players too, 3.7 for guys at the DIII level isn't too bad.
Remember, this is the post season. Remember also, most of these teams found out they were in and where they were playing around 2am EDT, on Monday. 48 hours later they are sometimes over 1000 miles away playing a game at 9:30am. Imagine what is involved in arranging travel for 25 players, coaches and staff so you are at your destination about 36 hours later, getting people into hotels, out to practice,arranging food, keeping your family informed, and being game ready at 7am the very next day.
DIII guys play wonderful baseball. Sometimes the conditions and requirements aren't ideal, but you won't find anyone complaining.

I have noticed that many college coaches seem to be willing to give up some defense for more offense.

infielddad,

Please don't think I was knocking D3. I have a feeling that kidvictory will end up playing D3 somewhere and he and I will be thrilled.

I am just surprised at the number of errors compared to our HS games. Maybe the difference is that we play 7 inning games.

Thanks,
cv

My sons' D III school, Christopher Newport University, made 57 errors in 41 games this year (1.39 per game), with a fielding percentage of .962. We saw some games where things were "kicked around" by opposing teams, but nothing unusual. Of course we saw some mental errors, but certainly they were few.

I have the impression our conference, USA South, is pretty strong overall.

I suspect the errors you observed were more of a reflection that many schools finished their regular season and conference tournaments two weeks ago and they've not had a live game since then. Classes have been over almost everywhere for at least a week,if not two, so these guys likely have been having daily practice, but otherwise have been eating, sleeping, and playing Play Station. Their routines are a little different compared to the previous 3 months and it does affect things at times.

I to am astonded at the number of errors at the college level.
The stats are not always too accurate but they are close enough to show that many college ball players have fundanental issues.
I think part of the problem is they need to relearn fundamentals.
I am also amazed at the batters always swinging for the fence. I guess people make such a big geal out of HRs. To me the successful teams hit for average and play strong fundamental BB.

quote:

Originally posted by infielddad:
Coach, I just checked the website for one of the very top DI programs. They have played 49 games. Combined errors total 125 or about 2.5 per game. Since these are the best players in college, and scholarship players too, 3.7 for guys at the DIII level isn't too bad.

My sons school has more errors than games played, it comes with the territory and for many a large part of learning the game.
I also feel errors are sometimes given when they should not, and errors are not all mental.
Our ss has a lot of errors, but he is one of those that will do anything to stop the ball from getting past the infield so therefore his heroics sometimes gives way to errors. Freshman thrown into the mix will usually suffer a lot of errors, it's a learning period for them. Bad field conditions, bad scorekeeping, injuries, players not regular players of that position, have a lot to do with it as well.
You cannot come to the conclusion errors mean poor baseball playing and CANNOT compare HS to college ball.

Hey TPM,

<<Our ss has a lot of errors, but he is one of those that will do anything to stop the ball from getting past the infield so therefore his heroics sometimes gives way to errors.>>

It's too bad that someone gets penalized for extraordinary effort. Perhaps a new scorekeeper is needed.

Why do you say that we cannot compare HS to College? I think that is the heart of this thread. In HS and college there are 9 players on the field doing their best to get the other team out. It appears that there are more errors in an average NCAA D3 tournament game than in a typical HS game in our league.
So the question is why? I'm guessing that the hitting is better so more hard hit balls are in play.

Thanks,
CV

That's the nature of the ss position, at second base he was near perfect. Part of his larger errors is also due to not playing the position for 2 years, so this is what heppens, often.

Can't answer why because I can't compare HS ball to college ball the same way you can't compare college ball to pro ball.
In HS most stats are taken from parents, who do not always acurrately give stats, so it's hard to compare. JMO.
Errors can occur anytime, I mostly see throwing errors in the college game. I saw an error made by a pitcher I know well , it was pouring, he picked up a wet ball and it slipped out of his hand on the throw to second, a routine play he has made over a hundred times. **** happens.
Errors can make a big difference in W/L of a game, but I have seen many teams make errors and still win many games. Errors are bad if the team has a losing record, if the team has a winning record they mean nothing.

JMO.

CV, Yesterday we saw one of the top 5 teams in the state make three errors in a single inning!

Unfortunately I missed that one HC.
Don't see that very often from those guys.

CV

Unfortunately we made our fair share too, although it was walks and WPs/PBs that killed us.

quote:

Our ss has a lot of errors, but he is one of those that will do anything to stop the ball from getting past the infield so therefore his heroics sometimes gives way to errors.

heh-heh,..gotta looove those ss's!
( Couldn' resist being a smarty pants! )

Here's a not-so-smarty-pants story about a recent game of ours: A little off topic, but about a combination of errors, rough pitching patch, and perhaps the absense of good ol' fashioned kharma.

Other team scores 7 runs on us with one hit.
Pitcher in a rough patch and walks batters,...bases loaded. Catcher misses thrown pitches and runners on third steal to score, others advance,....more walked batters, more pitches go by the catchers glove,...ring around the rosies we go, bases loaded AGAIN,..big kid comes up to bat, hits a beauty of a grand slam.
Bases cleared.
Our team standing dazed with uniforms still spit-shiney clean, not a spot on em'.
At that point my son, and I'm sure others, would have given their right arm to have had the chance to make an error!! ha!

Before we know it were down by 7, no outs in the first inning

It was a gorgeous day,...just a not so pretty game.
It got uglier as time went on.
One of those games where you really wish you could physically
melt into your lawn chair. The kind of game where
you continue to wear your sunglasses as it gets dark,...and you find yourself pulling your hat down lower with each inning, until you are almost peeking out of the hole in the back of the cap.

( This was our rookie catcher's Varsity debut, poor kid. Stepped up to fill in for our regular catcher.
Probably the longest game of his life, and longest bus ride home, ever. )
God bless him,...he kept hanging in there.
Our pitchers were pretty upset too. The whole team just couldn't jell,...bad kharma day.

As TPMom said:

quote:

My sons school has more errors than games played, it comes with the territory and for many a large part of learning the game.

We are definitely riding in that boat too.